Sunscreen sprays are clearly favored for ease of application. Finding the best one at the store can be like finding a needle in a haystack simply because a spray with only mineral sunscreen additives is hard to come by. Read more...
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Video: Techei
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How to choose a sunscreen spray?
Shopping for a sunscreen spray is no different from shopping for any kind of sunscreen. Your focus should be the ingredient label. Seek zinc oxide and/or titanium dioxide as your active ingredients primarily and limit chemical sunscreen additives. This is even more important with sunscreen sprays due to the potential aerosol created with the application. We already know that chemical sunscreen ingredients are absorbed into our bloodstream with skin application. The use of an aerosol version of sunscreen can risk inhalation of these ingredients. For this reason, seeking mineral sunscreen ingredients and ensuring that they are not in their nano-form is important.
Also consider the versions of sprays out there: aerosol, mists, and pump sprays. Each offers their own advantage. Aerosols can be easier to apply to large surface areas quickly and effectively. Mists tend to be favored for facial use to limit the amount of aerosolized particles that could be inhaled. And, pump sprays are a means to quickly access the product but ultimately the product still has to be rubbed in.
Why is it so hard to find a spray sunscreen with mineral ingredients?
It is definitely challenging to find mineral sunscreen sprays for a practical reason. The particle size for mineral sunscreens is larger for mineral ingredients making them more likely to clog the nozzle of a sunscreen spray.
What should I look out for when shopping for a sunscreen spray?
After reviewing 74 sunscreen sprays available at local drugstores in 2023 with my research staff I did come across some misleading claims that can make your search a little more difficult. Out of the 74 sunscreen sprays available, only 8 were mineral-only sunscreen sprays. This is just over 10% of available spray sunscreens were mineral only. No wonder why it is so challenging to find one.
More troubling is that we found two sunscreen sprays with misleading claims for mineral sunscreen additives. Banana Boat Sensitive 50 Mineral Spray and Banana Boat Baby 50 Mineral Spray both had "mineral" in their name but when the ingredient labels were reviewed they both had chemical sunscreen additives. This is frustrating as it demonstrated that just seeking the word "mineral" in the marketing claims was not sufficient to evaluate the sunscreen chosen. These sunscreens may contain some mineral additives but ultimately still contain chemical sunscreen ingredients making it difficult for consumers to navigate.
What are your top picks for sunscreen sprays?
Video: Techei
Video: Techei
Video: Techei
Video: Techei
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