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How a Dermatologist Chooses Sunscreen #ChooseSkinHealth

This post is written by the Experimental Mommy and brought to you by Neutrogena. All opinions remain 100% my own.
It’s the middle of summer and for my family it’s time to be outside in the pool, a water park, a theme park or just a simple family picnic. We try to soak up every ounce of quality family time during the summer before the craziness of back to school begins. But to ensure a successful outing (and as an obsessive list maker), planning is key. Everything from a change of clothes to a first aid kit and snacks to sunglasses, I triple check the bag before leaving home.
With all of these outdoor activities, the first thing on my list is always sunscreen. But lately their has been a lot of confusion circulating about sunscreen leaving me staring at the plethora of options wondering which is best for me and my kids.  As with most of my skin health questions, I seek the advice of a dermatologist so I was thrilled to see that Dr. Joshua Zeichner, a dermatologist in New York City, recently created a video to explain how he chooses sunscreen for his own family.

The video is easy to understand and has some really helpful tips for navigating the sunscreen section of your local store. Dr. Zeichner explains:

It can be really challenging to understand sunscreen labels. What I do, is go to the drugstore and look for a trusted brand. Make sure that it is labeled as broad spectrum and turn the bottle over and look for ingredients such as avobenzone or oxybenzone. For those with sensitive skin, look for a mineral sunscreen that only contains ingredients such as zinc oxide or titanium dioxide.

As a Mom, I always want to do what is best for my kids which can cause some stress when trying to choose the correct product for their skin. Dr. Zeichner put my mind at ease by explaining that while choosing a quality product is important, you should focus on applying the product correctly. If using a spray sunscreen, you want to hold the spray 1-2 inches from the skin, spray the sunscreen for 1-2 seconds until the skin glistens, and then rub in the sunscreen. If using a lotion, make sure you are using a golf ball size amount for all sun-exposed areas. He explains:

When it comes to Labor Day, if you still have the same bottle of sunscreen that you have been using since Memorial Day, then you are not using enough.

As a scientist myself, I know the every day long-term, harmful affects of sun exposure on the skin. And with skin cancer in my family, I am extra cautious about protecting our skin. For this reason, I have been a huge advocate of the Neutrogena #ChooseSkinHealth program which is a partnership between NEUTROGENA® and the American Society of Dermatologic Surgery to fight skin cancer and save lives through education, early detection, and the empowerment to follow sun safe behaviors. To-date, this campaign has completed more than 13,000 free screenings and helped diagnose 1,300 cases of skin cancer.

This summer, NEUTROGENA® partners and brand ambassadors such as Bella Thorne have displayed how they #ChooseSkinHealth on social media throughout the summer in effort to bring attention to the skin cancer epidemic and inspire others to practice safe sun habits.

What are you doing to protect your family’s skin this summer? Share your tips in the comments and then enter to win 5 bottles of Neutrogena sunscreen below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

32 thoughts on “How a Dermatologist Chooses Sunscreen #ChooseSkinHealth”

  1. My beach bag essentials are a facial sunscreen with zinc oxide, a body sunscreen with 50spf, a big towel and a good book.

  2. My beach bag essentials are sunscreen, a hat, a mesh bag for the shells I find, a towel and sunglasses and of course some water

  3. Thank You for the giveaway… or beach bag is always stocked with sunscreen, towels, beach chairs, sunglasses, hats, & a soft cooler for drinks !

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