Best Buys on the Safest Baby Sunscreens

For the second year in a row – the second summer of Lilly’s life – I find myself spending hours researching baby sunscreen. You would think this would be an easy purchasing decision. But my distrust in the FDA’s ability to protect my family from harmful chemicals is well-documented by now. So, instead, it involves extensive internet research in hopes of trying to find one safe product that won’t break the bank. Not as easy as you might think.

My goal with this post is to save some others the hassle of comparison shopping for the few safe, yet hard-to-find, sunscreens for kids. Thankfully, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) has done the tedious cross-referencing of harmful chemicals, potential health effects and ingredient lists. The result is EWG’s list of  “Best Beach & Sport Sunscreens” for 2010. Also check out EWG’s Hall of Shame, which calls out particularly harmful products. (You’ll be surprised.)

If money is no object, buy any one of the products EWG rates a 1. But for the rest of us, I created the list below which orders the safest mineral-based sunscreens, according to EWG, from least expensive to most expensive and links you to an online retailer, selling it for that price at the time of publishing. My methodology follows the list, if you’re interested.

1. Purple Prairie Botanicals SunStuff SPF 30 ($1.68/oz.) (buy 9.5 oz.) [EWG score: 1]
2. Caribbean Solutions SPF 30 Biodegradable SolGuard SPF 25 ($1.75/oz.) [EWG score: 2]
3. All Terrain Aquasport SPF 30 ($2.07/oz.) [EWG score: 2]
4. California Baby SPF 30+ Citronella, Everyday or No Fragrance ($4.03/oz.) [EWG score: 2]
5. Badger Suncreen Sunblock SPF 15 For Face & Body ($4.61/oz.)[EWG score: 2]
6. Soleo Organics All Natural Sunscreen SPF 30 ($4.63/oz.)[EWG score: 1]
7. Badger SPF 30 Sunscreen For Face & Body ($4.69/oz.)[EWG score: 1]
8. Loving Naturals SPF 30+ ($4.74/oz.) [EWG score: 1]
9. UV Natural Baby SPF 30+ ($5.38/oz.) (use code: Spring15) [EWG score: 1]
10. thinkbaby Sunscreen SPF 30+ ($5.66/oz.) [EWG score: 1]

Methodology: First, I narrowed the EWG list to beach & sport sunscreens that contain neither oxybenzone nor vitamin A, and received an overall score of 1 from EWG for safety. [Time permitting, I’ll add products that scored a 2.] Then I searched Google Shopping and a handful of my favorite sites for each product to find the lowest per unit price. I excluded listings from retailers that I deemed untrustworthy. For brands with more than 1 product, I attempted to find the cheapest option from that brand. I did not include sunblock sticks or cosmetic facial moisturizers because they can’t be used on the entire body. Shipping is not included, but I took free shipping options and standard shipping rates into consideration. I promise I did my best to find the best deals, but I do not guarantee it.

The Best Buys on the Safest Baby Sunscreens by MushBrain, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Terms and conditions beyond the scope of this license may be available at mushbrain.net.