The insanity of seeking reef safe sunscreen that isn't bogus/ineffective or make me look like Casper

[jk04]

Badger doesn't seem to have any of the listed ingredients.  Not sure about all the variants.

 

Badger Sunscreen

 

This site has a list of reef friendly sunscreens.  I haven't looked at any of them, so not sure now many of them meet the requirements from above.

 

Reef Friendly Sunscreens

[PolicromaSol]

Is this the same stuff they want us to use in Mexico?

[snowdogsmm]

I purchased Kokua Suncare on Amazon and just used it in Aruba and Bonaire.  It is pretty thick but you can work it in so you don't have a visible layer of sunscreen.  We only used it in the ocean since it's spendy and used regular sunscreen at the pool.  It worked well.  We also wore rash guard's while snorkeling so we didn;t have to worry about burning.

[maysill88]

I like Blue Lizard sensitive. Appears to be reef safe.  I don't think it makes me look like Casper, but I'm pretty pale to begin with.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

17 hours ago, Florida Glamazon said:

Any advice would be greatly appreciated- We are going to St. Thomas/St. John, St. Martin & Coco Cay.

nobody ever checked what kind of sunscreen we brought with us at any of these locations.

 

https://savethereef.org/about-reef-save-sunscreen.html

 

zinc oxide SPF lotion will make you look like this:

 

 

but it's a sacrifice you should be willing to make. 🙂

 

13 hours ago, brillohead said:

As a redhead, I've given up on sunscreen.  I wear a long-sleeved swimshirt and long swim leggings.

 

as a mom of a redhead, I have a question - what about the face? We all wear rashguards and wide-brimmed sunhats, but the face still needs sunscreen.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

5 hours ago, CanHardlyWait4NextYear said:

So I'm lost. Which brands if any can be used in places that require reef safe sunscreen?

 

Also, do any places actually check in your bags? I noticed it mentioned for almost every excursion in Cozumel. Most in national park reserve something or other like that.

don't look at brands. Look at ingredients.

The same brand can make both mineral (zinc oxide) based and other chemical based sunscreens.

[hey-buc]

7 hours ago, matj2000 said:

Baby Oil.

Yes

[maysill88]

1 hour ago, hey-buc said:

Yes

What are you guys talking about? Baby oil does not protect you from the sun.

[brillohead]

7 hours ago, Rubyfisch said:

As someone whose natural skin color could be described as "pale as death," I'm curious about the swim leggings you mentioned. Where did you find them and do you like them?

I do like them, been using them for probably at least five years now.  I get them on Amazon (just search "swim leggings").  

They provide protection from the sun and from chafing, plus I'm guessing they protect against jellyfish because I've never experienced any problems while wearing them.  

I started out using just "shorts" type leggings (like bike shorts length), as I experienced swimsuit creep while snorkeling years ago and managed to get burned "where the sun don't shine" and spent the rest of the cruise itching my behind like some kind of weirdo.  They worked so well that I progressed to capri length and now just use ankle length.

No worries about being reef safe, no worries about missing a spot, no worries about reapplying... 

[brillohead]

2 hours ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

as a mom of a redhead, I have a question - what about the face? We all wear rashguards and wide-brimmed sunhats, but the face still needs sunscreen.

 

I will use face sunscreen, but I also just keep my face out of the sun. I wear a sun hat even in the water (when I'm just lounging) or else my face is in the water (when I'm snorkeling).  

[CanHardlyWait4NextYear]

Well ingredients aside (not spending any more time on that). For Mexico it just says reef safe. The list I posted earlier from the magazine article of the top 10 sounds good enough for me. If it says reef safe on front of bottle, what more can you do. It's a good article and talks about how each will effect different skin types etc. I say that's effort made and you have the words on the front of bottle to hold up and show if needed. What more can anyone ask of you really.

Edited September 12, 2022 by CanHardlyWait4NextYear
Typo

[Plum Happy]

Target’s Up & Up spray is pretty good and is labeled reef safe.

[MandyMooToo]

We use Shiseido sunscreen. It is more expensive but it says it is ocean safe and it is Hawaii compliant.  It goes on well and does not break me out, which is amazing for me because most sunscreens do.  I am sure someone can find an ingredient in it that is on a list somewhere but I feel like if it is Hawaii compliant, doesn't break me out and I don't burn (I am pretty fair) then I'll take it.

[Florida Glamazon]

12 hours ago, Rubyfisch said:

As someone whose natural skin color could be described as "pale as death," I'm curious about the swim leggings you mentioned. Where did you find them and do you like them?

Lands End has them

[gmachar]

My husband bought his from Coolibar -they make all kinds of products for avoiding the sun.

 

Char

[pcur]

15 hours ago, rudeney said:

I'm not saying that sun exposure is can't be harmful, but I somehow have this gut feeling that the sunscreen industry has been taking advantage of us for years.  The rate of skin cancer continues to increase and is much higher now than back in the 60's and 70's before we had these high-index sunscreens.

If skin cancer rates are increasing, then I'm thinking it's because people aren't using their sun screen properly, or often enough.

 

I have almost translucent white skin.  I have serious sun damage on my back, but only one incident of a small cancer on the back of my neck, eliminated with Mohs surgery.

 

As much as experts and skin care professionals say anything over SPF 35 is a waste of money, I disagree.  SPF 100+ is all I can use to keep my skin protected and not burn.  Anything less I will visibly start burning in about 15 minutes.  I mix it with a moisturizing lotion and use it all over exposed areas, especially the backs of my hands, forearms, neck and face.  Every day, no matter what the weather.  That way I won't forget.

[gluecksbaer]

16 hours ago, rudeney said:

I'm not saying that sun exposure is can't be harmful, but I somehow have this gut feeling that the sunscreen industry has been taking advantage of us for years.  The rate of skin cancer continues to increase and is much higher now than back in the 60's and 70's before we had these high-index sunscreens.

Most of the high SPF isn't more effect than the lower ones, if that's what you mean, you are correct. 

However, the depletion of the ozone layer leads to more harmful UV rays reaching us down here so that's going to affect the cancer rates anyway.

For me, rather than skin cancer, my concern is not ending up with a 2nd or 3rd degree burn.  While dining room standards have relaxed, I believe that unclothed because anything near the skin hurts too much would still be frowned upon.

[Coralc]

I don't know. It doesn't really look that difficult to me. Just Google Panama Jack's Animal safe sunscreen. There are lots of options. Clear, white, whatever. 

 

It is the sunscreen that they use at Discovery Cove, dolphin safe, probably reef safe. Probably not something I would stress over. 

 

[Pellaz]

8 hours ago, CanHardlyWait4NextYear said:

Well ingredients aside (not spending any more time on that). For Mexico it just says reef safe. The list I posted earlier from the magazine article of the top 10 sounds good enough for me. If it says reef safe on front of bottle, what more can you do. It's a good article and talks about how each will effect different skin types etc. I say that's effort made and you have the words on the front of bottle to hold up and show if needed. What more can anyone ask of you really.

 

Truly! 

 

I have Coppertone Sport SPF 50 sunscreen here, marketed at Costco as "coral and reef safe" and for a decent price.   It contains "No dyes, PABA or oxybenzone" but contains substances mentioned in this thread.   I've used it in Cozumel, Bahamas, Grand Cayman and in my fish-filled river in Tennessee.   I hope I haven't inadvertently killed anything, but how was I to know?  

 

[adolfo2]

22 hours ago, rudeney said:

The rate of skin cancer continues to increase and is much higher now than back in the 60's and 70's before we had these high-index sunscreens.

It's not the same Sun 😞

 

[rudeney]

7 hours ago, gluecksbaer said:

Most of the high SPF isn't more effect than the lower ones, if that's what you mean, you are correct. 

However, the depletion of the ozone layer leads to more harmful UV rays reaching us down here so that's going to affect the cancer rates anyway.

For me, rather than skin cancer, my concern is not ending up with a 2nd or 3rd degree burn.  While dining room standards have relaxed, I believe that unclothed because anything near the skin hurts too much would still be frowned upon.

 

It's not the ozone layer.  Its depletion was at its worse before widespread use of sunscreen and it's on its way to being fully repaired in the next decade or two. 

 

Again, I'm not saying that sunscreen causes cancer (although some studies suggest it does or is more harmful overall than cancer overall) but it's just odd that with all these advancement in it, skin cancer rates continue to climb.  This could be a situation like we have with cholesterol control medications:  They lower cholesterol counts in the blood, but don't to lower actual instances of heart disease.  I believe there are many things we (as humans) think we know about science, but we really understand very little.  Yet we allow our marketing departments to run with it.  

[BecciBoo]

21 hours ago, NorthStarStateCruiser said:

It appears not sufficient scientific research has been conducted to determine the real-world effects of all chemicals that exist in traditional sunscreen products.  Consumer Reports wrote a nice article about this.

Yep, has long been my suspicion!  I just use the rash guard shirt and a hat unless swimming.  Don't much care about my legs.  Towel over them when lounging.  Never had any cancer or suspicious skin lesions.  And as for the SPF ratings, I've read many times that anything over 30 is just overkill.  Many articles about how the ocean cleans itself.  No proof the die off in coral is even related to chemicals. Mostly warming of the oceans which has always occurred over the melinia as well.  Coral reefs are limestone, one of the most effective water filters known.  In fact, all the limestone on the planet came from coral reefs.  And the ole girl is still kickin after all these years.  

[LEMJMcC]

Put on what works and don't advertise it.

[voyager70]

16 hours ago, maysill88 said:

What are you guys talking about? Baby oil does not protect you from the sun.

Pretty sure they were being sarcastic 

[Arubamoose]

I had used Ocean Potion in the past.  LOVED the smell of it.  Reef safe - no ingredients starting with O.

 

Can no longer find it.  Not even on Amazon!

 

Going to Aruba soon and will look for it there.  Hopefully they still carry it.