Blue Lizard Baby Mineral Sunscreen Review: The Best Value For Safe Fun In The Sun

We independently select all products and services. If you click through links we provide, we may earn a commission. Learn more Forbes Vetted Blue Lizard Baby Mineral Sunscreen Review: The Best Value For Safe Fun In The Sun Elyse Moody Contributor Forbes Vetted Contributor Group Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.

Following May 24, 2023, 05:15pm EDT | Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin The Blue Lizard Baby Mineral Sunscreen SPF 50+ was the best value pick in my larger tested review of sunscreens for babies . Ahead, learn more about the gentle formula and why it’s the top affordable option. Baby skin is soft, thin and super susceptible to sunburns.

That’s why after 6 months of age you need to protect it with the best sunscreen for babies, although shade and protective clothing should still be your first lines of defense. You want a baby sunscreen that’s SPF 30 or higher, broad-spectrum and water-resistant. It should contain only the mineral active ingredients zinc oxide and/or titanium dioxide.

And putting it on shouldn’t be such a hassle that it makes you want to scrap the whole outing. The Blue Lizard Baby Mineral Sunscreen is my best value pick because it felt soft and smooth and . .

. [+] never greasy or oily. Illustration: Forbes / Photo: Retailers I rigorously tested 12 best-selling baby sunscreens to find one that I’d feel safe using on my own daughter (and, in a pinch, on myself).

The Blue Lizard Baby Mineral Sunscreen SPF 50+ is my best value pick because it felt as soft and smooth as my top overall pick from La Roche-Posay. It also felt less greasy and oily than competitors that cost several dollars more per fluid ounce. Read on to learn why I think it’s the best affordable baby sunscreen.

Amazon Blue Lizard Baby Mineral Sunscreen SPF 50+ Buy From Amazon Type: Mineral | Price per fluid ounce: $2. 55 | Active ingredients: Titanium Dioxide 8%, Zinc Oxide 10% | Water Resistant: 80 minutes | Scent: None Best for: A lightweight consistency No sticky or oily residue Stocking up for the pool or beach Those who prefer unscented skincare Skip if: You prefer a thick, creamy formula You don’t want an initial slight white cast You prefer scented sunscreen MORE FROM FORBES VETTED The Best Memorial Day Mattress Sales To Shop Now Through May 29 By Jordan Thomas Forbes Staff The 10 Best Hotels On Capri By Julia Eskins Contributor An Expensive-Feeling Finish Along with Aveeno (which I eliminated for its scent), the Blue Lizard Baby Mineral Sunscreen is the least expensive option I tested, yet it has a luxe finish that rivals pricier options. Because I had tried other Blue Lizard sunscreens before and found them to be greasy, I was pleasantly surprised by how this one felt.

“Comes out as a thin lotion, but it goes on very smooth with a very slight white cast that shows you where it is,” I wrote. “Not greasy or oily at all. Dries very quickly.

Feels soft and not sticky at all. ” A Thin But Nice Consistency I decided to test baby sunscreens for dripping because I could imagine that being an inconvenience when putting it on my daughter. A cream that’s just thick enough is easier to apply since it won’t run but also doesn’t require a ton of rubbing.

Blue Lizard is on the thinner side—it did drip off my arm—but not so much that it was a dealbreaker. It scored 5s in every category except for drip and initial feel, but those did not affect its performance or comfort in the long run. After it dried, it felt nicer than all but two of the baby sunscreens I tried, which also cost much more.

For baby sunscreen, a cream that’s just thick enough is easier to apply since it won’t run but also . . .

[+] doesn’t require a ton of rubbing. Elyse Moody For Forbes Truly Unscented Even naturally derived fragrance can irritate sensitive skin. And products that are “unscented” can still have an unpleasant odor (fragrance is often used to mask other odors.

Take it away, and…yuck). I noted that Blue Lizard, unlike other fragrance-free baby sunscreens I tested, truly had no discernable scent. I preferred it to our other pick that cost just $3 per fluid ounce from Aveeno because that one had a slight floral scent.

Optimal Water Resistance The highest level of water resistance in the sunscreens I tested was 80 minutes, compared with 40 minutes or none at all. The Blue Lizard Baby Mineral Sunscreen is water-resistant up to 80 minutes like our other winners from La Roche-Posay and Hello Bello. How Does The Blue Lizard Baby Mineral Sunscreen Compare? This sunscreen netted a nearly perfect score in my testing, only falling short on my drip test and its initial feel.

That’s because it has a slightly runnier consistency than most other contenders. I found that a thicker cream could be less messy to apply and easier to smooth over skin; however, it could also go wrong and feel oily or greasy a long time after you apply it. Blue Lizard was a bit more liquid-y, but it dried quickly.

I didn’t notice any oily or greasy residue or a white cast—just soft, smooth skin, the way I did with my best baby sunscreen overall from La Roche-Posay. The Blue Lizard Baby Sunscreen has a slightly runnier consistency than most other contenders. Elyse Moody For Forbes At $3 per fluid ounce, it’s my favorite cost effective option.

Note: It has a slightly lower but still quite good score from the EWG regarding the safety of its ingredients, with a 3 compared with the 2 that our best overall winner and many other contenders rate (the best rating is 1 on the EWG scale). How I Tested The Best Sunscreens For Babies I cross-referenced the criteria my experts laid out with the products I had gathered based on my own research to narrow the field to 12 contenders. I squeezed a dollop of each one onto my inner elbow, where my skin is the most sensitive and baby-like.

(Note: I am very sensitive and tend to react to products. ) I flipped my arm over to see if each one dripped, then I rubbed it into my skin and gave it a score for how it felt from 1 (greasy or oily) to 5 (better than before). I then waited for it to dry and scored the finish the same way.

Finally, I sealed the bottle or tube in a zip-top plastic bag and tossed it in my daughter’s diaper bag to check if it would spill. My Expertise Women’s health and wellness has been an expertise of mine in my 10 years as a reporter and editor for publications like O, The Oprah Magazine , Martha Stewart Living, Allure and more. Personally, I’ve been on the hunt for the best baby products, including sunscreen, since I had my daughter a year ago.

To research this story, I shared my questions with experts in skincare and children’s health: dermatologist Dr. Steven Q. Wang, chair of the Skin Cancer Foundation photobiology committee and director of dermatologic oncology at the Hoag Family Cancer Institute , Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian, in Newport Beach, California; Michelle Wong, PhD, founder of Lab Muffin Beauty Science , a cosmetic chemist based in Sydney, Australia; and Dr.

Adeena Rosenblatt, MD, PhD , a pediatric dermatologist at UChicago’s Comer Children’s Hospital . I polled my local parents’ Facebook group and friends and Forbes staffers who are parents on their favorite baby sunscreens, and I searched the bestsellers at Whole Foods and Amazon, noting rave reviews and consistent praise in the comments. Elyse Moody Editorial Standards Print Reprints & Permissions.