Had anyone truly cracked sun cream on family holidays?

[JudithsDead]

By which I mean you know how much you need, in what formulations, you have the right factors, you know what to take to the beach and what to take to the pool, you’ve cracked the reapplication etc, and you have done this with the kids too?

I have two boys, 15 and 11, very sun cream resistant, plus a husband, Majorca 2 weeks, will be lots of pool and beach. Plus me and I like a bit of luxury suncream. We aren’t stay in the shade types, don’t even bother mentioning rash vests, we’d all like a bit of colour. I’d love someone to tell me what to
buy in what formulation and how much! Please share your secrets

I believe the general advice is to have a broad spectrum sun screen (UVA & UVB protection). And you should be wearing at least factor 30, regardless of skin type.
Get water proof sunscreen, apply 15-20 mins before you go out, every 3-4 hours and reapply after swimming.
I personally like the sports style sunscreen that's clear, as it's easy to apply, reapply and doesn't feel heavy on my skin, like I've coated myself in double cream. Even better is you can get it in an aerosol as you don't even need to rub it in.

I have absolutely cracked sunscreen for my family. But I'm pale and fair skinned - I have burnt and blistered in the UK when I was a know it all teen, so I've learnt the hard way.
We've just got back from Ibiza and we all apply sunscreen while in our underwear, so we don't miss any bits or get any on our clothes. If we're having a beach day/pool day we do wear rash vests, sun screen is reapplied probably every 2-3 hours and after swimming. This is not negotiable - I will take my kids back to the hotel room if they refuse. I've also shown them photos of what burnt skin looks like and explained to them that burnt skin from the sun is the exact same process as if it was burnt by fire, it's just slower.
FWIW, DH is olive skinned, wore factor 50 but probably reapplied every 4-5 hours, instead of every 2-3 hours and he has still tanned.

what is your favoured brand?

Just make sure it is 5*

Tesco own brand is 5* but some expensive brands are only 3 or 4.

Vichy. The bottle is massive so it works about the same as cheaper brands and it has all the modern filters in it. Reef safe too.

The star rating was made up by Boots, all it means is that there are similar proportions of UVA and UVB. They can still be full of old fashioned unstable filters. A higher end brand might have “less” so get a lower score but the actual protection is higher.

Boots Soltan Once range has worked well for my family for years. 8 hour coverage, but reapply after drying off and after lunch anyway.
One year I decided someone needs to invent a sheep dip style sunscreen application method. Save us from chasing DC round.

My v organised friend had Nivea Dry Touch spray on our Cyprus holiday last year
It made getting her 11 & 15 year old boys “spf’d” look sooo easy - if we ever have the money to go abroad again I will be getting it!

- cheapest from Ocado currently?

I’d second the boots Soltan once and reapply after swimming and after lunch.

For a day of watersports you cannot beat the reimann P20 in factor 50. Nothing else is waterproof like it.

For the everyday face and hands I have recently fallen in love with biodance collagen sun serum.

We've used P20/30/50 for the past 30 years. Waterproof, invisible and really works. Great as doesn't need reapplying bar at lunchtime even when in and out of the water. Just make sure you apply 30 mins before going into the sun. We put it on before breakfast.
I hate creams or oils.

I'd not use the spray ones because it's easy to not apply enough or miss patches.

You do know that a tan is sun damage? Saying you all ‘want colour’ is just exposing your children to harmful damage at a very early age.

It's 2 hours for reapplication

Blue lizard every 2 hours

We are a P20 family. Use factor 50 and apply 30
mins minimum before heading out into the sun each day so it really soaks in and dries. Top up post lunch or after lots of swimming. I also use a factor 50 sun cream on my face over the P20. Cereve is a current favourite. No one burns but we do spend the middle of the day out of the sun. Just need to ensure you stay away from white:light coloured clothing and furniture as it will stain yellow!

Altruist

The biggest mistake we used to make abroad was actually going through the faff of putting on sun lotion too early. As in - 'omg it's 30 degrees out, it's only 7am but better all cover ourselves head to toe in cream before the 4 minute walk to breakfast'.

What a faff. Doing some actual research into UV and realising (20 years later than I should have!) that it isn't needed AT ALL early in the morning was a revelation.

Last year we went to Zante for 2 weeks in August. On the beach 6.30-8am most days, boiling hot, zero sunscreen 😲 Even in Greece in August at 25 degrees, UV is less than 2 at that time. It became my favourite time of every day!

We usually put full suncream on twice, say 9.30ish after breakfast and again about 1.30pm...head to toe, factor 30 cream. In between, top up with Factor 30 dry mist which is so much easier.

Always use Lacura (Aldi brand). Never burn (that's me, dh and 3 dc).

Your 11 year old ‘wants a bit of colour? I’d be saying they take sun cream seriously and put it on properly and regularly without fuss or they have to wear a rash vest and hat.

'We'd all like a bit of colour' is a bit worrying. Several rounds of skin cancer here. We wear long sleeved rash vests and use SPF50. Ultrasun is very water resistant and lasts well. We buy 3 or 4 large bottles for a week and I have a separate fancier one for my face. We keep a bottle in the beach bag, one in each bedroom/bathroom. Apply thoroughly 20 minutes before leaving the house and reapply often during the day. I have two autistic children who don't like sun cream but accept it having seen what cancer does - and using long sleeved vests & trousers mean we only need to do faces, hands & feet which really helps.

We always use Aldi sunscreen. I use cream at the beginning of the day, then the spray every hour and a half to two hours. More cream after lunch then more spray. We do go through a lot between the two of us but we don’t burn. It’s so cheap, too, about £2.99 a bottle so it doesn’t matter that you’re using loads.

We took lidl suncream this year that had a trigger spray which makes it easy to apply. Have used many own brand sprays and they all work well. I make sure they are marked as 5 star protection and we take spf 30

I have sun cream cracked. Currently on holidays with 6-year old twins.

My strategy is:
-Factor 50. Don’t even bother with lower factors.
-I use Boots “Clear and Cool” Suncare Mist.
-Rash vests, sunglasses and hat if possible.
-Apply after breakfast and reapply after lunch.

The Boots Mist above is amazing!! It’s so easy to apply and you don’t need to rub it in, so no sticky hands. It takes about 30 seconds to spray it on lower legs, forearms and on my fingers to apply to their faces. Today as I was applying it, I thought “this is so easy, it must be expensive”. I think it’s about £10 a bottle and there probably is waste since it’s a spray mist, but it’s worth it for the convenience.

Bit careless to subject the kids to the sun for ‘a bit of colour’ when ultimately a tan is a sign of skin damage. You should be protecting their skin.

We swear by P20 factor 50, then move onto factor 30 after a week or so. I love the smell of Calypso and it’s inexpensive. I can’t stand creams and lotions so always use sprays or oils.

Boots soltan do factor 50 sticks which are perfect for a quick rub onto faces and shoulders, and they’re pocket sized, highly recommend those especially for wriggly kids!

I use aldi too always factor 50, usually do face and neck with cream and then the mist one everywhere else and for most top ups. As pp mentioned its quite cheap so i just use it really frequently. I carry one in my bag through the summer so can give everyone a top up or if a change of plans mean we're unexpectedly out in the sun. Dh and the kids still have tans though. I still have a milk bottle complexion!

@Lozza70 I wish someone had given me this warning before our last beach holiday 🤣🫠 We were running low on suncream so I popped to the local pharmacy and picked the P20 as it was a decent known brand…and I was wearing a black and white striped tankini top that had cost me £90 🥲
1 day later and it was black and yellow striped and I looked like a bumblebee 😅🤣

I use either Aldi or La Roche Posay