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

We are an ultrasun family. It costs about £50 a bottle now but it lasts really well and really does go a lot further than your average sun cream. Ours only just ran out and we bought it a year ago.

This. Applying before you leave the house when you are not struggling with burning sand and so wanting to rush into the water. If you wait until you have your bikini on, lines beside straps will occur.

Mantra of “better than white as a snowman than red as a lobster”. My daughters would get cross but mantra Has been passed down to Grandkids.

I will only use Dermalogica Sport spf 50. The texture and cover is amazing, my skin feels gorgeous and I still get a lovely tan. My daughter is a fussy bugger and even she loves this. It’s not cheap, I buy mine from Dermalsense.com and costs £32 🤗

I don’t know if this is lax but I buy the cheapo Malibu stuff or whatever I can find in the French supermarket at factor 20-30 (usually 20 but 30 for beach days). Reapply every 2 hours. Non negotiable 2 hour lunch in the shade. Kids are 5 and 8 and usually tan but never ever burn.

Ultrasun spf 30 is generously applied to the whole family in underwear (or even better naked in bathroom) to whole body after getting back from breakfast. We have a large family bottle and it doesn’t feel greasy at all. Use the smaller Ultrasun spf50 on face.
Then swimmers on and out to wherever. Then reapply to some areas for peace of mind just after lunch / sooner if we’ve been in the water a lot.
Ultrasun is meant to last all day with 1 application and it does for us. Expensive but you get your moneys worth.

Soltan is my favourite having tried many.
I know how long I can have sun exposure for in minutes in UK spring (UV3/4) and summer (UV8). So I check the peak UV for my destination. Multiply my British summer exposure in minutes by the SPF on the bottle. That’s how long you have protection for at UV8. Then I reduce the amount of time to account for a higher UV. If it means I’d be reapplying every hour, I need a higher SPF. If it’s every 4/5+ I know the SPF is high enough, and I factor in a morning cream, an afternoon cream, and then usually take a lower SPF for an evening top up. Yes, you sometimes come back with a spare bottle. But I’ve been caught out one too many times paying holiday prices. A regular bottle of suncream usually lasts 2 average adults 2 - 2.5days. We apply properly though, in our rooms. And never burn.

Yes!!!

Heliocare factor 50 gel crème. Very effective. Everyone loves the smell and feel so much they don’t object- very difficult to find the large sizes (start hunting now)

We stay out of sun 11-2 minimum, bar the odd cool down swim
DD who burns easily wears a sun vest whatever

The spray-on or mist sun creams DO still need to be rubbed in. It might just be easier to initially get on the skin rather than squirting from a bottle.

Aldi or Lidl spray on cream in 50+ for the handbag.

50+ standard cream for the room.

shower in the morning, get them completely dry then slather on a thick layer in the morning making sure everywhere is covered, let it soak in then get dressed. I then reapply using the spray every couple of hours, spray then rub it on to get even coverage.

in the evening I cover them in aftersun.

Lots of good posts. I recommend listening to these podcasts for more info: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4Rn7X5a81i00h8r27hfgIB?si=b1aba582b35646ec

https://open.spotify.com/episode/1sMv7hrOApuXoonC8lYlak?si=d9a3e4fac3974327

(Also available on BBC sounds, but I couldn't find a link to the follow-up episode!)

P20 is excellent.

We've gone to Menorca every year for the past 6 years for 2 weeks in July/August. We tan relatively easily but will burn if we dont use spf.

We use spf 50 for the first 2/3 days. Always the superdrug own lotion (allergies & lotion is always better than a spray). Go down to spf 30 after that for the rest of the holiday.

Apply it 20 minutes before going out in the sun.

Reapply it about 4 hours later & make sure we dont go in the pool for at least 20 minutes so its properly absorbed.That's it.

None of us have ever burnt, we're always in & out of the pool all day.

For us the thick lotion is the best - a pain to apply & rub in but it's only twice a day so its worth it as it lasts & protects.

This.

They are easier and cleaner to use too because they have the aerosol/evaporate quality. But they defo need rubbing in to be effective.

I see lots of people misusing these tbh, it's no wonder you hear so many 'I used factor 50 and still burnt' stories.

Altruist family spray bottle. Good enough to keep the kids safe. Dermatology formulated.

I have for us. We use Boots Soltan Once factor 50 first thing in the morning. The kids version as it seems more gentle on sensitive skin. We top up during the day with a spray cream (like the ones in a deodorant can), then again with the Boots Once around lunch time and frequently in the afternoon with the spray cream again. None of us ever burn. Fairly fair skin, but are all brunette. Ages 39,40 and kids age 17 and 11.

I’ve been sat down wind of people using them before though which is a PITA as you get covered which is v annoying as a glasses wearer who doesn’t want smeary lenses 😂

I buy ours from Aldi or Lidl. Factor 50 & 30. It’s a dry spray in an orange aerosol, it’s not sticky & very easy to apply. None of us burned at all during a week in Spain at the end of May. I’ve bought it for the past few years & have always been happy with it. My children (14 & 10) prefer it to cream as less messy/greasy.

Without a doubt always used cera sunscreen never have a problem never makes me greasy and just seems to last. I never go for cheap when it comes to sunscreen I think you get more for your money.

boots soltan once , we never get burnt despite being fair

The P50 kids formula is brilliant as it is a cream rather than the oil which gets everywhere and stains things

With my teen boys the best I can get away with is limiting time out in the sun during the hottest part of the day (our beach/pool time tends to be late afternoon) and getting them to wear a t-shirt. They don't do hats because it messes up their artfully styled mop hairstyles and they don't submit to sunscreen, although with dry spray I can usually persuade them to let me do the back of their necks. Fortunately, they're not sun worshippers and don't care about having a tan.

I buy the facror 50 spray mist from Lidl. I don't like feeling 'slimy' and I think that's the reason DC don't like suncream either. This dries so yilou don't know it's there.

I probably don't reapply as often as I should but starting out with a high factor means no one burns (and we're ginger).

Three big factor 30s water resistant
one small factor 50 for face
one factor 15 oil for me towards end of holiday
done.
main thing is to ensure everyone is covered head to toe first thing in the morning before leaving the room. I reapply every couple of hours/ as required

We get the Nivea blue one factor 50 and we all use it. They do a spray bottle which is good for the kids, but it’s still a cream it’s just got a spray nozzle on it. Spray em down on the balcony after breakfast and they rub in themselves (with supervision). Apply periodically throughout day. Rash vest/long sleeved swimsuit worn as much as possible along with hats.

Im extremely sensitive to the sun and to creams so I also use altruist factor 50 for my face and chest. That would be a bit pricey for the whole family to use every day, although of course I use it on DH and kids if necessary.

2 big bottles is probably enough for a week for us, although I think I bought some on holiday last year so perhaps 3 bottles needed.

Amount - one bottle for every 2 days for 4 of us, plus any half bottles we have lying round the house…
range - soltan factor 50 mix of normal one and the soltan once waterproof one. They look different so easy not to easy not to mix up
application - wear hats to breakfast, and apply afterwards. Reapply after swimming/ lunchtime.