A Smart Sun Solution

This beauty tip isn't actually for mommies at all. It's for babies. Any mother who's ever tried to apply sunscreen to a fiesty, active toddler or a little baby (sunscreen should not be used on babies younger than 6 months without checking with your pediatrician first!) knows it can be tricky, at best. Now that Lola is 18 months, I have to do everything while she runs around: including dressing her, doing her hair, etc. The last thing she wants to stay still for is sunscreen. So I've been expirementing with ways to make the process easier.

Here are the options:
Sunscreen Towelettes: Easy to use, convenient, and the least messy, but they're hard to find and expensive. Also, some of them don't have enough product on them to adequately protect skin.

Continuous Sprays: These would be great if it weren't for a few drawbacks. They would be dangerous to use on a baby's face, near the eyes, they contain a lot of alcohol, and the spray is so strong and so cool that many babies won't tolerate them.

Regular Pump Sprays: These work pretty well, if the pump is a good one. Still, they can't be sprayed on a baby's face, so spray into your hand first. This is my top choice.

Standard Sunscreens: Messy, gloppy, and sticky, but effective. Sprays tend to have lighter formulations. My second choice.

So this is the little trick I discovered. Whether you are using standard or spray sunscreens, the face is always the trickiest part to tackle. My Lola has longish, baby fine hair, and any sunscreen in it makes it greasy. Plus, baby faces are so small that it's hard to get in all the little crevices and make sure they are protected. Then, one day, when I was doing my own makeup, I hit on a solution: A foundation brush. If you're unfamiliar with these, let me explain. They are long handled makeup brushes with soft, synthetic bristles that don't absorb liquid makeup. They are ideal to use with foundation if you want a flawless application. (Paula Dorf and MAC make great foundation brushes). Well, a clean foundation brush is the ideal tool to apply sunscreen to a baby's delicate face. It won't make a mess and get in her eyes or on her hair, it lets you get hard to reach areas like the earlobes, between the eyes and around the nose, and it's gentle. Even my little turbo baby tolerates it pretty well. The only problem is that she wants to play with the brush, but she wants to grab everything, so this is no different... Hopefully, this will work for you as well!