What's a Mother to do?

Life in general comes down to common sense and I am a firm believer in the old adage, everything in moderation however with that being said when it comes to the kids or myself being out in the sun, sunscreen is not an option. Growing up in the UK we used to go on holiday abroad at least once a year and that meant that from the minute we arrived in the sun we were slathered in Ambre Solaire tanning oil and left to bake like the Sunday dinner until we were a beautiful scarlet colour. Then as a teenager I would go on holidays with friends, sans adults and we would use Hawaiian Tropic Oil and see how fast we could "tan". The redder the better, the worse the burn the better the tan was our motto. I shouldn't even admit this but there were times when we even used baby oil.

I have paid the price for that foolish behaviour and now of course we know much better. The girls know that sunscreen is part of their everyday routine. I even keep some in my purse. We have all sorts of the stuff and when Lily was riding I had this really nasty smelling stuff that had bug repellent in it. It was great, or so I thought.

So all this stuff that we slather all over our skin to prevent skin cancer is now being proved to cause different types of cancer due to all the chemicals that are in it? The chemical most used in sunscreen, oxybenzone actually disrupts the bodys natural hormones. Say what? I knew this was true but I wasn't concerned cos I use the good stuff. Hah. It's not so good apparently.

You can find the link here of all the sunscreens and how they are rated. It probably would have been more helpful if I had shared this at the beginning of the summer rather than at the end wouldn't it?

Badger is one of the safest, it's not cheap but nor is getting treated for cancer! Blue lizard is also good but it's hard to find around here. I like aveeno, phew, it's not that bad but the Bull frog that I used on Lily when she rode.....BAD. When you consider that it's something that we use pretty much year round here I have to think that all the chemicals will have harmful effects on the girls long term.





Hopefully my kids won't be on a first name basis with their dermatologist by the time they reach their 30's.