I have used Banana Boat sunscreens for many years. I particularly loved the convenience of the aerosol. It delivers a fine mist of sunscreen which I would subsequently rub in. Since it uses a gas propellant, it is far too... Read full review
I have used Banana Boat sunscreens for many years. I particularly loved the convenience of the aerosol. It delivers a fine mist of sunscreen which I would subsequently rub in. Since it uses a gas propellant, it is far too aggressive to spray directly on the face, although you can easily spray directly on the neck and ears with little issue. For the face I usually sprayed it onto my hand and then just rubbed that on my face. Although the product claims to be non-greasy, it definitely leaves a slick on the skin.
More recently I noticed that I have developed mild sunburn while wearing it - one time I ended up burnt quite badly. Every time I made mental notes to be "more diligent" next time. It got to the point that I was regularly replacing the bottles, suspecting they had gone bad (suncreens are unstable when exposed to the heat in your car or in your bag on the beach and being a metal can it heats up readily). I was making sure to apply up to 1/2hour before going in the sun, reapplying every hour or so, reapplying every time I got out of the water etc. etc. And still I would burn.
I went through the mental anguish that I wasn't doing enough when in the sun. I blamed global warming and the increasing ferocity of the sun. I blamed Banana Boat. I then read forums where people discussed an increased rate of burning after using this product and they also blamed Banana Boat. And then I read an article that discussed the issues with using an aerosol sunscreen and the penny dropped.
Aerosols are not a suitable method for sunscreen application. An aerosol creates a fine, thin mist that can convince the user that they have applied enough sunscreen when they haven't. The spray is also very cold on the skin, causing the user to shy away from the spray. Unlike applying a cream, when you spray there is a fair amount of product that becomes lost to the environment, especially if you have even a light breeze when applying . So even if you spray for a long time you're not receiving everything you spray.
According to Sunsmart, the average adult should be using at least 35mL of sunscreen for one application - that's about a shotglass of sunscreen every 2 hours. Unfortunately it's impossible to measure the spray from a metal can. And since this can only contains 175mL you'll get no more than 5 applications per bottle. That's not a lot of product.
This sunscreen is convenient but I don't use it anymore. Banana Boat is a great brand that makes plenty of other sunscreen products that I would recommend over aerosols. Old school creams enable you to accurately measure how much you're applying and to see exactly where the product has been applied.
The convenience of this product comes at a cost.
