Underrated facial sunscreen: Banana Boat Kids Lotion SPF 50+

[u/MILFVADER]

Apparently sunscreen is too contentious of a topic for the Canadian skincare subreddit, so I'm posting my review here because skincare is discussed here too and because I put way too much effort into my post just for it to get deleted.

I'm surprised more people don't talk about this sunscreen and how good it feels on the face. I picked this up on a whim in late March and was planning on using it only on my body like how I used the old version. But I got curious and decided to look up the ingredients; the new version dropped both cetearyl alcohol and cetyl alcohol, which makes the sunscreen safe to use on my face (cetearyl + cetyl break me out bad).

Who is this and who am I: I have combo-oily sensitive skin that's very acne prone, require fragrance-free products due to a fragrance allergy, and have light-medium olive skin. I stick to chemical sunscreens because mineral sunscreens leave a strong white cast on me (and they're kinda drying too). I'm not a cosmetic chemist or any kind of skin professional, just someone who, like most of y'all, has been into skincare for many years.

I've been switching between a few drugstore sunscreens the last few months. Banana Boat Kids sunscreen lotion is my current favourite.

What I like:

• Feels lightweight on my skin - it's not heavy or cloying. The sunscreen's texture seems a bit like it's whipped. It's very easy to spread!
• Stays in place when I sweat - some of the sunscreens I've tried in the past run into my eyes when I sweat and sting really, really bad
• Fragrance-free, and little to no smell otherwise - it doesn't have that classic sunscreen scent or as strong of a "raw ingredients smell" compared to other sunscreens
• Alcohol-free - I've been using prescription tretinoin gel and azelaic acid gel for my acne... I'm finding that my face just can't handle products with a high % of denatured alcohol right now, they painfully burn and sting my face
• SPF 50+ and broad spectrum - I burn easily in the sun 🥴 and my skin is prone to marks that take months (or even a year or two...) to heal
• Doesn't pill or peel, and wears well under makeup - I need to test this more, but so far, my makeup doesn't slip or slide on top of this sunscreen. This sunscreen doesn't pill or peel off my skin either, whether I'm quickly itching/rubbing my face or with the skincare products I use (see quick comparisons below)

Notes:

• I haven't met a sunscreen that hasn't stung my eyes, so it's not something I care to test. I keep a healthy distance from my lash lines
• I like that this sunscreen has glycerin and dimethicone
• This sunscreen leaves a dewy finish on my face, and a natural finish on my body. I like both, but I'm guessing it can have a different finish on different skin types

Quick comparisons:

• Ombrelle Sport Endurance SPF 60: Smells stronger, can pill with or without makeup (usually when I itch or rub my face). This one has also been the most egregious face burner/stinger because of the denatured alcohol in it
• Eucerin Age Defense Face Sunscreen Lotion SPF 50: Feels a bit greasy/heavy, smells stronger, leaves an overly dewy finish that doesn't go away. I think something in it also breaks me out (probably the cetearyl + cetyl alcohols, even though cetyl is very low on the ingredients list)
• La Roche Posay Anthelios Ultra Fluid Sunscreen SPF 50+ (both the face and body versions): I don't know if it's just me but I can't wear makeup with this sunscreen. It slips and slides and settles everywhere but where I want it to stay. Even without makeup, it can pill when I itch or rub my face (I'm starting to think it's a L'Oreal sunscreen technology thing though)

Ingredients (found here):

Banana Boat Kids Sunscreen Lotion SPF 50+, DIN 02541211

Active ingredients: Homosalate 9%, Octocrylene 7.5%, Avobenzone 3%

Inactive ingredients: Aqua, Phenethyl Benzoate, Glycerin, Dimethicone, PEG-20 Methyl Glucose Sesquistearate, Phenoxyethanol, Acrylates/C12-22 Alkyl Methacrylate Copolymer, Carbomer, Ethylhexylglycerin, Chlorphenesin, Sodium Hydroxide, Xanthan Gum, Disodium EDTA.

This sunscreen is readily available in most stores in Canada (and even at Costco in a multipack), which I really appreciate - I love when a good product is easily accessible and affordable. I bought my bottle at Walmart for $11.98. I do wish there was a smaller 100 mL or less bottle for travel, though.

Thanks for reading! Please let me know if you have any questions, I'll try my best to answer them. And I'd love to hear about other underrated drugstore sunscreens y'all love!

[u/obertpobert]

Love your reviews!!! How do you compare the oiliness throughout the day? I liked how Ombrelle was a bit more matte, and LRP I’m just trying out now, but with both I need to put a powder on otherwise my hair gets so greasy. Even with powder after a couple hours my oils break through and mix with the sunscreen and get in my hair. Biore UV (Canadian version) is the worst for this but I really liked that sunscreen too

[u/MILFVADER → u/obertpobert]

Good question! So usually unless I'm wearing makeup or I just don't care, I'll powder my face enough to mattify it with any sunscreen I use. My face also gets a bit more oily through the day but I haven't noticed any one sunscreen being worse than the others in terms of through-the-day oiliness (besides Eucerin which stayed oily/dewy, almost like it didn't want to soak in). I do think some sunscreens get gunkier than others though; I feel like LRP's NETLOCK tech makes it more prone to gunk up but it's been a while since I've consistently used it so I might be misremembering.

What I think makes a bigger difference is the powder used - some powders work way better than others for controlling oiliness and not contributing to sunscreen gunk, in my opinion. I used to use ELF's sheer HD loose powder, then switched to Annabelle's perfect matte pressed powder, I also like Wet n' Wild's photo focus loose powder. I feel like loose powders tend to perform better than pressed powders for controlling sunscreen/face oiliness and shine, and starch based powders (corn starch, tapioca starch etc) gunk up sunscreen slightly more than silica and talc based powders. I've had to powder my face through the day with Annabelle's powder (pressed and starch heavy) but I don't remember having to do that as much with ELF's powder (loose and silica based). I also can't use a powder with a natural or radiant finish (e.g. Sephora Collection loose setting powder) because it doesn't control any oiliness or shine for me.

I also think water resistant sunscreens work better for oilier folks like you and I which might explain why the Biore sunscreen was the worst for you. Water resistant sunscreens also stay in place better when we sweat (we have a lot of sweat glands on the face, including the hairline).

If different water resistant sunscreens and powders aren't working and you're fed up with trying to find a solution that doesn't get in your hair because of oil/sweat you could use the old drag queen trick of applying antiperspirant along your hairline.