Stuff Parents Need

Easing the chaos in the nest, one find at a time.

Natural Sunscreen: Beyond Coastal Review and GIVEAWAY!!!

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About a month ago I was at the zoo with a friend. We had a “sighting” while we were there. As we were checking out the macaw exhibit, something through the bushes caught our eye. It was something unusual and unexpected just beyond the greenery.

Was it some sort of animal, escaped from its cage? No, silly. It was WAY cooler than that!

It was….

wait for it….

A WATER PARK!

(Image from rain-drop.com)

Yes, true story, there’s a water park in my city and my friend and I had no clue it existed. It’s part of our public pool system. It costs just $3 to go. What an amazing find! We literally spied it while we were strolling around at the zoo, and we vowed to figure out what it was and get ourselves over there.

I should also mention that this place is a 6 minute drive from my house. Life is good, people!

On Mondays between 5-7 pm they offer family night. Everyone in your family can get in for just $5 total! I also like the timeframe for two reasons. First, it’s just after work for Tim, so the whole family can go. There’s no way I could handle both littles by myself!

The second reason I like the timeframe is because this is after the peak sun hours. Since melanoma runs in Tim’s family, it is especially important that we limit our exposure to the sun during those hours.

But even though the rays are not at their most powerful from 5-7, you can definitely still get sunburned. So we lather on the sunscreen before we head over there, and usually reapply once after we’ve been there an hour.

Lately we’ve been using these great products from Beyond Coastal. These products are natural, so icky and questionable chemicals are nowhere to be found in the entire line. Love that! I have never enjoyed having one set of sunscreens for Darah and a different set for us. We should all be using the same stuff! I’m guessing if ingredients aren’t good for Darah, they probably aren’t good for the grownups, either. The Beyond Coastal line is great for everyone.

I have enjoyed trying all the products in the line, but I think my very favorite is the face stick, which is SO easy to apply on squirmy and impatient toddlers. I like the thick, quick application!

As you head into the summer months, be sure that you are well-stocked with sunscreen, and skip the stuff with nasty additives and go straight for the good stuff, like Beyond Coastal!

Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader will will a Beyond Coastal prize pack (pictured below)! ARV $36!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Be sure to enter my other current giveaways, found on the sidebar of my page.

Disclosure: I received complimentary products for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are strictly my own. 

 

Babyganics Sunscreen Review and GIVEAWAY!!!

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Skin cancer runs in Tim’s family. That means it is serious business for us to make sure that our children have on sunscreen if they are going to be spending a significant amount of time outside. I am always on the lookout for sunscreen that has an high SPF, that is water resistant. I also give careful thought to how the sunscreen is applied. For Darah, something that goes on really fast is best. She doesn’t mind having sunscreen put on her, but she’s always in a hurry to go play once we get outside, so having her wait 5 minutes to get lathered with lotion and then wait another 5 minutes for it to soak in just won’t work.

Babyganics has a Sunscreen Spray that we’ve really been enjoying. It has an SPF of 50 and it absorbs into the skin quickly. The spray feature also helps speed up the application process. Perhaps what I appreciate the most is that it is formulated with babies and toddlers in mind, and leaves behind parabens, paba, sulfates and other nasty and questionable chemicals, all while keeping the skin protected.

Babyganics is a company founded by two dads who wanted products that were not only eco-friendly, but also people friendly (sometimes we assume that if something isn’t harmful to the earth that it also isn’t harmful to people, but that’s not necessarily true!). You should definitely check out their impressive line of products that are good for everyone and really work!

Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader will win Babyganics CoverUp Baby Sunscreen Spray!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Be sure to enter my other current giveaways, found on the sidebar of my page.

Disclosure: I received a complimentary product for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are strictly my own. 

Water-Resistant Kid-Friendly Sunscreen: Sunbow Sunscreens Review

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With the temperatures regularly hitting the low 90s in Chattanooga, we’ve been going all over town to play in various water attractions. We don’t have a pool or access to one (there’s one thing I do miss about Memphis…), but we are fortunate to live in a city that has a few water-based activities for little kids that are completely free. We have wading pools in front of and around the aquarium downtown (just a bus ride away!) and across the river there’s a really great fountain that is just perfect for little ones to run around in for hours.

Darah, ever since her Callaway Gardens experience, has been ALL ABOUT getting in the water any chance she can get. But she has inherited pasty white skin from both her mom and dad, and melanoma also runs on her dad’s side of the family. For those two reasons, we are EXTRA careful about sun exposure, and we try to avoid being out in the sun at all between 11 am and 2 pm when the rays are at their most intense.

Any time we are out, even on cloudy days, we load up with our “lotion” (what Darah calls sunscreen). I’m pleased to report that Darah already knows that applying lotion before we play outside is just part of the process, and she goes along with it without issue.

It doesn’t hurt that we have some really cute products on hand, either! Lately we have been using two great new products from Sunbow Sunscreen.

Sunbow Sunscreen products have two beloved children’s characters on them: Spongebob Squarepants and Dora the Explorer. We’ve been using the Sunscreen Stick that has SPF 45 for Darah’s face and the Sunscreen in a non-aerosol pump form that has Dora the Explorer and an SPF 30 (I do wish this number were a bit higher). Both products go on with a slight color to help you or your child see what areas you have covered and what areas you have missed, but then they quickly dry clear.

I really like the application methods for each product. Darah likes lotions that spray on and the stick covers her face very quickly. This means that the process of putting on lotion doesn’t take long at all, which is good for squirmy toddlers who just want to get in the water!

Speaking of water, these are water-resistant sunscreens. So they are perfect for play time AND pool time. These products are also hypo-allergenic, which makes them ideal for anyone with sensitive skin.

Of course, you don’t have to be a kid to enjoy these products. I’ll usually just wear whatever sunscreen Darah has on to avoid packing multiple bottles. Sunbow Sunscreen has kept my skin protected, as well!

Buy it!: The spray sunscreen retails for $9.99 and the sun stick retails for $7.99. All products can be ordered online!

Disclosure: I received complimentary products for review purposes. The opinions expressed here are strictly my own.