Product Review: Sun Bum Sunscreen
Summer is coming. I don’t need to look at the calendar to know. In Florida, the telltale signs are: less traffic on the highways (see you next year, snowbirds). You feel a light sheen of sweat on your back (and face) just from the 60-second walk from your front door to the car when leaving for work in the morning. And lastly, the rain is constant…. for about 20 minutes… every two hours.
There’s a reason why equestrians only come here for the winter.
Something we don’t talk about enough in our horse girl community is sun protection and skincare. We’re out in the elements all day, with dust, dirt, sweat (and manure) mixed in. Our horse habit is not kind to our skin. Eventer Lainey Ashker shared her rigorous skincare routine with us last year. After interviewing her on this topic, I started to change the way I approach my own skin health routine.
A big part of that was examining the type of sunscreen I use. Sunscreen has come a long way in recent years, but there’s still not enough awareness around why those cheap aerosol sunscreens from your local drug store (or Walmart, etc.) are actually no good for you or the planet. For example, they can be dangerous if you breathe them in. There are other types out there (chemical vs. mineral) and some companies have gone farther to remove harmful ingredients that are bad for you, but are also bad for the ocean. One of those companies is Sun Bum.
With a funky Florida office in Cocoa Beach, Sun Bum is becoming a household name here in the Sunshine State. Their sunscreen products are vegan, gluten-free, cruelty-free and have no sulfate or paraben. And they’re reef friendly. The Hawaii State Legislature approved a bill that banned sunscreens containing oxybenzone and octinoxate last year, but the FDA is still assessing how to regulate “safe” sunscreen ingredients. Sun Bum chooses ingredients that meet the requirements set by Hawaii’s recent legislation.
Sun Bum sells both mineral and non-mineral types of broad spectrum sunscreen that are easy to apply and keep my fair skin safe from the sun for long days at the barn. What I like most about Sun Bum products is that I don’t feel “greased up” after applying, and my skin feels soft and moisturized. Plus it smells good, too. A little goes a long way. The sunscreen comes in various application forms, from a spray to a roll-on to the classic lotion. I keep a bottle of Sun Bum Original Glow Face Lotion in my tack trunk always, and have added a bottle of SPF 70 (I don’t joke around) spray for the summer.
It’s worthy investment in my skin and my health, at horse shows and at hot summer days around the barn. Plus I feel good supporting a company that wants to keep me safe, but our oceans safe, too.
Overall rating: 4.8/5 | Quality: 4.9/5 | Price point: 4.8/5