Product Review: Banana Boat Kids Tear Free SPF 50 sunscreen lotion

 I love the finish this sunscreen leaves on the skin! The most common complaints people tend to have about sunscreens are that sunscreen smell, the sticky feel and the white cast. Well in this case the smell is the same (I have trained myself to learn to love it and equate it with safety and smooth skin!)  but the sticky afterfeel and the white cast are gone within a minute. It has all the things I love seeing in a sunscreen, a mix of chemical and physical UV blockers (best of both worlds), convenient bulk size packaging and a moisturizing formula. 

One caveat I do have is that it isn't particularly easy to spread on dry skin (if you're oily, you have found a possibility) but I usually use it with an AHA or a self tanning lotion anyway, so it's still ok. In addition, I actually wish there was more of a white cast, which is caused by the physical blockers I love so much. This only has a bit, which is great for those that hate that finish and not so good for those of us who are willing to sacrifice a little aesthetic appeal for protection performance. But aside from that, the absolute greatest thing is that it absorbs into skin very quickly, leaving instead of that sticky feel, a smooth silky, freshly lotioned feel.

If you have normal to oily skin, no sensitivity issues with chemical sunscreens, and need heavy, beach like protection with an appealing feel on skin, this just might be one of the best options at the drugstore.

Product Review: MAC Suntints SPF 20 Liquid Lip Balm in Pink Tinge

Isn't it almost a job prerequisite for a beauty blogger to be obsessed with MAC? Yes, yes, I fit that stereotype too. I don't quite worship at the altar like many, but if its any indicator of how much I spend there, I finished makeup school exclusively in order to be able to get the 40% discount at the Pro Stores.....

Nevermind my personal spendiness issues, I'm here to tell you about the Suntints. As many other reviewers have noted, these lip balms are extremely sticky (stickier and thicker than lipglasses, so that's really saying something) and contain almost no pigment. I mean barely anything. They do however provide three benefits which in my mind outshine all of that:

1. An SPF of 20, with UVA protection. I have searched high and low and have only found a handful of lip products with adequate UVA protection and believe me it's important. If you worry about thinning of lips, vertical lines, freckles, overall pigment darkening (or God forbid, skin cancer on one of the most sun sensitive spots on the body) and you aren't applying and constantly reapplying UVB and UVA protective products on a constant basis, you are shortchanging yourself. Those pesky UVA rays cause the majority of the trouble and as we all know, prevention is always better than correction.
2. A long lasting formulation: The ingredient breakdown will contain more details on the specific agents which create the semi-waterproof almost shellac-like texture of these balms. So not only does the product stay on the lips even after ingestion of some food/drink, but that means that your sunscreen isn't rubbing away either. In addition, it means that less moisture evaporates from the lip and for those of us with insane lip balm addictions, well we all know what that means.
3. High wattage shine: I am a lover of pigment, so I prefer to put on traditional cream lipsticks and then top them with this for that "porn-pout" look, which some of us against all sanity continue to love. I find it also helps lock in lipstick color, so there's less reapplication of that too.

If it isn't abundantly obvious by now, I will be buying more. To be incredibly honest, I'll probably just buy the other shades for fun, but my natural lip color is so intensely pigmented that the three colors show absolutely no difference. If you have the same issue, don't worry about choosing a shade, they're all ok.