Sunscreens have different chemicals and different makeups. There is a lot of controversy as to whether or not you should use avobenzone in a sunscreen. Even though it’s approved by the American Academy of Dermatology, there have been no studies to show that there’s been any problems in humans. There are still some things out on the internet about whether it’s safe or not, so people want to have an alternate choice.
There are sunscreens that have physical blockers, such as titanium dioxide and zinc oxide, and those are inert and they sit on the surface of the skin, and they’ve ben compounded such that they basically block the light rather than use a chemical method to decrease the amount of ultraviolet light that gets to your skin. The other sunscreens may or many not have avobenzone, they may have parasol 1789, or they may have other UVA agents in them. Those have to sit on your skin for about an hour before they’re totally effective.
For children between 0 and 6, they shouldn’t be outside, so you shouldn’t have to worry about sunscreens on those kids, and between 6 months and 1 year, I would recommend a physical blocker that has titanium dioxide or zinc oxide. But once you get past age 1, any of the sunscreens are fine.
The physical blockers only go to about SPF 60, and the chemical blockers go all the way up to SPF 110.
