All You Ever Wanted To Know About Suncreens!

By Jim Mercer

Dear Judy, it was a pleasure to speak with you regarding Baby Blanket suncare products and the many issues and concerns that were presented in response to your recent blogiversary celebration. As promised, we have put together a summary which addresses the comments and concerned raised by the moms who commented on that article.

#1 concern was Safety!! And it should be!!!

General information and concerns about sunscreens safety:

Sunscreens in the US are classified as drugs and are regulated by the FDA.

Sunscreens (sunscreen filters) that are being used in suncare products have been approved by the FDA. The FDA regulations were established in the late 1970’s. These sunscreens are the same sunscreens that are being used today, (40 years later).

So are sunscreens Safe? Yes.

We recommend:

Test the sunscreen product that you are intending to use on your child on a small area of the child’s skin. Or on your own skin. This will give you feedback to see if there could be a possible a reaction to the product with your child’s skin.

Reports indicate approximately 2% of people may have some type of reaction to suncreen.

For best product performance apply sunscreen 20 minutes prior to sun exposure and preferably on cool dry skin.

#2 Concern: All Natural vs Chemical

We were very impressed that most of you understand that you can not have a 100% all natural sunscreen. We are seriously reviewing this possibility.

The major issue with having an all-natural sunscreen is that you need to keep the product preserved.
We have not found an all natural preservative as of yet that can be used with sunscreens. We will keep you posted of any progress in this area.

Nanoparticals in our products: The answer is no. The titanium dioxide in our sunscreen are microparticals which are fairly large and do not penetrate the skin.

Microparticals are carefully regulated by the FDA and the partical size is very controlled.

Nanoparticals are mostly in the cosmetic industry – they penetrate the skin… and are not regulated.

The suncare products that are on the market that use minerals such as Zinc and Titanium in combination with sunscreen filters (that are approved FDA) are preferred.

Baby Blanket Suncare Products were developed to include titanium dioxide and Zinc oxide (which are physical barriers that reflect UV light) – Less chemicals and more natural ingredients.

#3 Concern – Sunscreens are messy!!!! And how much do I use to have my child properly protected?

OK, we all know it’s messy!!!!! If anyone knows of a non messy sunscreen when it comes to applying to our children, (if we could only eliminate the wiggling, it would be great) please let us know!!

We want sunscreen to have a visual application (in other words – you can see it while you are putting it on your child) and to have a great feel after it is applied.

Why a white visual application? So we do not miss any spots when applying the sunscreen.

We recommend:

Using a minimum of 1 oz. per child. Reapply after swimming and toweling off.

# 4 concern: Delivery systems: (this addresses the concern over “messiness” described above too!)

Baby Blanket was the first suncare products company to introduce unique delivery systems and convenient ways to apply sunscreen for specific areas of the body.

Sunscreen is available in a towelette, stick, and also specialty applications like sunscreen designed for the scalp and face. (all SPF above 45).

Baby Blanket suncare products were developed in coordination and consultation with Dr. Robert Sayre (the originator of the SPF rating system).

Keep your children protected from head to toe, with sunscreen and sunprotective clothing, hats, and sunglasses.

Thank you for your interest and concerns.

Kindest Regards, Jim Mercer President
www.BabyBlanketSuncare.com div. Children’s Healthcare Research Group

Jim has traveled throughout the United States, Canada and globally to explore many business opportunities. For the past twenty years, Jim has established himself as a successful businessman, entrepreneur and the President and Founder www.BabyBlanketSuncare.com Products a div. Children’ s Healthcare Research Group and J Little Mercer Enterprises, a global marketing outlet for large Process equipment sold worldwide.

Do you have any additional questions about sunscreens? Drop us a line and let us know or leave a comment on this post – we will get your questions answered for you!

Blogiversary Celebration – Baby Blanket Suncare – CLOSED

I met James Mercer, the owner of Baby Blanket Suncare when I was in Los Angeles a few weeks ago. I rented a temporary showroom for my wholesale business along with Larrivo (who is part of our blogiversary celebration) and Baby Blanket. Baby Blanket makes all kinds of products for protecting our children from the harmful rays of the sun. I spent a lot of time talking with James because my son has very sensitive skin and reacts to almost all sunscreens that we have tried. James gave me a sample of his “faces” sunscreen which is the gentlest formula that they make to try out on my son. I can’t wait for the sun to return so that I can give it a try! Having a child who reacts to sunscreen isn’t fun! I want to be able to go to the beach and I don’t want my son to get a sun burn or be exposed to harmful rays that might lead to skin cancer when he is older. So what do I do?? Use a sunscreen that gives him a rash? Or keep him out of the sun?? I have tried MANY different sunscreens – even an “organic” brand that cost over $20 for a 2 ounce tube! I am hoping that this faces formula will be just what I need! I’ll keep you posted when I get into the sun (perhaps I’ll have to go on vacation this winter to a sunny location!!).

Here are some things that I learned about Sunscreen by talking with Baby Blanket:
1) In order to properly cover your child, you should use 1 fluid ounce of sunscreen (head to toe) per application. That is a lot of sunscreen, but that is how you get the best protection. I can tell you that I never knew this before and have probably never put enough on!
2) You should apply sunscreen to cool, dry skin – so apply it before you go outside, not once you have already been out in the sun for a while!
3) Sunscreen cannot be made “all natural” because there are preservatives that are required to be added to them so that there is no truely organic or all natural sunscreen anywhere on the market (read the fine print of those who claim to be!)
4) Sunscreen should never be applied to babies who are less than 6 months old! Their dermis (skin) isn’t mature enough to handle having sunscreen put on it. Once they are 6 months – you are fine – apply away!!
5) SPF – the only thing that has changed about sunscreens since the early 70’s is that the SPF levels have increased. Otherwise, the FDA has not approved or changed the approval of any of the ingredients currently used in sunscreens – what does this mean for you? It means that companies like Baby Blanket have had nearly 40 years of experience making sunscreen and testing their safety. That’s a lot longer history than most companies have with their products!

Baby Blanket has some really cool items for your kids too! Beside just your traditional sunscreen, they also have Towelettes which are basically “wipes” that you can use to liberally and easily apply sunscreen to squirmy kids and a scalp spray to help protect the sensitive skin on your kids head! These are two great products for moms of babies and young children!! And most items come in a baby version as well as a kids version for your older kids too!

As part of our Blogiversary Celebration, Baby Blanket Suncare has offered to give away an assortment of suncare products to THREE lucky Mommy News & Views Readers. That’s right!! Three of you will get to choose from a “kids assortment” or a “baby assortment” of suncare products!

To be entered into this contest please tell us what your top 3-5 concerns are when choosing a sunscreen for your baby/child. I can’t promise we will get answers to all of them, but we will do our best to get the folks at Baby Blanket to address your fears at the end of the contest! – This is MANDATORY in order to be considered for a prize.

But you don’t want just one chance to win do you? How about a few more! You can enter for extra chances to win one of these THREE sunscreen packages by doing any of the activities below. Just be sure to come back here and leave us a comment for each one – letting us know which ones you completed.

1) Tell us if you would prefer an All Natural Sunscreen product for your child (knowing that not all of the ingredients can be all natural) and if you are willing to pay a premium for it?
2) Spread the word! Tweet about this post and link back to it – be sure to include @MommyNews in your tweet and a link back to this page, and leave a comment here with a link to your tweet (you can do this once per day during the contest).
3) Spread the word some more! Post about this contest on facebook and tell all of your friends about it! (you can do this once per day during the contest)
4) Don’t have a blog, not on facebook or twitter? No problem, we want you to have extra chances to win too – so go ahead and send an email to any of your pregnant or nursing friends. Be sure to cc: us on your email (blogiversary@mommynewsblog.com) and leave a comment here too! We promise not to add anyone to any mailing lists unless they specifically request to be added.
5) Purchase any item from Baby Blanket Suncare – and leave a comment here with your order number. You will get 4 extra chances to win for every purchase!

That’s it! Lots of ways to win one of three suncare packages from Baby Blanket Suncare!! This contest ends 11/18/09 at 5 PM. All entrants will be verified and must complete the mandatory entry before completing the ‘extra’ entries. Invalid entries will be disqualified. This contest is open to US-based Mailing addresses ONLY.. Winner must respond to email within 48 hours or we reserve the right to choose another winner.