Do sunscreens that don't smell like sunscreen exist?
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What sunscreen smells the least like sunscreen? I'm pale and should really wear sunscreen on my body during the day, but I hate the smell of sunscreen. I'm not super sensitive to smells in general, but the smell of sunscreen just bothers me inordinately. I don't care about natural vs. chemical sunscreens, and I only need about SPF 15. I've been looking at body lotions with SPF, but the only ones I've been able to smell in person still smell like sunscreen (I bought http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B001FB5IPA/metafilter-20/ref=nosim/ because it smelled the least bad, but I never use it because of the smell). What confuses me about this is that I've used SPF face products that don't smell like sunscreen- I'm currently using http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B001G7PMYA/metafilter-20/ref=nosim/ which smells kind of like almonds, but not like sunscreen. Using that on my body isn't practical because of the style and size of the bottle. I also just remembered that some sunscreens use fragrance to smell like coconut or whatever, but I'd also like to avoid that. Generally I don't want to smell like I just got back from the beach every day. So, I'm turning to the internet, since I can't smell every product out there personally. I'm willing to pay up to maybe $25 for a product that really seriously doesn't smell like sunscreen. Fast-absorbing and non-sticky would be nice too. It also doesn't need to be a body lotion with SPF- a regular sunscreen would be fine too, since this is mostly just for using on my exposed skin in the mornings and I have a non-SPF body lotion I like already.
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Answer:
I find Neutrogena's to be pretty neutral.
MadamM at Ask.Metafilter.Com Visit the source
Other answers
A seconding of Neutrogena. And their Dry-Touch isn't oily as so many sunscreens are. The price and size are in the affordable range.
vers
MD Forte. I am also pale and use sunscreen every single day. It's the only one I will ever use--zinc blocker, great rating re: toxicity from the Environmental Working Group, and it goes on just like a nice lotion with zero chalkiness or residue. It is also completely odorless. I cannot recommend it enough. You can get it on Amazon for under $30--look for the UV Lotion in a bigger pump bottle, not the tube.
anonnymoose
Banana Boat products have a distinct fake-banana-y smell that I love. It's the only kind of sunscreen I'll use.
DoubleLune
Nthing Neutrogena. Good quality, practically no smell. It smells very very faintly like whatever goes into sunscreen, but you have to really stick your nose in it to smell it. If you're looking for something that smells good without smelling sunscreen-y, I've heard raves about Ocean Potion products, which have an orange creamsicle fragrance. Never used them myself, though.
Metroid Baby
Nthing others--Neutrogena doesn't have much of a smell. Alternately, there are combination sunscreens/bug sprays. They mostly smell like bug spray, not sunscreen, which may not be an improvement.
box
It's expensive, but http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000R2IBNY/metafilter-20/ref=nosim/ sounds like what you are looking for. It's not creamy and formulated specifically to be pleasant to put on. If you go to the http://www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews/B000R2IBNY/ref=cm_cr_dp_see_all_btm?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending, where the product is more commonly bought, you can see a lot ofpositive reviews that sound like what you are looking for.
MuffinMan
Check the hand/body lotion sections. The Alba lotion I use is SPF 16. It has a smell but not a sunscreen smell.
small_ruminant
I got sunscreen from Origins once and it smelled absolutely amazing--not even remotely like sunscreen. I actually enjoyed putting it on, rather than seeing it as the gross annoying chore that it usually is. This was a good few years ago, but I'm pretty sure it was http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=origins+sunscreen&nomo=1&hl=en&client=safari&output=html&cid=5032222984729398273 which you can get for $25 at Beauty.com. Looks like it's all natural too which is good.
désoeuvrée
I find the Neutrogena Dry-touch sunscreens to have a pretty noticeable floral odor. It's not unpleasant, and it doesn't smell heavily of sunscreen chemicals, and it fades. But it does smell quite distinctly. A reason to consider them anyway is that they claim to use some technology that makes the SPF wimp out less quickly than that of other products. Trader Joe's sunscreen is much less smelly to me, but there's no fragrance to mask the chemical-sunscreen smell, so that comes through. I think in general that's the tradeoff you're going to be making in chemical sunscreens. Do you want to smell like the chemicals that block the sun, or do you want to smell like the artificial fragrance used to cover up the chemical smell? The obvious opt-out solution is to switch to a physical sunscreen. Personally, I go back and forth on how much credence I can bear to give to the Environmental Working Group's sunscreen paranoia - I think part of what they are saying is right on, and another part of it is alarmist. I've used Badger and Loving Naturals non-chemical sunscreens, which are usually the EWG's top-rated products. My experience with them is mixed. An unscented physical sunscreen does not smell like a chemical sunscreen (it smells like whatever the carrier oil in the sunscreen is: the Loving Naturals sunscreen smells a little bit like almond butter, not at all unpleasant). But using a physical sunscreen is a different experience than using a nice, thin, easy-to-apply chemical sunscreen: they are MUCH thicker and tackier and whiter than what you are probably used to.
thehmsbeagle
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