Well, I think it's time to finally face what I have been trying to deny for weeks: summer is really, truly here.  The days of going for a neighborhood stroll at 3pm are long gone, replaced by what feels like a 24 hour need for air conditioning and sunscreen.  Here are my top picks for natural, mineral sunscreen that won't leave you and baby looking like Powder.

1. COOLA Mineral Matte Finish Face Sunscreen in Cucumber.  In my opinion, COOLA probably makes the mineral sunscreen with the best consistency and wearability, but it doesn't come cheap.  I try to go a bit more economical when it comes to sunscreen for my body, but for my face, neck and chest I'm willing to splurge.  This matte finish face sunscreen is perfect for layering under makeup as the velvety, non-white consistency provides a line-smoothing finish almost like a foundation primer.  It feels like you are swiping a cool, powdery cloud onto your face - one that spreads easily, disappears instantly, and leaves you wondering if you did, in fact, just put sunscreen on.  The COOLA SPF Sport in Citrus Mimosa is my favorite option for an everyday sunscreen for neck, hands and arms because it blends into your skin in seconds and leaves no white residue whatsoever.  The citrus scent is delicious and ingredients like coconut oil, arnica, and orange water hydrate, reduce inflammation and firm and tone the skin (respectively).  I probably won't be slathering a $36 sunscreen on my entire body for a day at the beach, but this one does have fantastic water resistance, naturally boosted by the addition of beeswax to the formula.  COOLA also has a baby sunscreen option, which is unscented but smells incredible thanks to the cocoa and shea butters.  You can feel good about putting this on your little one as it offers full protection and contains over 70% organic ingredients with zero chemicals and no nano-sized particles.               

2. Original Sprout Face and Body Sunscreen.  If you're looking for a titanium dioxide-free sunscreen, here it is.  This one was my go-to for over a year until I recently switched to COOLA, but that doesn't mean I don't still love it!  First of all, it smells amazing (yet is free of parfum).  Second, it's affordable.  And third through seventy-second; it's non-greasy, leaves no trace of whiteness, is free of any bad ingredient you can possibly think of including gluten, honey and phytoestrogens, helps clear acne and eczema, is 100% vegan, can be used by the entire family… the list goes on.

3. Honest Company Sunscreen.  This one is my top pick for babies because it consists of very few ingredients, because zinc oxide is the only active sunscreen ingredient, and because it comes at a great price point.  It is a little harder to rub in than the others on my list, and does leave a bit of a whitish cast, but I feel good about putting it on M, and I don't think she's too self-conscious about the white part yet.  I love that this one specifies that it is biodegradable and reef-friendly, and I also really love that it gets delivered to my front door.  One last note before I move on - I haven't tried it yet, but I'm pretty darn excited that Honest just came out with a non-nano titanium dioxide sunscreen spray.  A mineral sunscreen spray is exactly what I need for pool lounging and beach vacations in which I tend to use an entire bottle of sunscreen per outing.  

4. Thinkbaby Sunscreen.  Pretty basic PABA free, nano-particle free mineral sunscreen but top rated on both the EWG's database for safe sunscreens and Amazon.com customer reviews.  Not only does this mineral sunscreen go on almost clear, $1.5 million in proceeds is guaranteed to go towards Livestrong's fight against cancer.      

5. Sweetsation Therapy Kids Sunscreen.  This is the only one of the bunch I have not personally tried, but as someone who has used and loved quite a few other skincare and baby products from Sweetsation Therapy, I think it's pretty safe to assume I'm going to love this one too.  As the folks at Sweetsation Therapy state, "It's not just a baby sunscreen, it's a state of the art skin care pampering treatment - with sunscreen."  Ingredients like organic marshmallow, grape seed and raspberry are rich in antioxidants that fight the skin damage and cellular oxidation that cause premature aging, so I suppose your baby will look like she's only 1 when she's actually 2 (gotta start early with the anti-aging treatments, amiright?).  The inactive ingredients aren't all that inactive: tamanu oil has strong anti-inflammatory properties; green tea neutralizes free radicals; kelp and cucumber are hydrating; and lycopene promotes healing and nourishing.  The combination of all natural cocoa and vanilla give this sunscreen its addictive chocolate scent, and that is something I can vouch for as many of their other baby products have the same fragrance.

* The COOLA, Honest, Thinkbaby and Sweetsation Therapy baby sunscreens all score a 1 on the EWG database, and that's as good and as natural as it gets.  The COOLA Sport sunscreen scored a 2, the COOLA matte finish face sunscreen scored a 3, and the Original Sprout is not yet rated.  If you're not familiar with the Environmental Working Group's rating scale, the higher the number, the more toxic the ingredients are to your health.  To give you an idea, the Neutrogena sunscreen I used to slather on a few years ago has a rating of 8 due to the Oxybenzone and Retinyl Palmitate.