If you are visiting Virginia Beach this summer, or any other beach for that matter, you need to know what sunscreen to bring.  Sunscreen is what protects your skin and helps prevents your body from getting cancer fro the sun’s harmful UV rays.  Picking the right sunscreen isn’t easy, there is a lot of competition on the market.

Multiple sources have performed tests on many brands of sunscreen to find that a lot of them don’t make the cut.  Consumer Reports has performed lab tests that prove that the SPF listed on many bottles of sunscreen are higher than the actual effectiveness.  This means that you need to be careful when you pick your sunscreen.

There are limited brands that have been found to be effective.  These brands were tested and found to be the most reliable but not the only reliable ones.  New brands come out regularly and require testing.  However, only about half of the brands that were tested held up to the standards for the listed SPF rating.  Here are some of the brands that you can find that can be trusted.

• Aveeno Lotion Sunscreen
• Bull Frog Spray Sunscreen
• Neutrogena Lotion Sunscreen
• Pure Sun Defense Lotion Sunscreen
• Trader Joe’s Spray Sunscreen

Pure Sun Defense is often considered to be the best sunscreen to be applied to children from this list.  No matter where you live these different sun screens should be easy to find.  Trader Joe’s is the only one that has a limited selection of places to buy from.

Before you go out this summer here are a few tips regarding sunscreen:

• Do your research. You have already started along the path to doing your research on sunscreen but there is more to do if you don’t want to pick one of the above brands.  You need to be willing to put in the time to find the one that is right for you.
• Sunscreen is needed for everywhere. While most people are aware that your regular skin can burn, many people forget about the fact that your lips can burn.  Areas that are covered by clothing can burn too. Make sure to be cautious when applying sunscreen.
• Make sure to buy a sunscreen that has a level of waterproofing. This will not only prevent it from being washed off when you swim but it will help to keep you from washing it off when you sweat.
• Remember to reapply your sunscreen at least every two hours. Sunscreen gets rubbed, washed, and worn away, it is important to make sure that you replace it when it does.  Most sunscreen containers say that you should replace the sunscreen every two hours max.  Many experts say that you need to reapply you sunscreen every hour when you are active to be safe.