Summer, oh how I love it!  The sunshine, the warm air, the beach, walking barefoot outside, swimming, it’s all so great.  But one thing that’s not great?  Sunburns!!  They are really the worst.  I’m talking from experience, as I have had far too many in my lifetime.  I am about as fair skinned as you can get.  My version of a tan is my freckles starting to connect.  I used to fall asleep in the sun for hours.  Stupidly, I once even used crisco to enhance the possibility of a golden tan.  I wish I could go back in time and re-do that afternoon.  All the years trying to tan as a teenager has taught me that I need to face the facts–I only burn.  Burns aren’t worth it.  Not at all.  They don’t look good, they don’t feel good, and they are truly harmful!  Who knows what kind of damage I could have done.  Thankfully, I am smarter and more informed now and those days are long gone.  I’ve realized I need to be a role model for my children who will mimic my actions.

My kids have grown up with a slightly different approach with the sun than I did.  Knowing what I do now, there is no way I’m letting them lay out for hours or go all day long unprotected.  These precious kids have had their skin protected from the harmful sun rays I subjected myself to.  But, living in a place where they are outside most of the summer, it can be a challenge to keep them from burning.  That is, unless you have the best weapons to get the job done.

I love using Neutrogena sunscreen* on my kids.  They have a wide array of products for babies to adults that provide the type of coverage that I am looking for.  Great products like wet skin kids ( you can put it on the kids when their skin is wet) is a life saver when at the beach or pool.  I love that it’s easy to put on and that it works so well with the SPF 70!  Neutrogena Sport is another one of their products I love.  Both the cream and the glide on stick (kind of like a deodorant stick) have high SPFs as well and work incredibly well!

Neutrogena found that children best adopt sun-safe habits by watching their parents apply sunscreen on themselves. This game of “monkey see, monkey do” educates children early on to choose sun safe behaviors.  With that in mind, they have launched their new campaign called #MimicMommy to get moms to show our kids how the importance of using sunscreen daily.  Because even just a few (1-2) bad sunburns as a child almost doubles the risk of skin cancer!

 As part of the campaign, Neutrogena teamed up with Brand Ambassador Kristen Bell who brings the #MimicMommy concept to life in a hilarious new video. Check it out! Neutrogena will even donate $1 for every video share (up to 15,000) to the Children’s Melanoma Prevention Foundation (CMPF) – a non-profit organization committed to preventing skin cancer, one child at a time.

It’s so true, we definitely need to be talking to our kids about the importance of using sunscreen.  So let’s have the talk with our kids!  With the 4th of July just around the corner, check out this important information and let’s keep our families out of harm’s way!

*I received products to facilitate a review, but I have been a long time fan and user of Neutrogena sunscreen products–all opinions are my own.