The sunscreen insect repellent combo, a great idea, right?

Studies are showing NOT.

Throughout my camping safety section of the website I stress how important it is to wear sunscreen daily. When camping, besides having to deal with the sun exposure from being outdoors, you are exposed to bugs! A common unwanted souvenir of camping are insect bites.

So it makes sense, now that there is a combination product of sunscreen and insect repellent to make it easy and combat two discomforts with one application.

Apply Insect Repellent Frequently??

If you read my page on how to wear sunscreen properly you know that in order for sunscreen to be effective, it must be re-applied every few hours.

But if you follow this important practice with a product that combines both sunscreen and insect repellent together, then you will also be applying insect repellent, most likely DEET, to your skin every few hours.

While the sunscreen should be applied frequently, the insect repellent should be applied only as often as you need it...when the mosquitos begin to bite again. It is not a good practice to frequently apply the insect repellent.

And if you are using a combination product of sunscreen and insect repellent, you will be applying both at the same time, many times throughout the day, to both you and your children.

Reduced Effectiveness

Not only do you not want to reapply the insect repellent frequently, but studies done by the FDA and other scientists now show that by combining sunscreen and insect repellent, the SPF of the sunscreen, and therefore the effectiveness of the sun protection is reduced. This happens whether you use a combination sunscreen insect repellent product, or apply both insect repellent and sunscreen separately, at the same time.

Insect Repellent and Sunscreen Tips

Still want to use a sunscreen insect repellent combo product? That is fine, but the best suggestion for this is to apply the combo product initially....but then throughout the day, reapply a sunscreen only product, liberally and frequently.

This way you will have the necessary sun protection as well as bug protection for as long as possible without having to reapply the insect repellent.

---