Congrats on your son's graduation! :)

Congratulations on your sons graduation! I am going to have to give this alba sunscreen a try. I am almost completely out of my Jo Malone Protective Daily Lotion (their sunscreen) and they've discontinued it (not like I would buy it again, I got it for free when I was working at J.M. and it was hella espensive!) I'm freaking out because I really hate having to try things out and have a total #fail and sunscreen is one of thee toughest things because I have such weird freak out skin that even the slightest of greasiness and I become something along the lines of what James Dean looked like in that one scene in Giant :\ You're a total class act that just so happens to be a total hottie too btw ;)

I love this sunscreen. I too LOVE california baby sunscreen but pricey so I carry California baby in the diaper bag and I sent off the Alba sunscreen for kids to daycare with my son. I couldn't shed the money for two tubes of california baby so I bought the next best thing. I haven't try it for myself yet, I will have to pick one of these lavender tubes next time I'm at whole foods for my pale irish skin. I can't wait to smell the lavender.I'm very lucky I don't have any embarassing stories about my mother. She's as classy as it gets. She would of been the one on the sideline commenting on the unappropriate Moms. I've never seen her with anything revealing, as a matter of fact for my wedding she bought this GORGEOUS dress I mean GORGEOUS... paid a fortune for it. She said she felt like a princess in it, Ahhh but getting closer to the wedding I could tell she wasn't comfortable. It was off shoulder dress but nothing revealing at all, anyways my mother-in-law ended up wearing it instead and my mother found this still beautiful very classic dress with a "jacket" ;-) To this day my mom does not leave the house without her makeup and hair done. And she never sunbathed her white procelain skin and you can tell she doesn't look like a 63 year old woman, she has really nice skin.

congrats... how exciting for you and your son & your family!!!  incidentally i just bought this alba lavender sunscreen on drugstore (they're having a sunscreen sale and of COURSE the cali baby one ISNT on sale.... we use that one for the lil roxtar who's 19 months and calls it sun cweam because there's a sun on the tube)... the added bonus for me was the lavender... WHICH is also a bug repellent... and we live in the country, those buggers need repelling... and i'm a sunscreen queen.  i also purchased the kiss my face... face & neck sunscreen which was also on sale, to see which one we all prefer.  i'm a sucker for a sale.  embarrassing graduation story.... my sister graduated college, my father decided to "dress" for the occassion.  we're scottish, that means the kilt & the hose & the sporan & the wool coat & vest (minus the bagpipes thankfully).... yeah.... did i mention, my sister graduated college IN FLORIDAnuff said

This was a funny, most excellently written storyline!  I almost started shuddering thinking “I wonder if I embarrassed my kids at their graduations?”  I always liked to be the cute mom back in the day!  It’s occurred to me as I age that  sometimes the perspective of the mom who is trying to stay young and looking good is because we want our kids to be proud of their moms!  But in fact, it isn’t the ‘how my mom looks’ perspective that makes our children proud of their parents!  It’s the ‘heart and who are parents are and how we treat our kids and their friends and the integrity we have shown’ that really impresses our children and their friends!   I was always the fun, laugh filled parent but I did tend to dress young because I always felt young.  I didn’t dress anything like the description of the skank-ette mom described in this story but I bet at times I might have dressed in too little! Even now I have a difficult time dressing like an old person because my spirit is young still!  I still laugh all the time and say “Yippieeee” and jump up and down when something wonderful happens!!!  Not many women my age EVER do that!  But I don’t care, I love feeling happy and am glad I am able to still jump up and down over joyful times! My husband sometimes has to tell me that my outfit is too young for my current age – so I have a really difficult time buying clothes that don’t make me feel ancient.  So…in some tiny way I can sort of see how some mom’s might just think their kids would be proud if they still looked youthful and vibrant and in these mom’s way of thinking, they just might think their over tanned, skimpily dressed, voluptuous bodies look completely awesome and that their child and child’s friends will think WOW!  Your mom is hot!!!!!   The mom’s background also might be something where the one thing they feel they know how to do as a mom, is look good!  Maybe the mom can’t cook, isn’t smart enough to help their child with their homework, is someone who can barely afford to buy their kids school clothes but they at least can still look good (in their skewed perception of what looks good) when they are there to represent their child at some achievement such as graduation.  There’s a lot of perspectives out there we don’t know about.  This woman you described… maybe this is the only way she knows how to be.   I think I’m guilty of being the somewhat inappropriately dressed mom in my past!  I used to walk daily and work out constantly and I was really proud of my cute little figure back then!  When my son got married several years ago, my goal was to represent him well as mother of the groom and so I bought a killer, stunning, long navy blue dress with spaghetti straps and little sparkles all over the dress and it actually criss-crossed with ties up the back!  It was probably one of the most beautiful dresses I have ever worn and I felt absolutely stunning and magical in it!  But later, after showing the dress to my son and his future bride to make sure they approved, my son’s future wife said, “Your mom is going to look more beautiful than I am!”  That was never my goal and she was breathtaking the day of their wedding but at that moment, I realized, I might have overdone my dress and it really was a much younger dress than the other mom of the bride and stepmom of the bride wore!  I carried it off, but later thought….this dress was more like a bridesmaid dress or prom dress for a younger girl than a mother’s dress.  Once also at a different time, my daughter had one of her male friends from school over to my house after I was divorced, well he openly flirted with me and my daughter was completely appalled and I’m sure it’s because I acted young and probably dressed to show off the figure I used to have!  I, at the time, was flattered.  But for my daughter it was a total “Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww mom!!!!!!!!!!!” moment!  Now I even think “Ewwwwwwwwwwwww gross!”  I don’t have a lot of really great mom qualities but I never had a role model to learn about being a healthy good mom, so I was on my own on how to be a great mom!  I did the best that I could and I have two completely awesome children but looking back I know I probably dressed inappropriately and too young for my age back in the day when they were in high school.  This topic hit a chord with me – gave me something to think about and I do feel badly if I ever embarrassed my own children.  I have a feeling that the woman you described thought she looked amazing and I can’t help but feel kind of bad for her if she truly didn’t realize how much she mortified her daughter.  If she honestly knew better, then shame on her.  In her mind, she may have thought she was showing everybody how young and vital her daughter’s mom is!!!!!!!  I’m just sayin’ everybody has a perspective on how they appear to the world and a lot of times our pasts reflect on how our present ends up being displayed to the world.

Congratulations to you and your son! Ugh, I vow to never, ever dress like that. I'm 20 and I wouldn't even wear something like that to a club! I believe there is a fine line between classy/sexy and slutty/nasty, and it is not to be crossed!Great review - I am always on the hunt for the perfect sunscreen. I have never, ever been able to tan. In fact, when I was younger and our family went to a hot, sunny place for vacation in the middle of the winter my mom, sister, and I would all break out into a terrible sun rash! It was awful at the time - but now I'm thankful because it kept me out of the sun and the tanning beds (for the most part at least) during high school while all of my friends were frying themselves. I learned the art of self tanner and now I use that and wear SPF every day! I hope that this keeps me from getting wrinkled for a long time!

jeanasina,  I read that the shelf life for sunscreen is 2 years. After 2 years, the ingredients breakdown and they lose their maximum protection.  Also, if your sunscreen is watery or has a bad smell, you should toss it.

Congratulations to you, your son and the rest of your family!  High school graduation is a major milestone and your son is lucky to have you and the rest of your family to get him successfully to this point.  So many young people today are on the wrong track and I'm so happy for you that he is happy and healthy.  God bless!I have really begun to enjoy and seek out organic products and food, but I haven't tried any organic sunscreen yet.  Right now I am using Coppertone Nutrashield Faces with Dual Defense.  It has 70+Spf broad spectrum UVA/UVB protection and nourishing antioxidants to promote natural skin repair.  For body I love Aveeno Active Naturals sunblock spray 45 SPF.  I am very happy with both, but I enjoyed your review and will be sure to check out the organic versions next time I get a chance. 

I don't have any embarrasing mom stories.  My mom is awesome and classy.  I myself am part Native American and part Spanish, although I look like  a straight up white women:P  I usually don't ever burn, but I tan really nicely.  I like to tan naturally though outdoors.  And I don't do it everyday.  During the summer I might lie out a couple of days a week.  I never tan with a tanning bed though.  So the majority of the year I'm white as white can be.  And for a few short months I have a healthy glow!  I haven't tried this sunscreen yet, but I'm a big fan of Alba products, especially their lipbalm. 

I am so fortunate to have the parents I have. My mom, who is slim, tall, still has naturally black hair, and wears no makeup whatsoever, has never given me cause for grief (at least in the appearance department!). With her figure, she could easily wear more trendy clothing, but she serenely declines and sticks with her comfortable t-shirts and jeans. She knows when to dress up, though, too! I think home environment is so important to a girl's self-esteem. With two parents who are good-looking but never pay the slightest attention to their appearance or weight, I never realized how blessed I was until I learned that self-consciousness can be a learned behavior too, especially from mothers to daughters.
That said, I do have friends whose moms are the tabloid-reading, trend-chasing, juicy-gucci-lululemon types. These are the moms that participate in our gossip, friend us on facebook, and spend hours screaming with laughter on the phone when their daughter is trying to do homework. Now, there's nothing wrong with cool moms-- I know plenty. But when they act less mature than their daughters, that's just frightening. So I feel doubly blessed.I have so much trouble remembering to wear sunscreen on a regular basis. I don't even usually wear foundation, so I can't sneak it into my regime that way. Any ideas?

No I don't find it to be overly sparkly. It does have the light reflecting minerals. So I would say it gives you a slight glow or radiance. It is nothing dramatic though. I am a very oily person and would not be able to wear something that was too shiny or sparkly on my face.

This sounds like a great sunscreen. I really need a new all body one that I love.

What a hoot- nip city baby! I'll be using that one. I live in Dallas after all!

Thank goodness I don't have any stories of my mom causing me any mental scars. I do love to wear sunscreen because I tend to get sunburn on my nose and it begins to peel.

I have never heard of this brand, let alone this product before. Where did you find it?

I have been searching for all natural sunscreen for awhile now so I was excited when I read this.. but while I was on the Alba Botanica website I checked out the ingredients for this sunscreen and saw that it contains ingredients that are not natural. :( Here's the link: http://www.albabotanica.com/?id=72&pid=225 

this story was too funny, and i hope when i am old enough that i will always dress age appropriate. gals, please remember that your hands need spf too- we always forget that area of our body. but hands usually show a true age of the woman:)

hey meg, so i bought it and i'm loving it so far! not greasy at all, my skin automatically absorbs which is a major plus not to mention the scent is light but lingers enough to make me smile everytime i catch a whiff.

Congratulations to your son ! At my HS graduation i was soo excited ! :-)..  Funny mom stories ? Well not a story per se ..Lol you see my mom is hot.. i don't mean average hot.. she looks like my sister. She has near perfect skin and works out every day so shes like 5'4 and 112 pounds... lol.. while not dressing over the top she has been known to pull off belly showing tops and mini skits with ease..Never did she dress inappropriately at any one of my functions but she always looks so damn good so classy and elegant and sexy ! lol .. it was hard for a plump oily 12 year old girl who never got any attention from the guys to see your mom walk in to pick you up and have all the guys rush to the window to see her as she walked by  (still happens by the way). She's been known to wear shorts when i wear jeans and pull them off better that i can. One time my crush actually asked me why i couldn't dress more like her ! wtf ? i almos punched him!Anyway...i've grown since then and now i have my own sense of style. Sometimes like her but a lot of times not... and with my sense of self came the realization that my mom is my friend not my rival.. and not once can i remember her she ever trying to show me up or deny me the chance of looking glamorous... she gave everything she had to my sister and i and everything that was and is hers we could take without a problem any little trick she'd tell us.. she is totally selfless... i still remember how she ran around trying to have us look or best for our proms, first dates andgoodness knows what else.. for that she seems even more beautiful in my eyes.

I hate buyig sunscreen. I admit I hardly ever use it...before you start yelling, I don't go out of my house all that often and I never bake in the sun. I have not found one sunscreen that doesn't clog my pores. I don't care if it says it wont...it always does!I recently tried Neutrogena 100+ spf (since I knew I would be outside that day...see, i'm still good) and at the end of the day, I saw this stuff had sunkin into my pores. I washed up and scrubbed really well, but when I was done I still saw the crap in my skin. I had to scrape it out. It was not a good experience.With the help of Megs makeup, I know I will one day find the perfect sunscreen at a price I can afford. Thanks ladies! 

this looks amazing! i really want to try this!

Looks great!

i adore lavender, and i always wear SPF, so this is the perfect combo!