Jana Kramer often gets headlines for the dumb sh-t she says on her podcast. She’s accused Travis Kelce of being a drunk without ever having met him, admitted to trashing her ex-husband’s stuff, and revealed that her kids all had covid during her Scottish wedding last year. She reminds me of Kristin Cavallari. Speaking of Kristin, she and Jana have at least one thing in common: they are both sunscreen skeptics. On a recent episode, Jana invited people to “come at me” for not trusting sunscreen enough to use it on her children regularly.
Jana Kramer, 41, spoke with her friend Kathryn Woodard on her podcast Whine Down with Jana Kramer about how Woodard’s teenage kids are starting to become obsessed with tanning and are looking up the UV index. As she asks Kramer for advice on how to get her kids to wear sunscreen, Kramer admits she doesn’t always use it on her kids.
“Time out really fast. Let me just go back because I’m gonna get a lot of hate on this. I am well aware that I should have worn sunscreen as a child. I am well aware,” Kramer began. “And I know my mom put on the Coppertone Baby, whatever SPF on me. Having said that, my mother was the generation who used no sunscreen and used the baby oil, right? If my mother gave me anything more than an 8 SPF, I would be like, ‘I cannot get a tan with anything less than 8.’”
The mom of three says that she would routinely use the tanning oil that had 8 SPF in it and never got burned until a cast trip to Puerto Rico during her time on One Tree Hill. She explains that she started wearing sunscreen more often in her thirties since her skin had changed.
“I don’t use sunscreen on my kids unless it’s going to be for hours outside because I know they don’t burn,” says Kramer, who shares daughter Jolie, 9, and son Jace, 6, with ex Mike Caussin, plus 19-month-old son Roman with husband Allan Russell. “And there’s so much bad stuff in sunscreen that if we’re not going to be out there for more than a couple hours, listen, come at me. But I’m just not putting it on.”
“I will if we’re on the beach for hours and the reflection of all the things, like I’ll put it on his neck, his ears — the baby — but like the kids, I haven’t put on any on them because I’m like, they’re not getting burned,” she continues. “What’s worse, the burn, or the suntan lotion?”
According to experts, sunscreen is not toxic. “There’s been a lot of negative [reports] towards sunscreen out there, and it kind of stems from different reasons,” Dr. Raman Madan, Director of Cosmetic Dermatology at Northwell Health told PEOPLE in June.
“One of them is that people say that sunscreen can be absorbed into the bloodstream,” he said, explaining, “it’s a small, small, small amount” with some chemical sunscreens. However, he said, you can wear mineral-based sunscreens like zinc oxide or titanium dioxide, and “those won’t be absorbed by your body.”
Regarding the environmental impact of sunscreens, some “can harm coral reefs in some locations like in Hawaii and parts of Mexico, but if you’re wearing the mineral-based zinc oxide or titanium dioxide, this is reef-safe, so it will be a non-issue again.”
“There’s a lot of misinformation out there, and I think people are just trying to find reasons not to wear sunscreen” he said.
Dr. Madan continued, saying that base tans are not good protection against the sun.
“A base tan, I don’t think is a good idea, because tanning, no matter how minimal, causes UV radiation to damage the DNA in your cells,” he explained. “Your body basically reacts by producing more melanin, which is more of a defense, not a health benefit.”
When it comes to “protecting you from the sun,” a base tan “may give you the equivalent of SPF 3,” he said, compared to sunscreens which “start at basically SPF 15 or 30.”
Besides, with “a base tan, you have an increased risk of skin cancer, and [it] also accelerates aging. So you can get wrinkles, age spots, from having this ‘base tan.’ So. I’m not a fan of base tans.”
Dr. Madan’s recommendation is to wear sunscreen whenever you’re out in the sun. “Honestly, SPF 30 and above is more than enough,” he explained. “With SPF 30, it basically gives you about 97% coverage from the sun. There’s nothing to calculate.”
Dr. Madan said as long as you are “cognizant about reapplying it every two to three hours when you’re outside or if you go in the water, you’ll be fine.”
Jana was all over the place with that answer, right? Like, she knows that you need to protect your skin from sun damage, but also refuses to put it together that you can get that damage from childhood exposure. Just put sunscreen on your children! It’s painful to get sunburns and you’re risking long term skin damage and cancer. You can use a mineral-based sunscreen as People’s dermatology expert mentioned if you’re concerned about the miniscule amount absorbed through the skin. You can also use long-sleeved bathing shirts. This kind of rage baiting works and gets people to talk about influencers, but it’s so harmful to spread misinformation like this.
Photos credit: Getty and via Instagram/Jana Kramer
The burn. The burn is worse than the sunscreen. It’s not even up for debate. I hate that people like this have followers.
Some kids don’t burn easily, it’s true. My son is olive skinned like my husband and he generally tanned very quickly. I still put sunscreen on him! Not every day, I admit. Not if he was just going to school and maybe baseball practice in the spring. But on the beach, by the pool, for camp or any long stretches outside? Out came the SPF 50. Just because his skin isn’t as quick to show damage doesn’t mean there won’t be damage down the road. Like, we’ve known this stuff for a long time.
Yes to all this.
And if she really believes sunscreen chemicals are so bad, then for goodness sake, put the kids in sun-protective clothing & hats. It’s easy, safe, and even more effective than sunscreen.
i am sooo tired of all this anti-science crap being promoted by idiots. i got so stupidly invested in an online argument last week (i think it was a buzzfeed link on one of the daily roundups?) about whether eggs are dairy (hint: they are not). i got so viscerally angry towards this stranger on the internet. i need to calm down! i know that! but also. why is everyone so stupid these days? it makes my heart hurt.
If she is worried about chemicals in sunscreen she can use a brand from the EU where they have much stricter safety rules. I use a French brand and I put it on my face every day after I shower because I have had four suspicious moles removed from a lack of sunscreen use in my youth.
Megan-I know you don’t mean any harm but I would implore you to research into this idea that EU has stricter guidelines while the US just lets any “chemicals” into products. This is not true and how MAGA/MAHA individuals gained steam. Listen to theto podcast Diabolical Lies which did a deep dive into MAHA spun this into giving RFK legitimacy and helped spread lies like sunscreen is poison
@mblates this comment makes me want to be friends with you. Lol so good.
People who are stupid about healthcare infuriate me. Antivaxxers, crunchies and sunscreen deniers. I think this person must be extremely dumb.
What sucks about the last few years is how so much unhealthy and dangerous crap is being promoted by these ignorant fools. First, they didn’t want to vaccinate their kids, then they didn’t want to vaccinate themselves. Instead of taking the vaccine, they claim a dewormer for horses is a much better treatment for covid. Then, they started attacking plant-based products (RE fats and oils) while promoting animal-based fat products (as if that were so much healthier). They apparently now hate fruits and vegetables, especially beans, but think their steak, egg, and butter meals are much better for your health. They want you to believe unpasteurized milk is safe and healthy. Now, they don’t want to wear sunscreen and think mankind never had skin cancer until modern times, which they blame on the suncreen.
There are days I want off this planet.
I am so sick of these “wellness” people endangering their children.
Even if they don’t burn (sure, Jan) you are still increasing their risk of skin cancer.
This is child endangerment and I am not being dramatic. Jenna has never been the brightest bulb though, so…
I’m an 80s child and unless we were, as Jana says, at the beach or pool for hours, my parents didn’t put sunscreen on me either. I also had a really nice golden tan, and rarely burned.
I had a basil cell carcinoma on my chin at 30, even though at that point I was using sunscreen religiously on my face daily, and sunscreen when I went running or to the pool. It was removed. My brother was diagnosed with melanoma at 45 – he’s fine now, it was caught early, and we do have a genetic mutation that does increase our chances of certain types of cancer.
This is neglect, full stop.
Me too, 80s kid. My mother did put sunscreen on us at the beach and pool, especially when we were little and wouldn’t or couldn’t do it for ourselves. I am very fair skinned so I burned. But as we got older she let us take the reins. My older sister would stubbornly insist on tanning as a teen and she got a few bad burns as a result (she tanned pretty easily but underestimated the sun sometimes). You can definitely see the difference to her skin now. I look younger for my age because I was never into tanning.
I’ve had a few small things taken off of my face and chest. I’m almost 60. I wear sunscreen every day now but just those years not wearing it consistently enough, even growing up in the Northeast and being better about avoiding the sun than most of my peers, I was susceptible. Luckily nothing has been too serious and my dermatologist caught them, but I am on the constant lookout for alarms signals on my skin.
Also a child of the 80s. I have Mohs surgery for melanoma in a couple of weeks.
I put sunscreen on my kids as well as swim shirts, hats, etc.
Good luck with your surgery!
Good luck, @AmandaB! I’ve had two melanomas in situ, one basal cell carcinoma, & one squamous cell carcinoma. The scars do fade. While ‘suntan lotion’ (as we called it then) existed when I was a kid, and our mom always made sure we wore T-shirts over our swimsuits when we went to the beach, we were still out in the sun a lot; a sunburned, peeling nose always marked the start of summer! I didn’t start wearing sunscreen until my 30s and now I’m getting yearly skin checks (2x/year after each of the cancer diagnoses).
We didn’t know then, but we know now, so this willful ignorance is inexcusable. Unfortunately, Kramer’s kids’ skin won’t show the effects of her decisions until decades from now, when no one will remember who she is or what dumb things she said.
Wonder if she gets her kids vaccinated cause she sounds like one of those nut jobs too. From what I know I don’t believe anyone has died from applying sunscreen. People have died from skin cancer so she needs to educate herself but her being a know it all I don’t think she will.
I’m an esthetician in Colorado, so I see the ravages of sun on the skin on the reg. I have seen the atropic scars of melanoma surgeries and the leathery skin of sun damage. I just appeal to science as much as possible, and send people to the writing of this cosmetic chemist: https://labmuffin.com/sunscreen-myth-directory/
Thank you Morningjacket – this is a great link!
What a fool. When she wakes up one day looking like Magda from There’s Something About Mary, maybe it will dawn on her that she should have worn sunscreen and put it on her kids.
I am black with a medium brown complexion and I wear sunscreen EVERYDAY! Nothing less than spf 30, but ideally spf 50. It’s in my moisturizer, it’s in my foundation, and I use a separate one for times when I wear makeup that doesn’t already contain it. As a person in my mid fifties, I get told repeatedly that I look like I’m in my mid-late thirties. I’ll take it.
I had a serious sunburn once in college from spending a cloudy day on the beach without any sunscreen that left me as red as a lobster. I vowed from that day forward to never go through that again.
Why subject yourself to skin cancer like that? It baffles me when idiotic people promote their dangerous health habits in an effort to sound cool. It has the exact opposite effect.
SMH…
What a monumental dumbass.
There’s plenty of nontoxic options available. California Baby is an excellent choice.
I’m religious about putting on sunscreen. Every day. Even in winter. It doesn’t matter if you don’t burn, the rays are still going to affect your skin and even lots of people who don’t get skin cancer will still get age spots and wrinkles. Sunscreen in advance helps skin look youthful for more years.
Yes! The sun is damaging our skin every second we are exposed. Longer exposure is obviously worse, but there’s no safe amount of time. This dumb woman is letting her kids be damaged in ways that will persevere for their whole lives.
Doesn’t matter if you tan, doesn’t matter if you don’t get a burn, doesn’t matter if it’s a cool day. A base tan does not protect you, and is just more sun damage!
My father-in-law is 85, and has lived in Arizona for much of his life. I’ve never heard him mention sunscreen. His face and arms are incredibly damaged, looking burned and crispy.
He has markedly worse damage on the left side of his face and his left arm from driving. He is getting radiation treatment now for skin cancer on his face. In contrast the skin on his legs, seldom exposed, is smooth, pale, and still somewhat flexible with collagen.
My sister lived in FL and worked at a hospital there for years. She mentioned once that skin cancers were really common in men on the left side of their faces, left arms and in women on the right. Likely from how they rode in cars for decades … straight couples of a certain age who retired to FL
Of course skin cancers there are really common anyway, it was just a weird pattern she and her colleagues noticed.
My favorite non-toxic sunblock is long sleeves and a wide-brimmed hat. Shade also works. And staying indoors from 10 to 2. People are so conditioned to think products are required for sun protection, but honestly, that is just silly. Of course there are cases when it makes sense—exercising outdoors in a tank top, or lounging on a boat, or at the beach in a bathing suit, etc. In those cases, when skin is exposed to sun, of course use the product. In other cases, common sense will suffice.
It’s not silly to think you need products for maximum protection. You can be exposed to UV through clothing. Shade is only partially protective. UV is damaging your skin at all times, and staying in between 10 to 2 is only sparing you so much. You are being damaged in vehicles too, so don’t think your car is protecting you.
The best solution would be always have a base of sunscreen, in addition to long sleeves, sunglasses, a hat, staying in the shade, etc.
Yes but have you ever tried to get a small child to keep their hat on the whole time they’re outside?
As a long distance runner of two decades I can assure you that clothing is not enough. The weave of the fabric is important. I always wore cotton T-shirts & my running bras were always some sort of polyester stretch fabric. It looked like I had a permanent bikini tan, because the sun came right through my cotton Ts but not through the polyester bras.
My teen years in the 70’s are now coming back to haunt me and all of those bad sunburns (fair skin and green eyes – I take after the Scottish/Irish/British side of my family there). I don’t tan easily, but I stuck with it until I did. I’ve been dealing with numerous skin cancer removals and biopsies for about ten years now. I’ve been “lucky” so far – basal cell only. I know that sometime soon that my luck is going to run out. People think that skin cancer removal is no big deal. It was painful afterwards and I have a large scar on my upper chest from the removal of a little pimple sized spot. My doctor had to cut quite a bit of flesh out of me to make sure that they removed that cancer.
There are plenty of non toxic sunscreens out there. There is also clothing with sun protection. It’s 2025 – get with the program dumb lady.
Oh, and don’t forget to protect your eyes with some good sunglasses! Sun overexposure over time contributes to cataracts.
People like this are dangerous when they get a public platform spouting off this stuff.
What an idiot. She’s probably an anti-vaxxer too. My mother (Canadian) was born and raised in Mexico before there was such a thing as sunscreen. She had fair skin and green eyes, but tanned beautifully. Fast forward to her sixties and seventies, she had countless skin cancers removed. All over her body. She had a particularly bad one on her upper chest that left a huge scar. This is the future this nutbar is giving her children.
Environmental Working Group (EWG) has excellent database of skincare and sincere products.
https://www.ewg.org/sunscreen/
This woman can do better.
I use Thinkbaby on my baby! Glad to see it on there. Thank you for the link.
I would be very cautious taking any advice from the EWG. They are very controversial within the scientific community as their recommendations are often based off of pseudoscience.
My kids have plenty of melanin but I always lathered them with sunscreen and made them wear rash guards on the beach.
I have to admit something embarrassing, though: I still like being tan (or as close to being tan as someone as pale as I am can get). I use sunscreen but still find myself tilting my face toward the sun like a sunflower. I know the science; I tell myself it’s harmful, but I still love the sun. (I do get regular mole checks.) I’m basically a hypocrite.
Sunshine just feels good. I get it.
“She explains that she started wearing sunscreen more often in her thirties since her skin had changed.” She was *thisclose* to getting it when she said that. Hey Jana, what do you think made your “skin change” in your 30s? Perhaps it “changed” because of all the sun damage you accrued in your SPF 8 days? A tan, ANY tan = skin damage. Full stop. A tan is your skin’s inflammation response to sun exposure. Just because you’ve never had a sunburn (red skin, blisters) doesn’t mean anything. It’s the accumulation of sun exposure over your lifetime that matters. The point of sunscreen is prevention, not repair. I’m glad that she’s putting sunscreen on now and preventing further damage, but the damage is already done. And the amount of melanin you naturally have in your skin means nothing in terms of sun protection; it doesn’t provide “added” protection or make you less prone to sun burn.
Darker skin does actually burn slightly slower than lighter skin, but not to the extent that people assume it does. We’re talking a difference of maybe 20-30 minutes of exposure. They should wear sunscreen, though, because it means their protection is much better. The flip side to this is that they have drawbacks in terms of long term melanoma risk because very dark skin may hide the early signs of cancer development, which means they present with more advanced cancer by the time they realize it.
Jana is gorgeous and so I assume has a skin care routine full of products. She clearly dyes her hair and if she’s like me has 7+ products of makeup on, and I’m sure has on another half dozen worth of lotions, perfume, hair products, polishes, etc. If she’s is not worried about the chemical load of all that, why single out sunscreen as a problem? Because some half educated anti science conspiracy made it her way and we are all always in danger of being misinformed . I’m saddened because in her way she thinks she IS protecting her kids.
I’m probably more religious than most with sunscreen because vitiligo has started eating away at the pigmentation at my face, which makes it even easier to burn, but even if I didn’t have a medical reason…I can see the difference in my late thirties between people like me and those of my peers who didn’t use it lol. The sun damage starts to come in fast once you’re past 35, and there’s really no going back.