Zinc sunscreen: Bluey scene confuses American mum: ‘Why are they face painting on the beach?’

An American mum was left scratching her head after encountering a ‘strange’ act on popular Australian kids show Bluey.

Jessica, a mum from the US, was extremely bewildered when she saw odd coloured lines she thought was face paint on characters Bluey and Bingo.

‘Okay mommas, US momma here,’ Jessica said in the post. ‘Is the beach face paint just an Aussie thing? And what is it? I’d love to get beach face paint for my kiddos.’ 

Many were shocked that the mum was unfamiliar with the coloured sunscreen, and soon filled her in on its importance.

‘It’s coloured zinc sunscreen,’ a mum said. ‘We wear it on top of normal sunscreen for extra protection.’

‘Thick, strong sunblock. The coloured ones come in like a stick – like a lip balm that winds up – and are used in high affected areas of sun damage to prevent sun burning,’ another added.

‘Cricketers wear white zinc on their faces all the time,’ another pointed out. 

Zinc oxide [pictured] is a mineral sunscreen that sits on top of your skin

A man shared: ‘I’m basically translucent and I remember my mum telling me it would make me a Ninja Turtle to encourage me to wear it.’

Others from around the world also shared their experiences with zinc sunscreen. 

‘I live in the US and I’m genuinely surprised by how many people have never seen zinc sunscreen,’ a woman said.

‘It’s zinc and it’s not only an Australian thing – lots of people in the US do it, too,’ another American added.

Another said: ‘Definitely not an Aussie thing – growing up in the 80s in California, if you weren’t wearing a few different colours of zinc, you weren’t cool.’

‘I’m South African and we had zinc sunscreen sticks in neon colours,’ a woman wrote.

Zinc is typically waterproof and lasts longer than normal sunscreen – which is ideal when people are at the beach or performing an activity that causes intense sweating

Zinc is typically waterproof and lasts longer than normal sunscreen – which is ideal when people are at the beach or performing an activity that causes intense sweating.

People tend to layer zinc on the most vulnerable parts of their face, such as the nose, lips, cheek bones, and ears.

Several sportsmen often use zinc while playing long games out in the sun.