<p>I live in NH and have light olive skin. I only wear sunscreen if I’m going to the beach. The sun just seems stronger there and I will burn without it. I use SPF 8 and will brown nicely. If I use a higher SPF I’ll stay pale! I can be out on the lake all day here and not burn. If I go to anyplace southern or tropical I use SPF 30 or I will burn to crisp!!!</p>
<p>When were teenagers we would mix iodine and baby oil to “tan”. Hey, the summers here are short!!</p>
<p>Two points about sunscreen that are frustrating for me: (1) I don’t find water-resistant sunscreens nearly effective enough. If I am swimming in the ocean or snorkeling I almost always get burned even if I apply copious amounts of water resistant sunscreen. (2) I know I am supposed to reapply sunscreen after coming in from water or after sweating during exercise. But if I’m on a hike or something and my face gets sweaty I do not want to apply a product on my sweaty face. In other words, I only want to apply sunscreen (or really any product) to scrupulously clean skin. So I don’t reapply as often as I should.</p>
<p>For after-sun care, I use 100% aloe vera gel, in clear. Very soothing on sun-burnt skin.</p>
<p>I always seem to miss a spot when applying sunscreen and end up with small, weird, painful sunburns on, say, the back of my neck or the tops of my feet. </p>
<p>I’m fair but spent my youth frying in the sun. Surprisingly, the skin on my face looks pretty good but i had severe sunburns as a kid that did a number on my chest and arms. Now, I couldn’t tan if I wanted to; sun just seems to leave my skin blotchy. So I’m pretty rigorous about using sunscreen. I live at the beach and guests always leave bottles of sunscreen at my house so I tend to use whatever is laying around. </p>
<p>Slightly off topic, but if I could convey a sun-related wish to consumer-product companies, I would wish for drug-store reading glasses with sunglass lenses. Just went to CVS to see if they had such a thing and they didn’t. </p>
<p>You usually can find sunglasses bifocals in Walmart sporting goods dept with the fishing gear stuff.</p>
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<p>I have gotten cheapy ones at the dollar store, and better ones online. </p>
<p>I love the bifocal ones…
<a href=“http://www.hsn.com/shop/joy-mangano-sunglasses-and-readers/fa0323-192”>http://www.hsn.com/shop/joy-mangano-sunglasses-and-readers/fa0323-192</a></p>
<p>Ok…or not…That’s cool. 
</p>
<p>
Iodine? That reminds me of this one show…like Gypsy Sisters or something where they all would put motor oil or something so they would tan faster. </p>
<p>I’m in the sun and mostly on or near water in the summer all the time except from 7am - 6pm Monday through Friday and then on snow when that is falling. When I was young and taught tennis outside and golfed for hours upon hours I wore no sunscreen unless it was Bain de Soleil the orange gelee and I had a few wicked burns (never blister burns, but good red angry burns)… but when my siblings starting getting things cut off their skin I wised up (but will admit I was about 40 when that occurred). </p>
<p>Since that time I’ve lost two (youngish) friends to melanoma so I’m serious about sun tan lotion.</p>
<p>Now I use 30 on my face when outside and use a moisturizer with sunscreen in it. Early in the spring I use 30, then gradually reduce to 15 and by the end of summer I use 8. I’m partial to Clarins products because they aren’t greasy…not cheap but I love the smell, also. Unlike my H I don’t want to smell like a coconut all day everyday. I also always have a tube of the orange Bain de Soleil gelee in my beach/boat bag for nostalgia’s sake. </p>
<p>I’m leary of all these new “numbers” and figure it’s like super-sizing…the old spf 30 is the new spf 60 and I haven’t really read anything that has convinced me otherwise.</p>
<p>I like alittle color and because I’m an outdoorsy kinda girl and came of age in the Christie Brinkley era, I don’t encounter too many people during social activities who don’t have some color on their body during the summer. If you don’t even do anything remotely more athletic than walk and plop your butt in the sand with a book and an umbrella you’ll get alittle color even with spf 30/60… but I don’t care for the deep, deep bronze that was so popular in my youth and wonder if people get spray tanned these days that “look” that color. But I also wonder about the Caucasian people with zero color and wonder if they ever go play outside so I’m definitely a curmudgeon that way. </p>
<p>I also notice that when the Vitamin D kick was going with the physicians that my Vitamin D was always, always higher in the summer than in the gray, dark Michigan winter blood draws, so I suppose the sun is good for me, too. </p>
<p>I’m frankly more concerned what all that sun has done to my eyes. So far I’m lucky with my skin but I do check myself over fairly often after my siblings started having issues. </p>
<p>Do you have blue eyes?
I have the beginnings of AMD, which is scary. Sunglasses are very important.</p>
<p>Yes I have blue eyes and a family history of macular degeneration both wet and dry. I got my first pair of prescription sunglasses when I was in my thirties but up until then I drove, taught tennis, and everything without sunglasses so I do worry. My ophthalmologist now has me on the “annual visit” plan mostly to watch for it.</p>
<p>When I was younger(in my 20s) I was a beach bum. I went to the beach in the morning(everyday sometimes) and worked in the afternoon. I’ve always lathered lots of sunscreen on my chest and face and legs. So far no brown spots on my chest nor hands. I know a coworker at work with similar skin type and she is younger already complained about have spots on her chest. I was told my face has no wrinkle either. In the last 10 years, I rarely went to the beach in the morning, I usually went after 3pm to avoid having to wear sun screen. </p>
<p>Being out in the open air and when I get a lot of sunshine makes me very happy, it must be the vitamin or something. I get a general well being and happiness feeling. That’s why I’m always outdoors working in my yard. I’ve always had a hat on, otherwise the sun gives me headache. Lately I avoid wearing sun screen if I can help it.
I’ve burned if I don’t wear sun screen in full sun even for an hour. For example, the last time I went to a beach around 11-2pm time and forgot to put on sun screen on my chest and face, accidently went out to help my husband get on his board and I came back to California with peeled skins on my face and chest.
EDIT to add I dab a small bit of oil of Olay with SPF 15 on my face everyday.</p>
<p>The surgeon general is now saying any sun tanning at all is not good for people.<br>
I use sunscreen at the beach, have taught my sons to do so. But day in and day out, I do not slather it on. Only on my face; my moisturizer is SPF 30.</p>
<p>Survivor of a happy Arizona childhood here, with lots of time playing and then later, hiking and biking outside. Now I live in the upper Midwest. About 10 years ago I had two basal cells removed from my face. From that point on, I have been religious about daily sunscreen use, Clinique City block, SPF 40 which goes on after moisturizer, blends in nicely and does not make my eyes sting when biking. Others hurt my eyes and don’t blend as well. I grew out my bangs, and wear hats so the sun rarely shines on my face. My bike helmet has a visor. Most of my outdoor time is early and late in the day. </p>
<p>I am not so good about sunscreen on other body parts however! Arms, if biking or gardening midday. Hands, more often, as I am not fond of age sports. Some of this is because osteoporosis has been a major problem for my mom, and my Vit D numbers when last checked were not great, so will accept some risk. </p>
<p>Yes, I have sufficient vanity that I do hope to avoid excess aging in my face associated with sun. Not too successful so far, though some say I look younger than my years. My pale British legs are enhanced by some sun, perhaps, but self tanner works better. </p>
<p>I have put sunscreen by the back door and in the bike bag and car, to encourage more frequent use. </p>
<p>I would not be lying to say that I our teens we used mayo as a tanning agent. Talk about smell!!!</p>
<p>I am a blue-eyed redhead who sunscreens religiously. I prefer neutrogena products SPF 50 because they have little odor, spread well, last for hours. I avoid the sun between 10 and 4. When I vacation anywhere sunny, I return the same color. I do not tan. Ever.</p>
<p>I grew up on a Great Lake and spent years at the beach without sunscreen, but often under an umbrella, not during peak hours, or we were in the water. I have had 3 basal cell cancers cut off my face (Mohs treatments), many spots burned off my arms, hands, legs. I had double cataract surgery at age 57. I wear a hat if I am in the sun more than 30 minutes, though my very thick hair has kept my scalp healthy. I have had 2 bad burns in my life—thankfully no blistering, but lots of swelling.</p>
<p>On the plus side, I look much younger than I am. Except for the underarm batwings, my skin is quite tight and looks healthy. My kids are faithful sunscreeners; the youngest is a true blond and pale like me. We also wear sunglasses all the time.</p>
<p>I had a sunscreen lapse this spring and pinked up. I did not even think about being outside at a graduation party and I got a little red. My staff could not remember the last time they saw me with a light sunburn—more than 20 years. Guess I had a senior moment, so I am back to my vigilant mode.</p>
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<p>Sand and water can reflect UV light so that it comes at you from more directions in greater amounts than if you were in a place where sand and water is not present.</p>
<p>Snow is another potential sunburn hazard.</p>
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</p>
<p>Sunscreen lotions generally come in one of the following:</p>
<ul>
<li>Chemical formulations, usually oxybenzone and avobenzone and others.</li>
<li>Zinc oxide and/or titanium dioxide, nano or non-nano.</li>
</ul>
<p>So it seems like you want a non-nano zinc oxide and/or titanium dioxide one to meet those criteria. But these can also (unintentionally) act as skin whitening creams.</p>
<p>Or you can dress in the traditional dress of people who live in very sunny areas (e.g. kandura (for men) or abaya (for women)) and not worry about sunscreen lotion at all.</p>
<p>Sure, ucb. It’s going to be very sunning here for the next few days. Time to pull my Armani burka from the closet! ;)</p>
<p>I do not want the inorganic stuff. There are ways to make sun blocking compounds that would not be absorbed by skin (just like some food dyes that pass through the digestive system without being absorbed). The problem is that the FDA review would be needed for such new chemical entities. It is a lengthy process, so many companies just do not go that route. But it might become a little easier:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.cnn.com/2014/07/29/health/surgeon-general-skin-cancer/index.html?hpt=hp_t2”>http://www.cnn.com/2014/07/29/health/surgeon-general-skin-cancer/index.html?hpt=hp_t2</a></p>
<p>"On Monday, the House of Representatives passed the Sunscreen Innovation Act.</p>
<p>The bill includes a review process for all manufacturers submitting a new sunscreen to the Food and Drug Administration, with a deadline for the FDA to provide final decisions: one year for pending applications and 1½ years for new ones.</p>
<p>The last over-the-counter sunscreen ingredient approved by the FDA was in the 1990s, according to the Public Access to SunScreens Coalition. Eight new sunscreen applications have since been filed with the FDA. All are still waiting for review, the coalition says; some have been waiting for over a decade.</p>
<p>The current policy requires the FDA to undergo an extensive rule-making process before reviewing any new product application and adding it to the approved list, according to coalition policy director Michael Werner. This can take years, making the process inefficient.</p>
<p>“This law takes out the rule-making aspect and allows the FDA to simply issue a decision,” Werner said.</p>
<p>Many of the new sunscreens awaiting approval in the United States have been available in Europe, Central Asia and South America for years. Generally speaking, the ingredients waiting for approval are simply newer types of UVA filters than are currently being used, Werner said, but they differ slightly by manufacturer."</p>
<p>Fingers crossed.</p>
<p>Wow, you all are fantastic! </p>
<p>Other qs -</p>
<p>If you wear both sunscreen and moisturizer on your face, which one do you do first and what’s your rationale? </p>
<p>How does having to carry sunscreen impact your outdoor activities? </p>
<p>What are your thoughts on expired sunscreens? Are you the type to use them anyway or buy new? </p>
<p>Btw, here in France, they make pills that people take to prolong their tans. They’re sold in all the pharmacies and are very common. </p>
<p>BTW ucb - women in Saudi Arabia do wear sunscreen - they don’t want the parts of their face and hands that are exposed to darken compared to the rest of their bodies. My client is actively engaged in this market. </p>
<p>I think they used to sell those pills in Canada. Don’t they have beta carotene in them?</p>
<p>I usually use sunscreen as moisturizer.
( kiss my face face sunscreen 50 SPF)
I don’t tan really, and after seeing so many people at swimming who are dark and leathery, I don’t want to.</p>
<p>I buy new sunscreen every summer, don’t use expired.
I also have to carry water & my epi pen, so carrying a 2oz tube of sunscreen isn’t a big deal.</p>