11 replies to this topic

[mlk210]

What does everyone use for sunscreen?

 

I'm going to Mexico next week for a friend's destination wedding. I used to be a 15 spf girl, but I'm scared now. Does anyone have a brand that works better than others? Since we are there for the wedding, I'm sure it will be mostly just laying around poolside or beach with all of our friends. 

 

I'm from Illinois, so my skin hasn't exactly been outside much this year (hint: stark white). 

 

Thanks!

[Terran]

I've switched to 50 spf. I get red very easy now. And the sun does something to the texture of my skin.

[dede5]

I also use 50 spf, either Coppertone for babies or Bull Frog. Extra protection for the lips, such as zinc oxide. I would also suggest taking frequent breaks until you see what it's doing, especially in Mexico.

[chriskuo]

I've had good success with Neutragena.  It is not sticky and blocks the sun well.

[kat73]

mlk, one thing you might consider if you have enough time before you leave for Mexico, and that's a good salon airbrush spray tan, the kind where an actual person moves around you with the airbrush.  That way, you're covered (yikes, a pun) for a great tan for the wedding, and there's no pressure to lie out in the sun by the pool with everybody.  I mean, you can be with them but if you feel like you've had enough sun for YOU, you can cover up or sit in the shade near them.  Maybe invest real quick in a lacy white parasol to sit under!  Festive.

[mlk210]

Thank you everyone! I just bought Neutrogena beach guard and yes Kat, i really should have thought about the spray tan sooner. I'm calling around right now to get in!

[hannibellemo]

I still use 15spf but I use it everyday in my body and facial moisturizers. I have olive skin and I used to tan to the color of my hair, a dark blonde - but no more. I haven't gotten a tan in several years but 15 still wards off burning.

 

If you have light skin I'd go with a 50 minimum and reapply frequently.

[Billie Murawski]

I have been thinking about trying spray tanner how long does it last. When I go to Fla I use neutrogina tanning lotion, just the very light color so I don't look like a piece of chalk walking around. I always loved the sun I'm fair complected so I burn easy, that didn't stop me my mom threatened to send me to siberia. I was so stupid I brutalized my body, sunscreen was not in my vocabulary, I used all the oils and I burned over a burn for many years. Living along Lake Erie it was almost mandatory to have a dark tan. Of course my tan was always red. My poor mother almost had to take me to the er a couple times, that didn't stop me even after I got married I still laid out in the sun every chance I had. I had a sick obsession with the sun. Nine years ago I noticed a freckle I had for years had changed it got smaller so I didn't think too much about it a month or so later I had an appt. with my gp for another reason and I just happened to mention the change in the freckle, next thing I knew I was seeing a surgeon getting biopsies and finally surgery, since the freckle was on my chest a plastic surgeon had to be there too. I had to have 2 lymph nodes removed also. I had to get checked every 6 months for years and I can't even remember how many skin cancers I have had removed both squamous and basil cell carcinoma.

  So everybody please protect your skin I have an appt coming up and I'm sure I have a couple more to be removed.

[kat73]

Oh, Billie, the stuff we didn't know back then!  My dermatologist said pretty much what you do in the sun before the age of 20 is what you're dealing with with cancers at 60.  Why we have this obsession to be tan I do not know.  But certainly as far back as Coco Chanel and the Fitzgeralds (F. Scott and Zelda), being tan was always mandatory.  Spray tans are an option - not the automatic ones in the booth but the ones where the person walks around you to airbrush it on - but for day to day, I swear by Tan Towels (tantowels.com).  On me at least, they are pretty subtle and not orange-y and you can build up a tan carefully.  They're easy to use - if you're relatively careful there's no streaking.  They dry really fast and you can get dressed.  There's no smell that I can discern, but I've lost a whole lot of my sense of smell, so I could be wrong on that.  Downsides:  It does wash off a little bit, so you do have to keep doing it a couple of times a week.  It can come off on clothes if you sweat, but it comes out in the wash.  You can't always find them in every drug store, but you can get them at various sites online. 

[CML2012]

You need one with zinc. Just had melanoma removed and the dermatologist says your sunscreen must have zinc. Hard to find but I have discovered neutrogena pure and free baby spf 60 has zinc and titanium dioxide which she said was the second best ingredient. I am white white too and I used this sunscreen this weekend and did not get any sun at all!

[CML2012]

Also you can buy it at Walmart or rite aid

[Pin]

I use tan airbrush in a can, I order it online - has a good non-orangey colour and sprays on really finely. I only bother in summer, in winter I tend to embrace the gleevec white!! I always use ar least 30/50spf, even though there's probably not much of a difference between the two. Dermalogica make a really nice sunscreen, I love it because it's not greasy at all, but it's pretty expensive so I try to get it on sale!