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My crazy amount of sunscreen

JAileen

Veteran

Here is my array of sunscreen. I know I look crazy, but the sun is very harsh here.

I use a non greasy sunscreen for my face, Neutrogena Pure and Free.
For my neck and chest I've been using Neutrogena Age Shield Face. For my arms I use a Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Dry Touch. Depending on what I'm doing, I might use the same for my legs, or the Lubridern lotion with SPF. The Lubriderm feels really good. I also use lip balm with SPF, under lipstick. Sunburned lips are really awful. The three middle sunscreens are about the same, IMO. I haven't noticed much difference between them. I also wear a hat and sunglasses, unless I'm birding, then no sunglasses.

ETA: I put sunscreen on my hands even if I'm not going to be outside. They already look 20 years older than me.

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26 replies

Latest reply was from JAileen

Thistle

Veteran

Wow! Serious sunscreen!

I love Lubriderm. One of the few lotions that doesn't drive my hyper-sensitive skin crazy.

JAileen

Veteran

Yes, the Lubiderm and the lip balm have really helped.

The photo below shows the effect of the sun without sunscreen.

(Truck driver's left side had much more sun exposure than his right side.)

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Joy

Veteran

Do you ( or anyone else) put sunscreen on your ears? I overheard a young girl tell her friend about getting a big burn on her ear that turned into a scab. It was the only part of her not covered by sun screen. I'd not thought about ears but usually wear a hat.

JAileen

Veteran

I don't, but I always wear a hat if I'm going to be out hiking or birding. But if you're just running errands you get a lot of sun exposure, or even if you're just riding in a car.

Anonymous

I keep a tube of sunscreen in the car and put it on the tops of my hands religiously - while driving- ha. Hands are the worst for aging . I also put some of it on my chest and neck while in the car too. That photo scared the crap out of me when I first saw it - I spend half my day in my car.

JAileen

Veteran

That photo was a wakeup call, wasn't it? As part of my morning routine, I put the sunscreen on. Hands need more, because I wash them all day long. For gardening, I wear gloves, so that helps. I wear them for protection from splinters, etc., but they also offer protection from the sun.

ETA: I think the heat in a car can degrade sunscreen's effectiveness.

LaPed

Veteran

Joy -- I do put sunscreen on my ears. When my hair is longer, it doesn't matter so much, but with a pixie cut I find it's necessary. Hats help too, of course. DS's ears stick out a little, so I always slather his too -- he's not a fan. DH's hair is starting to thin on top and he's getting burns on his scalp. I need to start forcing hats on him...

Sara L.

Veteran

Yes, ears can burn. Since my boys all have short hair, I always make sure their ears have sunscreen on them. I use spray sunscreen for them since I can't get them to stand still for anything else. I've at least got them trained to put sunscreen on before getting in the pool or playing outside.

Jenn

(website)

Veteran

My sunscreen array looks just about like that! I use the Neutrogena too.

JAileen

Veteran

LP, I'm glad you're putting it on your ears. I don't know what to say about your husband. It's hard to tell an adult what to do. My husband played a lot of golf, and has had bad things removed from his face. One of the incisions made him look a bit like Frankenstein. Fortunately, it's faded a lot.

Sara, your kids are lucky you're slathering them up. I read that most bad sunburns happen in childhood.

Jenn, that's good! You're even higher elevation than me. I read that Neutrogena is bad for coral. But I live in the Great Basin, so we drain to Pyramid Lake.

Jenn

(website)

Veteran

Yeah, I bought a few tubes of mineral-based sunscreen before our trip to Florida for that very reason. It's so much more expensive, I find it hard to stomach for everyday wear.

LP, my husband is the same way! He shaved off all his hair recently, though, and that has made him diligent about preventing scalp burns.

Badger SPF 30 Unscented Sunscreen

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Anonymous

My nieces had to have surgery recently due to skin cancer. One niece nearly lost her ear, and the other her lip. Please people, use sunscreen!

Chris987

Veteran

Jaileen not crazy at all...you live in the high desert, don't you? The sun is super strong there. Gotta protect your skin!

Joyce B

Veteran

You have a good assortment of sunscreen, I also like Neutrogena, the price is good and it is an excellent product.
What Joy brought up about wearing sunscreen on the ears is very important. The skin of the ears gets nasty cancers, too. Also don't forget to wear sunscreen on the upper lip, and wear a wide brim hat that hopefully does not obstruct your vision while driving.

JAileen

Veteran

Jenn, did that sunscreen work?

BC, I'm so sorry for nieces. I hope they're doing okay, now.

Chris, yes, that's right. The dry air that we love offers less protection from the sun.

Joyce, you sound like me! I wear a Tilley hat, which has a brim all the way around, and I use lip balm with SPF, and it's wonderful.

Anonymous

I wear sunscreens to not burn and to even our mottled skin on my face because of melasma (hormones cause it).

I hate all sunscreen! It feels terrible on my skin, and I think going forward I will need to come up with some good hat solutions.

JAileen

Veteran

The Tilley hat is gearish, but it's sized, so you can get a good fit whatever your head size. The sunscreen I use on my face dries non greasy. It doesn't feel bad.

LaPed

Veteran

I find SPF lip balms to be super frustrating, but necessary, because my lips are almost always chapped or even cracked from sun/wind. The mineral-based ones make my lips look chalky, but the chemical-based ones tend to sting my lips. I think they're all somewhat drying. I have one tinted mineral lip balm that is okay, because the tint hides the chalkiness of the zinc, but on days when I don't want that color, it's annoying.

JAileen

Veteran

The lip balm I use, Coppertone, actually feels soothing to me. I was surprised how much I like it.

ETA: I love lip balm. It's so dry here I apply it 20 times a day. I can't lick my lips or they will get chapped.

Anonymous

Just came back from an hour walk in the blazing sun - and heat - and slathered extra sunscreen on my ears thanks to your post! I am just lucky I haven't had problems - yet- and I really need to step up my game. And yes, I think you're right about sunscreen losing its efficacy in a tube that sits in the car.

Gaylene

Veteran

Men who have worn ball caps are quite prone to skin cancers on and around the ears, according to my DH's dermatologist. She told my husband the cancerous cells start to show up in a person's late sixties and early seventies. By the time most men are in their late seventies, almost all will have some form of pre-cancerous lesions in this area.

She also told me it was a good thing I've always worn my hair just below my ears because women with short cuts can also be prone to developing cancers around the ears unless they have been diligent about wearing sun hats and using sunscreen on and around the ears.

Anonymous

Coolibar sells SPF hats, shirts, etc. It's worth a look if you don't like sunscreen or want extra protection.

mtnsofthemoon

Veteran

Joy, yes I have always put sunscreen on my ears, esp when cycling or anytime my hair is pulled back. I also buy copious amounts of sunscreen every summer. I think I took 4 spray cans and 4 tubes of it with us for a 2 week trip to Thailand. My children are bi-racial and tan beautifully, even with sunscreen applied every 2 hours. I am kinda a sunscreen Nazi because both my parents have had Basil sun cancer. I am the only one in the family that returns from 2 weeks in the sun with no color

Anonymous

I'm fair skinned, but tan instead of burn as long as I apply sunscreen. I used sunscreen while in the Dominican Republic last week, but came back darker. I was surprised that I am now as dark as my youngest DD, who has darker skin like my DH. I didn't get the slightest bit pink anywhere; just got darker. I was sitting in the shade 99% of the time and wore a cap, too. If I lived down there, I'd probably be as brown as shoe leather. I used to be that dark when I was growing up, before we were all warned about the dangers of skin cancer. I started shunning the sun and slathering on the sunscreen when I was a teenager.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

VERY WISE.

JAileen

Veteran

Lisa, I'm glad you're thinking about it.

Gaylene, the dermatologists in our town have a three month wait for an appointment. It's a growth industry, unfortunately.

BC, my MIL looks like shoe leather. I don't think she ever used sunscreen, and she's 91 YO.

Mtnsofthemoon, my son's GF is black and uses sunscreen because she could get skin cancer.

Angie, thank you for your post this morning.