… have you checked your sunscreen supply?
Sarah reminded me the other day. We are all lolling around outside when she suddenly turned over, focused right on my forehead, and asked me about my “white spot.”
Well, that got me started on a bit of a rant about “the thing” my doctor removed from my forehead that “could have been worse but luckily it wasn’t.” And that, of course, lead to a discussion about sunscreens.
I’ve been doing some writing for a local dermatologist and I asked her about it at our last meeting. She told me in no uncertain terms, that the number one way to keep your skin looking healthy and youthful is to use sunscreen EVERY DAY, rain or shine, all year long.
Don’t even think of it as sunscreen, think of it as moisturizer, that way you’ll be less likely to skip it when it’s cloudy outside.
I like to get a fresh tube this time of year. I’ve experimented with a lot of different brands (including some organic/natural ones) and so far there has only one that hasn’t make my face all red and blotchy. It’s Neutrogena UltraSheer. Look for it in the sunscreen section, not in the facial moisturizer section (I tried a Neutrogena moisturizer with an SPF and it irritated my skin). It isn’t tinted, but I find it gives me a really nice colour because somehow it manages to even out my skin tone.
I asked the dermatologist about my brand of choice, and she approved.
Sun spots often appear near the hairline on the forehead, which happens to be the part of my face I never even touched with sunscreen (who wants to get the stuff in their hair?) Since that first scare I have developed a really good Sunscreen Application Technique.
After I shower in the morning I wrap my hair up in a towel. I squeeze out a dime-sized dollop of sunscreen and spread it onto the fingertips of both hands. Starting in the middle of my forehead, I spread outward, going down the sides of my face between my eyes and my hairline (another common area for sunspots) and down to my chin and then I gently sweep across my nose and my cheeks. My whole face gets covered. If there’s any extra sunscreen after I’m done I put it on my upper chest. I wear a lot of V-neck T-shirts and this area is quick to burn.
Here’s the kicker. The sunscreen I was using at the time was SPF 45 (now it’s 30). I asked the dermatologist if I needed to reapply it at some point during the day. She said yes, partway through the day we should be giving ourselves a second application.
This year I finally found what I had so desperately wanted last year and wasn’t able to find: sunscreen in a stick. Ombrelle now makes one and it’s SPF 60. It’s quick to apply and very dry and non-greasy. The girls are great at putting it on their noses and cheeks. I learned long ago that the trick to making the Sunscreen Application Process tolerable for the girls is to find one that is really easy to spread and absorbs quickly. Clear spray sunscreens are great for this, as are the sticks. There have been times when I’ve cheaped out and bought a $9.00 tube of no-name stuff only to find that it spreads as easily as hard butter on cold toast… far from kid-friendly!
I once bought some purple-coloured stuff which was marketed as “FUN FOR KIDS.” I tell ya, there’s nothing fun about rubbing gobs of thick purple sunscreen onto a squirmy kid.
Phew. That’s a lot about sunscreen, isn’t it? Rant over! Any tips, brands, or tricks you’d like to share?
