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    • Article in Environment

    The sun is out and I got my sunscreen

    cesar's picture
    cesar | May 22 2024 - 1:29pm
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    The past two or so days have been very sunny and HOT! I went to CVS today to pick up some sunscreen and a few thoughts/questions crossed my mind:

    1)  What level SPF should I get? I heard somewhere (I don't remember where) that anything above 50 SPF isn't really doing much. I figure, it couldn't hurt, right? (I got the 30)

    2) What is this "HelioPlex" thing on the bottles? Is it the same as broad spectrum which blocks both UVA and UVB rays? I didn't bother to investigate since the helioplex ones were more money than I was willing to spend. So if you know....

    3) What type should I get? They have lotions and sprays...lotion sprays and clear sprays. I settled on the clear spray  because the lotions leave a horrible pink/purple/blue residue on my brown skin. And that brought me to another thought...some of my friends of colour don't wear sunscreen because they feel they have protection. My (very) dark skinned grandfather had skin cancer so obviously this 'protection' is not 100%. Would you PLEASE WEAR SUNSCREEN! And don't over do it in the sun. Skin cancer is serious. COVER UP!

    Check out this information about skin cancer, ethnic skin care and the 'light' protection we have against some sun

    http://www.brownskin.net/ageless_black.html

    http://www.brownskin.net/cancer.html

     

     

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    4 Comments

    Lanaflava May 22, 2024 - 2:48pm

    Great post Cesar! I'm very into sunscreen and love when other people are too. I'll try to answer some of your questions: 1) 45 is probably the highest you should go. Everything above 45 is just about the same in terms of protection and you run the risk of annoying, thick, uncomfortable creams. 15 and 30 are great too! 2) Helioplex is the newest sun protection technology. Here's an explanation from Wikipedia on how it works: "Helioplex is a proprietary name for a formulation of broad spectrum UVA/UVB skin protection containing Avobenzone and Oxybenzone. Avobenzone containing products have decreasing efficacy after a few hours of sun exposure, but the addition of Oxybenzone reduces the amount of degradation that occurs." It's the best stuff out there so if you have the extra cash it's worth it. Regular sunscreen will definitely do the trick too, but remembering to reapply is really important! 3)All sunscreen is better than no sunscreen. The most important thing is to find one that you'll use consistently. What I've heard about sprays is that since the mist is finer than a cream, people tend to put less on. So, since you chose the spray, make sure you put on a thick, even layer and reapply reapply reapply!!

    cesar May 22, 2024 - 4:31pm

    ah..very interesting. Thanks for answering those questions! I'm about to go out again so I will spray on some more sunscreen....

    Riverside May 26, 2024 - 12:45pm

    Cesar, I definitely prefer the spray sunscreen too, because the lotions are usually so thick and goopy. I had no idea that the higher SPFs don't necessarily protect you more - I guess I'll stick to my SPF 30 and make sure, as lanaflava suggested, to reapply, reapply, reapply! (or at least try to!)

    lienknguyen83 July 13, 2024 - 9:57am

    During the summer, I am very surprise that many individuals do not wear sunscreen because they do not like smell or the residue after applying. I use lotions of 50 SPF and higher as the first applicator and then sprays after so many hours in the sun as a preventative. Also, I would reapply sunscreen when I get out of the water due to wearing off. My friend got sunburned because he forgot to reapply after jet skiing. Very important to reapply!

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