Anyone else not wearing sunscreen?

[BamaFan121s]

I never use it. My 5 y.o. dd and my fair skinned dh use it though.

 

[singingpixie]

I don't use it as much as I should, but I try. DBF drives me NUTS- he works outside in the sun every day and refuses to use it, even though he has a family history of skin cancer. And he yells at me when he catches me looking at his moles to see if any look weird... but he won't go to the doctor so it's got to be better than nothing! Darn guys and their denial.

 

[Webbie]

Aveeno has a wonderful spray sunscreen that leaves your skin feeling great. No sticky feeling or sunscreen smell. I used it for the first time in June for our WDW trip. It was by far the best I have used. I didn't even get that gummy, sticky feeling when you sweat. A great product.

 

[elaine88]

i have been avoiding the sun since birth. i hate the sun. when i go to wdw or anywhere actually, i wear long sleeves and pants and a big stupid hat. i have very pale skin and yet i steer clear of any spf 15 product. nothings blinds me like that stuff. i must be allergic to it because my nose starts running and i can't even open my eyes, headaches, real misery.

i cover w/ clothes or wear sunblock, the kind that looks white or vaguely white. neutrogena makes one for sensitive skin (and eyes) w/ titanium dioxide. solbar is also good.

 

[°O°Joe]

And people can smoke for 30 years without getting lung cancer, too, but that doesn't mean that it's the smartest thing in the world to risk.

Well, to me the difference there is you're putting something that's not natural into your body. Yes tobacco is natural, but smoking it definitely is not. Being out in the sun is not at all unnatural. And I don't smoke. But consider this:

37% of Korean men smoke while only 27% of U.S. men smoke. However, the rate of lung cancer death among Korean men is less than 40 per 100,000, versus 67 per 100,000 among U.S. men. The difference among women is more stark: 13 per 100,000 in Korea, compared with 45 per 100,000 in the U.S. In Korea and other Asian countries, it is a social custom to drink green tea, and lab studies suggest that EGCG and other antioxidants naturally occuring in green tea may block tumor formation or growth in a number of ways. This may, according to the researchers, help explain why the lung cancer death rate in Korea is unexpectedly low.

Again, researches believe, as I have seen in many documented studies, that nutrition is a major factor in preventing and fighting cancers. Similarly, most countries that have the lowest rates of heart disease tend to consume a lot of fish.

And again, everyone's different, but count me in as one of the ones who don't wear sun screen and feel completely safe not doing so. Instead I choose to live a healthy life by way of proper diet and excercise to prevent diseases and illness. I am passionate about my health, so sorry if I'm preaching, again these are just my beliefs.

 

[The Sweetness]

On my last trip, I was sweltering, waiting at Ariel's Grotto for my dd to get to meet Ariel . She was splashing away. I saw 2 adorable blonde twins in pigtails, with their scalp already horribly sunburned, and it was only 10 a.m. I insisted that the mom borrow my sunscreen for them, as she had run out.

 

[frayedend]

Quote from earlier... (sorry I hit quote on the wrong post and had to edit it, can't figure how to put the real quote back without copy and paste.

For those that don't like wearing it why don't you at least....

Try Solbar Shield
SPF 40 Hypoallergenic very water resistant unscented
no synthetic sunscreen agents Zinc Oxide & Titanium dioxide
UVA/UVB sun protection

This works absolutely wonderfully. I use it on all my kids (16,12,4,2,8 months) and not one complains, crys or fights me when it goes on their face. The reason - no chemicals to cause irritation. When you put it on just rub it in and you can tell when it is rubbed in completely because it is no longer whitish tint.

We even make sure we use a chapstick/lipstick with sunscreen in it. END QUOTE

See this is what we need. More posts with good ideas and less flaming people because they choose not to do something. I choose not to wear sunscreen. I stated that I hate the feeling. Now, I didn't say it was the healthiest choice (neither is fried chicken for lunch) but I don't like wearing the stuff. Now if someone has a positive post like this one, that maybe gives me something to try, (rather than just giving me crap because someone they know had skin cancer so we all should be required by law to wear sunscreen), then I will listen happily

Sorry to go off on a tangent here folks, but really we need to criticize less and try to post productive info. If there is a sunscreen that goes on and doesn't feel sticky/gooey/wet then let me know and I will probably try it.

Thanks for listening to me rant

 

[G8RFAN]

We generally won't apply it in the parks since we generally are there in the AM and late afternoon. When we go to the pool or water parks, we then spray SPF30 and apply SPF45 for DS. During the peak summer months, there are some days that the sun here is absolutely brutal. Those days we might spray some on our faces, arms and legs. We all have pacific island skin tones, so we are pretty resilient.

 

[LoveDisneyToo]

I found this 2 in 1 sunscreen & body wash SPF 18 on QVC by Revitalize.

"Protectiong your skin from the damaging effects of the sun and the environment has never been easier, simply Wash N' Protect in one easy step! Exclusive patented technology provides UVA and UVB protection with a broad spectrum SPF 18 sunscreen, while gently cleansing and moisturizing at the same time. Enriched with vitanins A, C and E, along with natural botanical extracts".

This makes it so much easier for my family to use since I have little ones who protest about lathering on with the creams and lotions.

Hope this helps!
Have a great Day!!

 

[kldmom2000]

My 2 cents....

I was a clinical assistant to a dermatologist for 3 yrs and in that time, I saw way more than I would have liked.... teens with melanoma.... people horribly disfigured due to repeated skin cancer surgeries..... and then of course those that didn't catch the cancer in time

I know I'm over the top with my girls in as far as trying to avoid the sun whenever we can and applying/reapplying the sunscreen when we are indeed outside. There's no way to totally avoid it, but any steps I can take to lessen the risk, I'll do it.... I've had 5 moles removed in the past 2 yrs due to being suspicious, and I've been very lucky in that all have been benign so far....

The derm I worked for used to tell people that the damage that is done today will appear 7+++ years in the future, so all those years of my childhood that sunscreen was unheard of in my parents' eyes are catching up to me now...

 

[frayedend]

I found this 2 in 1 sunscreen & body wash SPF 18 on QVC by Revitalize.

"Protectiong your skin from the damaging effects of the sun and the environment has never been easier, simply Wash N' Protect in one easy step! Exclusive patented technology provides UVA and UVB protection with a broad spectrum SPF 18 sunscreen, while gently cleansing and moisturizing at the same time. Enriched with vitanins A, C and E, along with natural botanical extracts".

This makes it so much easier for my family to use since I have little ones who protest about lathering on with the creams and lotions.

Hope this helps!
Have a great Day!!

So do you just use this as soap in the shower and then your protected? That sounds like a great idea. Especially for the kids. They won't even know their being sunscreened! Cool!

 

[LoveDisneyToo]

Frayedend,
Yes, this makes it so convenient you just wash and you are protected since you have to take a bath anyway there is no need to apply lotions. It also saves me time in the mornings with the kids so we can get to the parks earlier.

 

[shoppingbou]

Aveeno has a wonderful spray sunscreen that leaves your skin feeling great. No sticky feeling or sunscreen smell. I used it for the first time in June for our WDW trip. It was by far the best I have used. I didn't even get that gummy, sticky feeling when you sweat. A great product.

Hello!

I'm the one who started this discussion!

Yes, I do know all about skin cancer. My grandfather has it very badly and it's not pretty!

However, I HATE sunscreen and didn't feel that we needed it at Disney.

But I do use it when we are in the sun all day, like at the beach!

However, as frayedend says, any ideas are welcome!

 

[Simba's Mom]

I admit I've rarely used sunscreen at WDW. Like a previous poster, I HATE the sun. I run from shade tree to shade tree, spend as much time as possible indoors too. However, thanks to some comments here, I feel really guilty now-and I should! I think my next trip to WDW is going to have a little something added (like more sunscreen). Honestly, thanks for the scare-I needed that!

 

[snusnu]

I did a completely unintentional experiment on Castaway Cay that will forever remind me of the benefit of sunscreen. I applied liberally as I'm extremely fair and burn very quickly, and we went snorkeling shortly thereafter. We swam for about a half hour, got out, reapplied, sat in the shade and went swimming again about an hour later.

Well, that evening, as we were walking down the hall to go to dinner on the ship, DH, walking behind me, said, "That's going to hurt tomorrow." I turned and he pointed to my calf. I looked down and saw that half of my right calf was the brightest red I've ever seen on a human. I must have either missed the spot or rubbed it off before swimming. It was the worst, most excrutiating sunburn I've very had, and it was only over a small area. I simply cannot imagine what it would have been like had I not worn sunscreen over the rest of my body. I will never again doubt the effectiveness of sunscreen and I simply cannot imagine not applying it to yourself or your children just because you don't like it or it's inconvenient. The risk is not worth it.

We used a Coppertone Sport sunscreen after that so it wouldn't rub off, and it worked very well.

As for the vitamin D absorption and using nutrition to fight sunburn, most people of Northern European descent simply don't have the genetics to support prolonged sun exposure and no amount of vegetables are going to help. Good nutrition is extremely important for maintaining health and shortening recovery times from injury, including sunburn, but the two studies examining if a diet rich in carotenoids can lower your risk for sunburn stated that the protection offered by eating the equivalent of a can of tomato paste a day or taking supplements would only equal an SPF of 2 or 3. Not much, and still not enough to keep skin cancer at bay.

 

[Disneyrsh]

For those that don't like wearing it why don't you at least....

Try Solbar Shield
SPF 40 Hypoallergenic very water resistant unscented
no synthetic sunscreen agents Zinc Oxide & Titanium dioxide
UVA/UVB sun protection

This works absolutely wonderfully. I use it on all my kids (16,12,4,2,8 months) and not one complains, crys or fights me when it goes on their face. The reason - no chemicals to cause irritation. When you put it on just rub it in and you can tell when it is rubbed in completely because it is no longer whitish tint.

We even make sure we use a chapstick/lipstick with sunscreen in it.

Yeah, the Blue Lizard stuff is the same way; you put it on and you turn ghostly white, and then it sort of magically fades and you look normal. The Blue Lizard seems to stick better than the Neutrogena Sensitive-which another poster who's sensitive to chemical sunscreens mentioned-the water actually beads up on the girls' faces when they're swimming in the pool.

Here's a quote from a study done by the University of Oxford Dept of Biochemistry:

"Sunscreens are necessary for days with hours of time spent in the sun, especially kids playing baseball, or playing at the park, or swimming. As for sunscreens, I am very concerned about the use of ingredients in most commercial brands. Many of these chemical sunscreens have carcinogenic and/or hormone disrupting effects. These include cinnamates, PABA, oxybenzone, salicylates, benzophenones, and triethenolamine, among others. These ingredients are absorbed through the skin, and can be found in plasma and urine samples after their use in humans. I don't consider them safe for anyone, especially children."

Huh, followed a few more links and found this stuff:

All Natural Sunscreen

 

[snusnu]

"Sunscreens are necessary for days with hours of time spent in the sun, especially kids playing baseball, or playing at the park, or swimming. As for sunscreens, I am very concerned about the use of ingredients in most commercial brands. Many of these chemical sunscreens have carcinogenic and/or hormone disrupting effects. These include cinnamates, PABA, oxybenzone, salicylates, benzophenones, and triethenolamine, among others. These ingredients are absorbed through the skin, and can be found in plasma and urine samples after their use in humans. I don't consider them safe for anyone, especially children."

Remember that this is one person's opinion. Thousands of studies have been conducted about the long-term effects of topical sunscreen and there have been no adverse outcomes. Salicylate is basically asprin, which is not carcinogenic. We're not using these all day, every day, all year. Be wary of anything "naural" as the sun protectants are not certified by the FDA and may not be effective. There are very loose guidelines for "natural" products in the US.

 

[tinker&belle]

I never wear it, but my kids get loaded up with it. I hate putting on sunscreen. I hate putting on lotion of any kind. I just can't stand the feeling of it. Now, this Neutrogena dry touch is interesting. Does it go on dry feeling. If so then I might try it. I wish they had a sunscreen that went on like talcum powder.

It is great! As soon as you rub it in, it feels like your not wearing anything at all!

 

[Disneyrsh]

Remember that this is one person's opinion. Thousands of studies have been conducted about the long-term effects of topical sunscreen and there have been no adverse outcomes. Salicylate is basically asprin, which is not carcinogenic. We're not using these all day, every day, all year. Be wary of anything "naural" as the sun protectants are not certified by the FDA and may not be effective. There are very loose guidelines for "natural" products in the US.

Very good point. "Natural" ingredients can be as powerful and potentially harmful as man made ones. I agree, also about the salicylates-originally derived from black willow bark, I think.

I wonder what American Indian had a headache and thought, hey, I'll try gnawing on a tree, see if that works...

But I also don't like that the stuff we put on our skin is showing up in our urine-it's travelling all through our systems, and we're coating the largest organ with it, sometimes head to toe...

 

[Amyg]

I know, I understand that. But I guess my point more than anything is - just because you don't wear sun screen doesn't mean you are sure to get skin cancer. People with a family history of skin cancer and people with a northern European heritage are at the highest risk - maybe they should be more cautious than others. Many people go their entire life without wearing sun screen without getting skin cancer. Everyone is different and if people believe that a person who choses not to wear sun screen is unhealthy, I think that is unfair. Again, I also believe that proper nutrition goes a long way in preventing and fighting all types of cancer. And proper nutrition is definitely something that most American's lack.

Again just my opinions.

I believe this is probably true.

I have medium skin tone that does not burn and no one in my family has ever had skin cancer type problems AND we grew up practically living at the beach in our youth putting baby oil on our skin (YIKES!) BUT there are other issues such as wrinkling and sun spots which I unfortunately have.

About 13 years ago my Dermatologist told me to always wear sunscreen and I have ever since. Hmmmm...I wonder if I'd look 15 years younger than my age instead of just 10 if I'd used sunscreen when I was younger?

How about the Coppertone spray on sunscreens? That's what we use and it feels pretty light IMHO. You just have to make sure that you apply enough of any sunscreen you use. For my face I use the Coppertone for face which is SPF 30, I have VERY oily skin and this one is definitely not greasy!