I always look like a mess, I've sort of given up. I have a mild sunscreen allergy and am really fair-skinned, which means I'm traipsing around the parks in a fetching Solarveil ensemble that looks like a sun burqua, with a giant hat. Giant. Hat. Which means that I have giant.hat.hair. if I pop off my lid for a photo or two. ( www.solarveil.com for sun-protective clothing)
Since the sunblock clothing is very spendy, I wash it in the sink every night and wear with a pair of light linen pants or stretch leggings to keep as much skin covered as possible. Which means that all my photos look the same, you can mostly only tell it's a different day by the ever changing backgrounds. I had a hell of a time sorting out my cruise photos from the last two years, the only way I figured it out was by the formal night pictures!
I have a longer Solarveil tunic top for this year which isn't too bad, but I wouldn't call it fashionable, especially not with the giant.hat. Did I mention that not only is the Solarveil pricey, it's sheer, too? So, I've got the attractive combo of burlap sunblock top with longer sports bra or exercise tank underneath. wheeee! To be fair, it's very comfortable to wear, very light and cool, wicks sweat right out, washes easily, dries quickly, and even works in the pool, so, I can't complain, it does a fabulous job of protecting me, but I wish it were better looking.
I do wear Coppertone Faces until I start getting rashy (generally I can make it about two-three hours), and on top of it, I use Neutrogena Healthy Defense powder, which apparently has some sort of mineral in it that blocks sun. I use it to kill the shine and get a little extra protection. Once I give up and decide to wash off the sunblock so I don't claw my face off from the itching, I reapply the Neutrogena powder, both for the little bit of SPF and to hide the red blotchiness. At that point, the hat doesn't really come off anymore because my face isn't protected enough to go bare. The powder is supposed to be SPF 20, which is probably enough to protect me from anything that the giant.ugly.hat can't cover, but I wouldn't trust it out in the open sunlight for very long.
I also wear glasses, which makes it worse.
If I'm *not* doing the parks, I have a pretty rayon dress that actually looks pretty good with GiantHatOfDoom, but it's not heavy enough to keep me from getting burned from a day in the sun, so, no pretty for me in the parks.
My husband, of course, always looks cute. Not fair.
