The Higher The SPF, The Better.
I haven't been truly tan since the age of seven, when I lived in Tampa.
I'm not a fan of Florida. No offense to the state, but I think it's a shit place. It's hot and sticky. The water smells bad. And the bugs (specifically, the roaches) were HUGE.
My family and I would spend weekends at the beach nearby. I had a Strawberry Shortcake bathing suit that I loved. And I would hang out on the beach, building sand castles with my younger brother, J. Because of these beach weekends, this was the only time in my life where I actually looked "Mexican."
After my family left Florida, we had a short stop in Arizona before moving to West Germany. (Which is a country that no longer exists.) Once in Germany, my tan faded away. We spent our weekends playing outside and walking in Volksmarches under overcast skies.
As I grew into my teenage years and moved back to Arizona, I continued to hold on to my alabaster skin tone by default. We had a Nintendo Entertainment System, and I was determined to master Goonies 2 and Contra (with the code to gain you the extra guys) during the weekends and Summertime.
By the time I started high school, my dark hair and pale skin combination gained me lots of compliments... "You look like Shannon Doherty." "You look like Winona Ryder."... I was flattered and decided that keeping my pale skin was the thing to do. It was what made me different from everyone else in Arizona. But when I started university, my reason for holding onto my pale skin shifted...
I went to school at the University of Arizona. U of A is a school that attracts MANY out-of-state students. It's cheap to go to school there, and they have some really excellent programs. And it was at the U of A that I became familiar with the term, "Fake-bake."
As I moved into my dorm the first day I arrived, I met so many girls from New York, New Jersey and Ohio... I had never been to any of these places, but all the girls had one thing in common... Orange skin. Orange skin for which they were very proud. And they found me to be quite an oddity...
"Cute top," one girl said to me. Her skin a little oily in her T-zone, and dry on her cheeks. "Where are you from?"
"I'm from Arizona," I told her.
"Ohmigod!" she shrieked. "Are you? But you're so pale!!!! How can you grow up here and not be tan? It's one of the reasons I decided to go to school here... So I wouldn't have to 'fake-bake' at the salon."
"Yeah," I agreed with her. "I am pale. I'm not really a fan of what the Sun can do to one's skin."
"You mean give it a natural glow?" she asked.
"No, skin cancer," I told her, trying to noble.
She just kind of laughed it off. But I remember staring at her, in her tight baby doll dress with her chunky tanned thighs peeking out below the hem... And I remember thinking that she looked a lot older than the 18 years she was. And I realized it was the tan that had aged her.
So right then I decided that I would wear sunscreen as much as possible. At least on my face.
After a few weeks, I noticed that my feet were really dirty when I took my sandals off my feet. I hopped into the shower and scrubbed. But the dirt wasn't coming off of them. And it hit me...
"My legs are tanned!!!!!"
From that moment on, I began wearing sunscreen on legs whenever I wore shorts or a dress.
By the time I left Arizona for NYC, about four years later, I was paler than when I started college.
Most days now, I only wear an SPF 30 on my face. It's done a pretty good job of keeping any wrinkles away. But I also slather thick moisturizer on my face before I go to sleep at night. And when I go on beach vacations, I pile on the high intensity SPF... Usually it's always been 55 or 70... But more recently I have upgraded to 85, since it is available.
... Which brings me to the purpose of this posting...
There seems to be a lot of false impressions about high-intensity SPF lotions. The false impression being: Anything over SPF 30 is really "just extra moisturizer" and not helping you any, as Nadine Haobsh, a beauty writer, wrote in her book last fall.
However, this is not entirely correct people.
The bottom line on SPF is that if you take the time to apply (and reapply) it correctly, you will get the maximum amount of protection from it. When you apply SPF 30, you are getting 30 times the sun protection that you would if you weren't wearing any sunblock.
So when I wear SPF 85, I am getting 85 times the amount of protection. And when I reapply it after a few hours, it will continue to protect me to this degree... Or at least way more than SPF 30 would.
So don't be fooled by anyone who chastises you for busting out the SPF 85 on your next vacation (like my husband chastised me)... If they feel comfortable with just 30 on, good for them. I feel confident that my avoidance of the sun will keep me looking young even when I am into my 60s and 70s. And I won't have "crepey" looking skin.
I mean, I still get carded people. Even in foreign countries. Even when at dinner with The Husband.
It's gotta be the sunblock.
I'm not a fan of Florida. No offense to the state, but I think it's a shit place. It's hot and sticky. The water smells bad. And the bugs (specifically, the roaches) were HUGE.
My family and I would spend weekends at the beach nearby. I had a Strawberry Shortcake bathing suit that I loved. And I would hang out on the beach, building sand castles with my younger brother, J. Because of these beach weekends, this was the only time in my life where I actually looked "Mexican."
After my family left Florida, we had a short stop in Arizona before moving to West Germany. (Which is a country that no longer exists.) Once in Germany, my tan faded away. We spent our weekends playing outside and walking in Volksmarches under overcast skies.
As I grew into my teenage years and moved back to Arizona, I continued to hold on to my alabaster skin tone by default. We had a Nintendo Entertainment System, and I was determined to master Goonies 2 and Contra (with the code to gain you the extra guys) during the weekends and Summertime.
By the time I started high school, my dark hair and pale skin combination gained me lots of compliments... "You look like Shannon Doherty." "You look like Winona Ryder."... I was flattered and decided that keeping my pale skin was the thing to do. It was what made me different from everyone else in Arizona. But when I started university, my reason for holding onto my pale skin shifted...
I went to school at the University of Arizona. U of A is a school that attracts MANY out-of-state students. It's cheap to go to school there, and they have some really excellent programs. And it was at the U of A that I became familiar with the term, "Fake-bake."
As I moved into my dorm the first day I arrived, I met so many girls from New York, New Jersey and Ohio... I had never been to any of these places, but all the girls had one thing in common... Orange skin. Orange skin for which they were very proud. And they found me to be quite an oddity...
"Cute top," one girl said to me. Her skin a little oily in her T-zone, and dry on her cheeks. "Where are you from?"
"I'm from Arizona," I told her.
"Ohmigod!" she shrieked. "Are you? But you're so pale!!!! How can you grow up here and not be tan? It's one of the reasons I decided to go to school here... So I wouldn't have to 'fake-bake' at the salon."
"Yeah," I agreed with her. "I am pale. I'm not really a fan of what the Sun can do to one's skin."
"You mean give it a natural glow?" she asked.
"No, skin cancer," I told her, trying to noble.
She just kind of laughed it off. But I remember staring at her, in her tight baby doll dress with her chunky tanned thighs peeking out below the hem... And I remember thinking that she looked a lot older than the 18 years she was. And I realized it was the tan that had aged her.
So right then I decided that I would wear sunscreen as much as possible. At least on my face.
After a few weeks, I noticed that my feet were really dirty when I took my sandals off my feet. I hopped into the shower and scrubbed. But the dirt wasn't coming off of them. And it hit me...
"My legs are tanned!!!!!"
From that moment on, I began wearing sunscreen on legs whenever I wore shorts or a dress.
By the time I left Arizona for NYC, about four years later, I was paler than when I started college.
Most days now, I only wear an SPF 30 on my face. It's done a pretty good job of keeping any wrinkles away. But I also slather thick moisturizer on my face before I go to sleep at night. And when I go on beach vacations, I pile on the high intensity SPF... Usually it's always been 55 or 70... But more recently I have upgraded to 85, since it is available.
... Which brings me to the purpose of this posting...
There seems to be a lot of false impressions about high-intensity SPF lotions. The false impression being: Anything over SPF 30 is really "just extra moisturizer" and not helping you any, as Nadine Haobsh, a beauty writer, wrote in her book last fall.
However, this is not entirely correct people.
The bottom line on SPF is that if you take the time to apply (and reapply) it correctly, you will get the maximum amount of protection from it. When you apply SPF 30, you are getting 30 times the sun protection that you would if you weren't wearing any sunblock.
So when I wear SPF 85, I am getting 85 times the amount of protection. And when I reapply it after a few hours, it will continue to protect me to this degree... Or at least way more than SPF 30 would.
So don't be fooled by anyone who chastises you for busting out the SPF 85 on your next vacation (like my husband chastised me)... If they feel comfortable with just 30 on, good for them. I feel confident that my avoidance of the sun will keep me looking young even when I am into my 60s and 70s. And I won't have "crepey" looking skin.
I mean, I still get carded people. Even in foreign countries. Even when at dinner with The Husband.
It's gotta be the sunblock.
Comments
I use the Neutrogena 85 SPF that you wrote about on here before, and I also just bought the La Roche-Posay SPF/moisturizer for daytime, while I'll use the Neutrogena this week in Vegas (along with sunglasses, a hat, and maybe a cabana!).
For me it is more of a vanity thing than anything else, which is kinda sad, but at least it is getting me to do something about it!
The 85 rocks!