Protecting the Face/Skin

[liberty]

Oops, I was going to reply on the Neutragena dry-touch too. It is what I was attempting to use in South America. But I sweat like a horse... I also used it when I began biking, but it did nothing. Sun spots got very dark. I did like how it felt though. Went on nicely under makeup. But Dermatone lotion goes on nicely too. It does leave a very slight, almost invisible white cast to your face. This year who cares if I have a tan! I am going to embrace my pale skin!

Do you realize how much stuff we're "supposed" to be putting on our skin in order to meet the idea of beautiful? Self-tanners, cellulite creams, moisturizers, sunscreen... Good grief! Why can't we just be who we are? There are MORE of us with "supposedly" imperfect bodies than there are with perfect bodies. THEY are the oddballs, not us! Biking does more for my legs than any cellulite cream ever did... Sorry for the thread drift...

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Do you realize how much stuff we're "supposed" to be putting on our skin in order to meet the idea of beautiful? Self-tanners, cellulite creams, moisturizers, sunscreen... Good grief! Why can't we just be who we are? There are MORE of us with "supposedly" imperfect bodies than there are with perfect bodies. THEY are the oddballs, not us! Biking does more for my legs than any cellulite cream ever did... Sorry for the thread drift...

Who's idea of beautiful?- a cosmetic company's?- well of COURSE they want us to slather on as many goops as they can get us to buy! Their idea of beauty is dollar signs. I would never even consider stuff like self tanning lotion (why dye your skin?) or cellulite creams (can't cream away fat).
Sunscreen when in the sun and mositurizer when not in the sun are both good things, though. Moisturizer can mean anything, as simple even as a bit of olive oil.
Last year, after years of using various SPF30 suncreens with no problem, I suddenly broke out in about 100 giant hives after applying my "usual" sunscreen one day! The hives took 6 days to go away- it was AWFUL, like having a disease! So apparently I suddenly developed an allergic reaction the chemical suscreens. Since then I have switched to natural sunBLOCKS instead- those being with titanium dioxide and/or zinc oxide as the ONLY active ingredients. Have not had a problem since.

[KnottedYet]

The chemical sunscreen issue is why I tend to wear long sleeves and long pants and big hats as much as possible. I'm the malignant melanoma poster child, and am supposed to wear sunscreen all the time and every day.

Well, I'm rebellious. I do worry about getting oversensitive to something, so I save the chemical screens for sweaty/wet activities where I need something that won't wash off or can't wear protective clothing. Even then, I put the Dermatone paste OVER the sunscreen on top of my cancer scars. (more is better, right?!?! )

I got some nifty face powder that is spf 18 (ti dioxide) but keep forgetting to use it. I'm not much of a makeup chickie. It's not greasy like the old Neutrogena ti + zinc block lotion so I won't get zits from it, but I just haven't gotten into the habit yet. This is the "new" version of the ti + zinc Neutrogena block I've been hearing about: http://www.drugstore.com/qxp55697_33...kin_spf_30.htm Gonna go to the drugstore today and get some. I'll post a review.

This is where I get my hats: http://www.watership.com/ I love their hats. They have lots of styles to choose from, and they are a local company willing to do repairs if your hat needs them.

[pooks]

My rosacea has gone on a spree and my cheeks and nose are bright red all the time, even when I haven't been outside. So I really do want to use makeup just to look normal. Sigh.

Which means sunscreen/moisturizer, concealer, then foundation. Then if the concealer and foundation really-really worked (which they often don't) I have to brush a bit of blush on. Grrr.

This spring and summer are going to be a real challenge as I spend more time on my bike.

[Thorn]

I suddenly broke out in about 100 giant hives after applying my "usual" sunscreen one day! The hives took 6 days to go away- it was AWFUL, like having a disease! So apparently I suddenly developed an allergic reaction the chemical suscreens.

Oh yeah....try to find more than one brand of sunscreen that works for you and rotate your sunscreen usage if you use it every day. Even if it is Zn/Ti-based. Using the same sunscreen every day increases the changes that you will develop an allergic reaction. What you experienced isn't all that unusual. Rotate, in general, even the Zn/Ti-based because the transport media is not inert.

[KnottedYet]

Ooooh, fun at the drugstore!

I just bought two different Ti-Zn physical blocks. Gonna review them somewhere. (Gear and accessories?)

[violette]

Does anyone use the sunblocks for kids, spf 50? I thought they would work.

[KnottedYet]

I do. I like the ones with a mix of physical and chemical blocks, and those are most often the ones for kids. Banana Boat and Hawaiian Tropic are my favorites.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Knotted, I have that Neutrogena titaniumoxide-only sunblock lotion too. It's the one I switched to after the hives episode. It seems fine.
But i just got a tube of Dr. Hauschka's non-chemical sunblock SPF 15 (Tit.dioxide+zinc ox.). Very expensive, but I like the emollient qualities it has, and the smell is pleasing to me. (I had to get rid of some sunblocks I tried because even the "non-scented" ones had aromas I found unpleasant after a while. I have dry face skin and the Dr. H's seems to help that more than the Neutrogena which is "thinner".

I read somewhere that once you get to spf 15, adding higher spf numbers doesn't really multiply the effectiveness mathematically the way you think it does. Sort of like how 1% milk does not have half the fat of 2% milk, like you would expect it to.
Can't remember where I read about it though. Anyone else read that?
I do know that I've never noticed a protection difference between say a 20 and a 35 at all.

[KnottedYet]

The spf is most important relative to each person's burn time.

For example, I burn after about 10 minutes of direct midday sun exposure.

An spf 2 will let me be in the sun twice as long before burning: 20 minutes.

spf 15 gives me 2 1/2 hours

spf 30 gives me 5 hours

spf 50 gives me a bit more than 8 hours, which is probably longer than I'd be in real direct sunlight anyway.

For someone who doesn't burn for 20 minutes, an spf of 50 would just be over kill, and even an spf of 30 might be too much.

My cancer-man pushes spf 30 for everyone all the time. I'll go as low as 15, but no lower. (but I do hats and clothes with it if I'm just wearing spf 15)

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Yes that sounds like what I had read! So in effect, if I put some spf 15 on my face every 2 hours while in the sun and am in the sun for 6 hours, it will give me the same burn protection as if I put on some spf30 ONCE and stayed in the sun for 4 hours. Now i recall that you don't need the higher spf number if you re-apply some every 2 hours or so. I am leery of overly strong stuff on my skin- but yes I don't want skin cancer either! So the 15 should work fine for me if I reapply if staying out more than 2 hours.

[KnottedYet]

Weeeeeellll, sort of.

You are still absorbing radiation. I can put on spf 2, and in 20 minutes I will have absorbed as much radiation as I would have in 10 minutes naked. So I will burn. If I reapply the spf 2 after 20 minutes, I will still be burned. Because I've absorbed that radiation already and in 20 minutes more I will absorb that much again.

10 minutes naked = burned Knot
20 minutes with spf 2 = burned Knot
2 1/2 hours with spf 15 = burned Knot

but:
10 minutes naked = burned Knot
20 minutes naked = painful peeling Knot
2 1/2 hours naked = blistered crying Knot

The spf cuts down on the amount of radiation you absorb, but you are still getting radiation. The rating is based on how much radiation is being cut off, not how long it will totally protect you.

You need to reapply chemical screens because they break down with exposure to radiation (the radiation destroys the screen instead of destroying you). You need to reapply just to maintain the spf you originally had with your fresh application.

Physical blocks don't break down with radiation, so reapplying them if the previous layer hasn't worn off CAN be cumulative. I always assume it's wearing off, so I end up wearing probably a lot more spf than the bottle says.

[liberty]

Wow. I didn't know I should be rotating the sun protection. What a great thread. I am learning tons. So, sun mentor extraordinaire KnottedYet, how many products do you use and how often do you rotate? Very interested in your review of the new products you mentioned.

[KnottedYet]

Here's my review, and MP's review of Neutrogena's Helioplex. http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=14764

I have about 3 different brands of sunscreen at any one time, and just use whatever is handy. So they sort of randomly rotate until they either expire or go empty.

I'm not very organized.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

So they sort of randomly rotate until they either expire or go empty.

Yes that's another point we should all remember...these products DO expire!
I used to be rather clueless and casual about sunscreens and the idea of them expiring never even occured to me- they'd just sit in the shelf and I never looked at their dates. One day I put one on that I'd had in the cupboard for a couple of years and I noticed a NASTY chemical smell from it. I looked at the exp. date and it was expired by 2 years. Now I am much more diligent about getting RID of sun products once they expire. I check the dates in the stores too, because I have often seen expired ones still for sale in stores. I usually point it out to the manager, and hopefully they then pull them.