I’ve said it before and I’ll trot this line out every summer as long as I still have people listening … I’m a living, breathing scientific study into why sunscreen should be your number one skincare priority.
I’ve lived all my life in Queensland, half of that holidaying every school holiday time at the beach; the other half living at the beach.
Even in the days when sunscreen stung like nobody’s business and we got a giggle out of the Coppertone billboard at Surfers Paradise where the puppy pulled down the pants of the tanned kid to show a white bottom, I was wearing sunscreen.
Long before rashies were invented, mum had us wearing t-shirts over our swimsuits. Our summer our clothes were permanently stained with zinc.
Did I think it was cool? Not on your life but when I “grew up” and was responsible for my own sunscreen, the habit was already in place. My face especially has always been covered up and slathered on.
The result: skin that’s not of a leather-like consistency best found on a ridiculously expensive designer handbag. And so far no melanomas. Touch a very big hunk of wood on that one.
I’d love to tell you that I have one go-to sunscreen. But I don’t. I have a whole wardrobe of essential sunscreens.
Of course.
Want to take a peek inside my sunscreen wardrobe? Head on over to The Hoopla for more.
In the mean time, imagine yourself sun-protected and sitting under this Sombrilla I think I “need” from Down That Little Lane.
PS. I’m heading to Melbourne today to speak at the Problogger Training Event tomorrow and Saturday. There is no truth to the rumour that I’ll be having any fun whatsoever with my blogging besties. None. At. All 😉  Feel free to follow along with us on Instagram. The unofficial hashtag is #mumsontheloose
Comments 19
oooh I want one of those sombrillas!
Me too!
Nikki, I am similarly obsessed with sunscreens. I hope my skin will thank me in the years to come. I recently added the Becca Face and Body sunscreen to me repertoire – oh my lordy, if you haven’t tried it YOU MUST. Think – lightweight sunscreen that smells like a divine moisturiser. Just beautiful. Oh and I might have also bought the Becca Lip Gloss in Pink Lotus and thought of you, as it is a perfect coral-orangey pink. Surely your purchases are tax deductable #legitimatebusinessexpenseato?
LOL … I wish! That lipgloss sounds divine!!
Nikki, we were definitely brought up with similarly minded Mum’s. I remember being quite cross at her growing up because we were made to wear sunscreen everytime we went outside whilst our friends didn’t wear any or used babyoil to get ‘fried’.
As a 40’ish year old I am so grateful to my Mum for being so diligent as I am blessed with ‘English rose’ skin and regularly get complimented on how beautiful my skin is. My Mum is a walking example of what looking after your skin can do – she is 79 this year and could easily pass as 60!
My skin isn’t English rose but it’s a lot better off than what it would have been!
I’d like to know if there are any that aren’t greasy. My skin around my neck and chest always breaks out in little spots for about five days after plying it with sunscreen. It’s putting me off wearing it, which is a worry, as I like to go free range in a bikini.
For the beach, the Neutrogena wet skin sprays are not greasy. The Ella Bache one is only slightly because of its viscosity.
Living in both South Australia and Queensland, and having holidayed in Victoria, NSW and Queensland, I have had bad sunburns from every state.
I only applied sunscreen once because I thought it lasted all day through sand and surf. It didn’t, which is why I got burned and couldn’t walk and had to apply aloe vera every few hours because my feet were big fat whales basically. But I was 15. And it’s never happened again.
And I do need to say this, the first ever three moles I had removed were on my lower back which had never seen daylight let alone sun. It was always covered by underwear, tops, pants etc. Yet when my specialist cut it off and told me two weeks later that he was glad he’d got it now because the cells were changing, it really proved to me that if you’re going to get skin cancer, it will happen regardless of how much sunscreen you slather on. Mine had never seen the sun yet it was becoming a melanoma. Simply rubbing against clothing bands can cause them to change, I have been told and warned by specialists for years as I have to be checked every year for the rest of my life. I have so many moles I once counted them and came to 768. I’ve grown more since then, and in total, have had 12 cut off.
Slather on sunscreen all you like, but when you can get cancer from a sunbed, or from a mole which has never seen the light of day, you’re going to get cancer regardless of how much you use.
Fake tans can also make you look like old leather. I wish people, especially young women, would stop doing it because it makes you look like an old hag!
This is a good point about the cancerous moles showing up in places where you don’t expose your skin to the sun and the need to be vigilant and have them checked.
My Mum was very conscious of the fact that she was raising a redhead in Queensland so I wore a lot of sunscreen and hats. Still ended up with a lot of freckles and sun damage but it could have been a lot worse, and I certainly have great sunscreen habits to pass on to my kids.
It’s those habits which are priceless Melissa! And sunscreen has improved so much.
My mum tried but I did not listen much,naughty me ,I used to lay in the sun with baby oil and reef oil on,the browner the better though I do have olive skin,but it has faded over the years,but for some reason I always wore sunscreen on my face,luckily for me,But the worse sun damage I have is my right hand sunspots all over and I hate it and am now trying to correct some of the damage I caused with garnier dark spot remover and it is working.I wear sunscreen all the time and look for handcreams with it in and my children would not think twice about putting on sunscreen,which is great especially as my son is a landscaper and in the sun all day.Have fun in Melbourne, as I am sure you will with your blogging besties,yes I will see what you get up to on IG,Enjoy Nikki.
Hee hee, just like on Puberty Blues!
Yep my mum (thank goodness I say now!) was constantly slapping sunscreen on us kids and I pretty much lived in a sun hat. I’m now doing the same to my little fair skinned people. I’m hoping they (well the girls anyway!) will thank me in years to come! And I agree, I think we ALL ‘need’ that gorgeous sombrilla! xx
I think they will, Janelle … my teenage daughter is generally good at keeping her sunscreen applied.
I’m a Queenslander too but my mum wasn’t as good as yours. She suggested baby oil. I’m am a lot better these days and I’m always sun screening my girls. Rachel x
Oh dear Rach … just like on the original Puberty Blues movie! I think our kids are going to be much more sunsmart aware than we were!