overcast and rain

means no need for sunscreen for many of us fair skinned folks. i can't sit out in the sun too long without looking like a tortilla on an open flame, all burnt and puffed up. Not good.

just a random thought that popped in my head...

wondering if us pasty white folks with what passes for northern euro genetics cope better with the craptastic weather because we don't tan?

I still wish I'd managed to find a t-shirt a guy I knew wore proudly.

It was rust stained white...

with rust colored letters saying simply:

Washingtonians don't Tan

We RUST!

And to that effect i've been very successful avoiding the burn (save for that one ride in Feb/March). Why?

Blue Lizard.

Damn shit is THE best sunscreen out there (IMHO). For the first time I've found a sunscreen that I can put on that lasts. AND when i get out of the sun I don't feel like i've been sitting under a food service hot lamp. I don't have that "ooh I got a lot of sun today" feeling when i get that stuff on.

It was $7.99 up there in Maine, but for some reason down here it is $9.99 for the same stuff. Granted the MSRP is $9.99 for 3oz (yeah, expensive). I've found it in an 8.75. I prefer the baby or the sensitive (same stuff different bottle). And 30+ is right. This stuff lasts.

Now sure, there aren't many products using the effective stuff that Blue Lizard does (Titanium Dioxide (5%), Zinc Oxide (10%)) , most use the chemicals like these: Octinoxate (7.5%), Oxybenzone (6%), Homosalate (5%), Octisalate (5%), Avobenzone (3%).

So what do they do? Those chemicals? Well they absorb UV radiation. (in theory). And what do they do with the energy? Generally convert it to heat. But that stuff doesn't last long. Once the UV toasts the chemical it is pretty much finished, so no matter what the SPF thing says, the amount of UV you get will determine how long it lasts. And that whole waiting for it to absorb into your skin thing. I don't like that.

What do you get with oxides? Instant protection. And protection that scatters and reflects UV light. Meaning it works until you wash it off. The Blue Lizard Sensitive and Baby formulas last over 240 minutes in the water in some test. Well that is 240 minutes in Whirlpool water. Hmm. FDA says to be waterproof it just needs to stay in for 80 minutes in still water. Hot bubbly whirlpool or still water. What's going to wash stuff off faster.

It is a bit thicker than some (bottom item at the last link there). Putting it on with hairy arms is sort of a pain, but the cycling shaved legs make it easy to get on there. The girls have been using it all summer and this is the first time the oldest hasn't gotten super fried at camp. Yeah, even using the high test chemical stuff and putting it on a couple times a day she would still get toasted. This stuff? Put it on in the morning, and more or less works most all day long.

Well worth it. that feeling of not getting too much sun is gone.

So.

Washingtonians and those of the rest who don't want to worry about skin cancer or sunburns... This Blue Lizard stuff is the absolute best. It took me getting a free sample to see the light. But man. In my many trips around the sun I've been burnt a ton, finally found something that really works well.

Now that the sun is out here in New England. Don't get burnt.

heddwch
G