That’s because, frankly, there already wasn’t such a thing. A sunscreen might be more water resistant than a competitor. But you can’t assume that one application of the “waterproof” stuff will stay with you through hours of pool time.

I’ve surfed 8 hours straight in large waves with tons of thrashing around underwater with tropical sun bearing down on me. I don’t know about other brands, but clear Bullfrog stays on in those conditions and keeps me from burning wherever I put it. I was pleasantly surprised over the years to see Bullfrog grow from just surfers like me using it to the general populace.

I honestly don’t know how healthy that kind of stuff is to be absorbed in the skin, but it definitely meets my definition of waterproof sun protection as far as burning goes.

That said, before Bullfrog, I used to try other brands that claimed “waterproof” protection and I got burned.

That’s hot.

Moist make-up (as opposed to powders) should generally be dumped after six months.

How come?

http://www.ucsd.tv/search-details.aspx?showID=15770

It is long and dull, but the guy is funny like my dad is funny…that is to say, not very, but endearing nonetheless.

To summarize it as best I can (I know you could do way better!): UVA seems to cause melanoma (deadly) as it contains vastly more radiation. Both UBA and UVB can cause Basal Cell Carcinoma over years of tanning and burning but mostly in fairskinned people. Basal Cell Carcinoma is basically never deadly and is usually easily found and removed by a dermatologist. Both UVA and UVB cause melanin to be created deep in the skin. Melanin migrates to block cell nucleii from the radiation from UVA.

Suncreens of ALL kinds prevent this process of melanin creation and protection from happening! It is important to get some sun. It is also important not to burn. Sunscreen that doesn’t contain Titanium Dioxide and Zinc Dioxide is WORSE than just getting sun until you start to burn because it blocks the UVB but doesn’t block UVA which is linked to Melanoma (deadly).

I haven’t even mentioned Vitamin D yet, which is thought to be protective from cancer in general and is synthesized by the skin when exposed to the sun. It is synthesized in huge amounts, way more than you can get by any diet. Our skin is thought to have evolved with the sun, some evolving lighter pigmentation to synthesize more Vitamin D, some evolving darker pigmentation to have more protection from the radiation by the melanin.

His advice is pretty simple really: Listen to your skin. If you burn easily, get a little sun (every day) and then cover up. If you tan, get a tan. Don’t burn. If you are dark skinned you need even more sun to make Vitamin D. If you start to burn, cover up. Go to a dermatologist to check for basal cell carcinoma every couple years for a mole check.

I add: If you don’t want wrinkles, spots and moles, grow up. You’ll be happier if you’re healthy.

As someone who actually participated as a “lab rat” in one of these sunscreen tests during college (hey, it paid like 100 bucks!), what I found amusing (and wasn’t mentioned in this article, darnit) was that the parts of their bodies has to be areas “not previously exposed to sunlight”, or in other words, how the experiment got the nickname of the “ass-burning” experiment among my friends. (Of course a bunch of us did it- that’s beer and pizza money!)

Sigh- I miss doing stupid things for free money in college.

Communists!

Not exactly. Electrons absorb energy in the form of a photon (light particle) and use it to transition to a higher-energy orbital. Then they dissipate that light energy in a nonradiative (non-light-emitting) form, via vibrational and rotational energy. Like if someone goosed you (electron goes up) resulting in lots of little goosebumps (vibrational dissipation).

Or something.

Well if it is, it’s certainly not an active ingredient in the vast majority of the ones I find at my local stores. I know, because I’ve looked at every single sunscreen that is local. My wife is allergic to any sun screen that isn’t based on the zinc/titanium setup. So she mostly uses the Neutrogena Baby kind that’s like $3+ an ounce.

And if it’s not an active ingredient then why use nano size? I would think the whole point of adding it would be to lighten or make the cream white…

I’ve got a relatively dark complexion (Mediterranean), and wearing SPF15 sunscreen prevents sunburn even if I only apply it once in the morning. Am I taking a huge risk by doing this?

all of my sunscreens have expiration dates

Moist make-up (as opposed to powders) should generally be dumped after six months. Unless you’re trying to flesh out your zombie look with styes and carbuncles. If you’re using sunscreen seasonally, you should consider dumping it at the end of the season and buying fresh every year.

I’d be willing to bet you could pick almost any noun to replace “sunscreen,” and the statement would remain true.

I also want to add that I wear a hat when I’m in the sun a while because it would be nice to avoid too many wrinkles on my face at least. I didn’t want to sound too snarky about that. Nobody wants to look old.

Oh, and I had blisters on the top of my earlobes, too. Puffy, fat blisters filled with serum. I didn’t think that was even possible.

The threat of not using sunscreen is no longer abstract to me, nor to any of the people who saw me the next day…