SPF 85. Who knew?
Sunday, June 8th, 2008
I was visiting my dermatologist last week, and during small talk about our summer plans I told her about the upcoming adventure.
Given that our drive promises to be hotter than hot and the fact that we will be blasted with sun and sand for days on end, I fully expected her to give me some lecture on sun protection. That being said, I was shocked at her advice …
With a straight face, she urgently recommended that I stock up on UV blocking sun-protective clothes and Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Dry-Touch Sunblock SPF 85. As a pale person with a high risk of skin cancer I am all about taking precautionary measures, BUT SPF 85??? Who knew that even existed?! What happened to the days when I was teased for SPF 45?
In shock, I promptly went out and bought my first -tiny- tube of SPF 85 sunblock. At $10.99 a pop, I’m going to need to take out a loan if I hope to buy enough of this super sunscreen to cover me the entire 5 weeks we are away …
Aparna said,
June 9, 2008 @ 11:47 am
I’m still reeling from this. I just…can’t even register SPF 85 right now. Be back later when this makes more sense.
amy wilson said,
June 9, 2008 @ 12:37 pm
i’ve actually heard (don’t remember where) that anything above SPF 40 is bull. i will do more research and get back to you.
Lucilla said,
June 24, 2008 @ 1:51 pm
Don’t do it!!!! Anything over SPF 15 is BAD for you! Just look at what chemicals are included — once you reach anything over SPF 15, the chemicals included in the sunblock go up exponentially, and they all cause skin cancer!
I would just wear protective clothes, and try to stay in some sort of shade(which I know will be difficult). But, really, anything over 15 is very bad for your skin!
Didn’t the increase in number of people with skin cancer happen when people started wearing more and more sunblock?