# Remember when suntan lotion was just lotion? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 12, 2005, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-when-suntan-lotion-was-just-lotion/303553 "2005-05-12T13:02:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Scotticher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Scotticher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scotticher)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2005, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-when-suntan-lotion-was-just-lotion/303553/21 "2005-05-14T06:04:07Z")
:smack: > [@DMark](#): > > Back to suntan lotion…anybody know of a really good suntan lotion with the highest sunblock that I can use going in and out of a pool during the day, without the need of multiple applications? Also - prefer the spray-on type as I don’t like the feel of lotion on my hands. I can’t help you with a brand, but I am a redhead with “classic” redhead skin and I burn in 20 minutes when I use my current brand which is an SPF 35. Nothing I can’t live with, but after an hour I’d be fried\>blister\>miserable. So I just stay out of the sun. I wear hats and sit in the shade and so on and so forth. But that is not the point of this post. THIS is… The other day, I was watching something or other on TV and this Doctor said something that astounded me. (I’m a skin type I, sounds like you are too.) Look at number 3. [http://www.biodrogausa.com/customer\_service/aad\_skin-cancer.htm](http://www.biodrogausa.com/customer_service/aad_skin-cancer.htm) It says it should take approximately a shot glass full of sunscreen to cover the exposed parts of your body. That is a LOT of sunscreen. AND you need to reapply it every two hours or after swimming or perspiring heavily. [sub]Ummm…_Hello?_ When it is hot, which is why you _need_ the sunscreen, don’t you perspire heavily as soon as you go out in the _sun?_[/sub] From what the Doc on the show said, they aren’t talking about full body exposure like when you wear a bikini…so we are only talking about what would be exposed wearing shorts and a tank top. Now I don’t know about you, but I have never even come CLOSE to using that much sunscreen to cover my legs, arms and chest/face. This might explain why I burn so bad when wearing heavy-duty SPF sunscreen. Good to know, and now I’ll be slathering the stuff on with a trowel and sitting under bushes if an umbrella isn’t available. Or maybe I’ll just stay home with a good book. 😃 OTOH, it may work better just because you are inside all day trying to get your skin to absorb all that lotion and never get around to actually being IN the sun more than ten minutes at a time. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Spacegirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47774/32.png) [@Spacegirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spacegirl)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2005, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-when-suntan-lotion-was-just-lotion/303553/22 "2005-05-14T22:47:59Z")
> [@Harriet the Spry](#): > > I have had great results with Coppertone Sport SPF 48. > > [http://www.drugstore.com/qxp44855\_333181\_sespider/coppertone\_sport/sunblock\_lotion\_spf\_48.htm](http://www.drugstore.com/qxp44855_333181_sespider/coppertone_sport/sunblock_lotion_spf_48.htm) > > It is a lotion, but it is not slimy like lotion. It stays on in spite of sweating or swimming as promised. When we were in Puerto Vallarta, it kept me sunburn-free, except when I would miss a tiny spot, then I could see just how fried I would have been all over without the sunscreen. I’m with \*\* Harriet \*\*. I am the palest of the pale, and I can wear that Coppertone Sport SPF 48 all day long, and not get a touch of color. For me there is no option, it’s either white, or red. I’m gonna try that spray-on tan. ---
**Author:** ![Susie\_Derkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47774/32.png) [@Susie\_Derkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susie_Derkins)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2005, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-when-suntan-lotion-was-just-lotion/303553/23 "2005-05-15T03:28:13Z")
**DMark** (or anyone else who’s interested), tonight I was in Wal-Mart and I saw spray bottles of Coppertone SPF 40 with a bonus stick for around $8. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2005, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-when-suntan-lotion-was-just-lotion/303553/24 "2005-05-15T08:42:04Z")
> [@Susie Derkins](#): > > **DMark** (or anyone else who’s interested), tonight I was in Wal-Mart and I saw spray bottles of Coppertone SPF 40 with a bonus stick for around $8. 🙂 As much as I would love to have that Barbie stick, I think I will be going in this direction I need all the protection I can get. Is it just me, or is the environment so bad now that the sun is REALLY a killer? Just wondering, as I don’t recall anyone dying of melanoma back in the old days, but maybe they just didn’t have a name for it back then. ---
**Author:** ![Scotticher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Scotticher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scotticher)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2005, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-when-suntan-lotion-was-just-lotion/303553/25 "2005-05-15T10:09:03Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > As much as I would love to have that Barbie stick, I think I will be going in this direction I need all the protection I can get. > > Is it just me, or is the environment so bad now that the sun is REALLY a killer? > > Just wondering, as I don’t recall anyone dying of melanoma back in the old days, but maybe they just didn’t have a name for it back then. I don’t have any cites for this, but I think that people died from most things in nearly the same levels THEN that they die from NOW. Some if it, I think, was misdiagnosed or labeled incorrectly (for example, they used to label everything to do with lung problems as “consumption”…which probably included lung cancer and TB and so forth. Then there is the fact that people are living so much longer. I have read articles that indicate that if you live long enough and you have unfortunate genes, you WILL get cancer. What follows, of course, is that if you die from other causes before those genes have the time to do their dirty work, you wouldn’t have died from cancer. So I think that most likely melanoma WAS as much (or nearly as much) of a killer then as it is now. Yes, the environment is a concern and maybe things have gotten worse in terms of cancers caused by outside elements. But my own personal feeling is that it isn’t as much of a statistical increase as some people think. Again, this is just my own personal opinon, formed by lots of things I have read over the years. I might be totally, completely and insanely wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2005, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-when-suntan-lotion-was-just-lotion/303553/26 "2005-05-15T10:51:40Z")
I remember PABA, which I think stood for rho aminio benzoic acid, rho being the Greek letter. One summer it was God’s gift to sunscreen, and all of them proclaiming, “With PABA!!!” Then there must have been some research, because the same brands the next year were bragging, “PABA Free!!!” without the slightest hint of apology. I’m constantly amused by SPF 0 products, which, by their own definition, should cause your skin to burn instantly on contact. ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2005, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-when-suntan-lotion-was-just-lotion/303553/27 "2005-05-15T13:37:58Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > Back to suntan lotion…anybody know of a really good suntan lotion with the highest sunblock that I can use going in and out of a pool during the day, without the need of multiple applications? Also - prefer the spray-on type as I don’t like the feel of lotion on my hands. This isn’t a spray on, but I have to recommend Ocean Potion Baby spf 50 (here’s a picture: [Coming Back Soon | Ocean Potion Suncare](http://www.opotion.com/pages/images/blue185.jpg) ). I know that anything over 30 is probably a crock, but I like the baby one because it’s _unscented_. Yes! I detest sunblock that smells like coconut/banana/‘tropical’ anything, which most of them do. This one is unscented, lasts pretty much all day, and feels like water; it’s not greasy at all (this is my #1 demand for sunblock since I don’t have air conditioning at home and damned if I’m gonna feel greasy and nasty indoors as well!). ---
**Author:** ![Batsinma\_Belfry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@Batsinma\_Belfry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batsinma_Belfry)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2005, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-when-suntan-lotion-was-just-lotion/303553/28 "2005-05-15T17:34:13Z")
> [@Greg Charles](#): > > I remember PABA, which I think stood for rho aminio benzoic acid, rho being the Greek letter. One summer it was God’s gift to sunscreen, and all of them proclaiming, “With PABA!!!” Then there must have been some research, because the same brands the next year were bragging, “PABA Free!!!” without the slightest hint of apology. I had completely forgotten about PABA! That may have been what **cher3** remembered, because that stuff was in everything. IIRC the stuff worked well as a sunscreen. I think they discovered that there was a high possiblity that it caused cancer. Back then, if you mentioned cancer in relation to a product, it would be gone overnight. And I was wrong in my earlier product endorsment. It’s SPF 35. And it has a light clean smell, no bananas! > **[Walgreens: Pharmacy, Health & Wellness, Photo & More for You](https://www.walgreens.com/)** > > Your go-to for Pharmacy, Health & Wellness and Photo products. Refill prescriptions online, order items for delivery or store pickup, and create Photo Gifts. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2005, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-when-suntan-lotion-was-just-lotion/303553/29 "2005-05-15T17:51:26Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > Is it just me, or is the environment so bad now that the sun is REALLY a killer? > > Just wondering, as I don’t recall anyone dying of melanoma back in the old days, but maybe they just didn’t have a name for it back then. My mom and her sisters, who are now in their 50s and 60s, grew up in Southern California and spent long, long hours sunning at the beach as teenagers. (Sidenote: my mom’s family is of Irish extraction, with the associated skin tone.) Now they all have to go to the doctor every once in a while and get precancerous patches zapped off their bodies. My grandpa got skin cancer on the top of his head (he was a golfer). So I imagine the sun was just as bad “back in the old days”, just people didn’t realize it. I wear sunblock on my face even in the winter (naturally, I inherited my mom’s pale skin instead of my dad’s dark olive. Thanks, genetics!). I am paranoid. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-when-suntan-lotion-was-just-lotion/303553.md?page=1)