P20 and other once a day suncreams are ok for putting on the kids to go to school as they are not in the sun constantly all day and not swimming in the sea. But theres no way i’d only use one application a day if on holiday in Spain or somewhere similar.

I’ve been to the Maldives 6 times now and have used Ultrasun every time – 50 in the first week and 30 in the second. Only put it on once in the morning – and probably don’t even wait the full recommended time before going into the water.

Tons of snorkling during the day plus a 1.5 hour swim round the island ever other day (rash vest on for that), but haven’t burnt yet or over tanned. So that’s a lot of hours of submersion in salty water every day.

Worked for the (ex) wife as well.

(looks out of window, decides on a rust preventer for today 😉 )

And then you get Vitamin D deficiency and (possibly) develop MS?

big section on it in the BAD link. Get it from your diet / supplements if necessary.

Realistically – you should wear sunscreen every day and almost all year round (UVA penetrates even on cloudy days!) but we all know you won’t.

UV struggles to get through what I wear 75% of the year.

Tons of snorkling during the day plus a 1.5 hour swim round the island ever other day (rash vest on for that), but haven’t burnt yet or over tanned.

Avoiding burning or tanning is good but repeated exposure at lower levels also increases your risk…….

Biggest misconception that the industry still can’t kill is the ‘I didn’t get burnt so I’m OK’

UV struggles to get through what I wear 75% of the year.

Most skin cancers are found on the face, head, neck and arms. It’s that repeated exposure thing again…….. unless your daily PPE includes a balaclava and Elvis collar?

big section on it in the BAD link. Get it from your diet / supplements if necessary.

My understanding is that it is very hard to get sufficient Vitamin D from diet alone, unless you are eating oily fish several times a week. But I’ll read the BAD link with interest, thanks.

UVA is the ‘tanning’ ray where the skin darkens to try to prevent further damage, but it doesn’t really work

Are you saying that UVA is not blocked by melanin, and therefore being tanned does not help? It seems to do something since black people seem to get less of the sun-damage kinds of skin cancer than other races, from what I can see with a 5 minute google..?

NOTE not saying you’re wrong, I’m just interested and appreciate your insight jonv.

Realistically – you should wear sunscreen every day and almost all year round

I certainly do not want to do this. It’s like being on pills for the rest of your life. No ta.

It seems to be a case of covering up where practical.

Most skin cancers are found on the face, head, neck and arms. It’s that repeated exposure thing again…….. unless your daily PPE includes a balaclava and Elvis collar?

I’m an SAS Elvis impersonator.

Except when it comes to blackout blinds, mobile phone insurance, cargo trailers, bourbon, £1k cross bikes, etc (seemingly ad infinitum)

Oh get you. I was referring to sun cream smart arse.

Very impressed buy the Aldi stuff we got recently. SPF50 in a yellow can that spread nicely, not like some horrible gelatinous tar like substance.

Another P20 user, never burnt, or even tanned whilst using it.

Worth noting that Which? tests on once-a-day suncreams found that after six to eight hours the average sun protection factor (SPF) decreased by 74%.

I saw that, but it’s unlikely (even on holiday) that I’d still be in the sun 6-8 hours later, could go for a bike ride and get bored of reading a book by the pool in that time. And -74% of 50 is still ~13, so even a fortnight of once a day use probably still wouldn’t burn.

I’m more bothered that it lasts at least the length of any likely ride, even on a hot day, after that I can retire to a shaded bar to rehydrate 🙂

I got burned on Saturday, first time in years. It hurts and I’m annoyed with myself.

What possible evolutionary advantage is it to have a skin type that means you can’t go outside. 🙄

I’ll nip to lidl later to try their stuff.

Another P20 user, never burnt, or even tanned whilst using it.

^^ this

Although I do wonder what’s in it for it to be so effective. A bit like 1990s DEET 😕

Yeah that’s pretty much my reasoning too tinas, just thought I’d mention it though in the interests of fairness.

What possible evolutionary advantage is it to have a skin type that means you can’t go outside.

You are assuming that you are on the winning side of that evolutionary change.

Most mutations are disadvantages!

Clearly only One answer to this thread:

Are you saying that UVA is not blocked by melanin, and therefore being tanned does not help? It seems to do something since black people seem to get less of the sun-damage kinds of skin cancer than other races, from what I can see with a 5 minute google..?

Yes it is, but not completely and there are some papers suggesting that the effect of UV actually creates damage to melanocytes which are part of the skin damage / skin cancer pathway.

Dark / black skin has more melanin and hence better self protection, but that’s double edged – with a perception that Afro-Caribbean skin types don’t need sunscreen and then secondly because it doesn’t ‘burn’ anywhere near as fast then you still have the harmful effect of UVA with no visible effect. Thirdly – black people do get skin cancer, but are less likely to notice it until later in its development making it more likely to have spread, etc.

My BiL is Antiguan. He doesn’t wear sunscreen (although i tell him to) and when he and my sister go back on holiday / to visit his family they a/ take the piss because he has got paler and b/ he does visibly tan over the course of the 2 weeks there.

If OPs wife is anything like mine so bought the expensive stuff based solely on how it smelt “I know it’s a million quid, but it smells like holiday!”.

Anyway, I noticed the £20 a bottle stuff my Wife bought scored a lower UVA star rating than the £3 a bottle stuff I bought from Morrisons. It’s not as thick, not sure that has a bearing, but a quick top up every once in a while and no kids have been burnt on my watch.

Some brands are photo-stable, others rapidly degrade in the sun.

Yes you read that correctly so always read the small print.