Why is sunscreen so expensive? A bottle can easily cost anywhere from $4 - $8. And is it really that great to smear all those chemicals all over our bodies? Are there any alternatives I can make myself? I am thinking of my kids that love to swim all day long in the summer, and I just have to cover them in sunscreen or they will hurt. Thanks.

-- Helen (bluechicken@wildbearnet.net), June 15, 2000

Answers

Good question Helen. I have often wondered the same thing. Our children take after their father and have light skin that burns easily. Their grandfather had skin cancer several years ago so we are very careful about letting them burn. Some of the things we do to cut down on the amount of sunscreen needed are: the boys in our family always swim with a t-shirt on during peak sun hours (girls too sometimes), we limit the amount of time they are allowed to swim between 10-2 PM. We have encouraged our children to wear hats a lot. When they were little we used those real inexpensive cowboy hats that provided quite a lot of shade. Now, hats are really quite fashionable so the girls don't complain too much. If you can find army surplus jungle hats, they provide great protection. A good wide brimmed straw hat is great for working in the garden. An added benefit of getting them to wear hats is that it cuts down on ticks. If I could get used to it more often I'd be better off too. Fortunately I can boast of only having a sunburn once in my life. Genes I guess. I'd still like to hear some homemade suggestions if anyone has any.

-- Jennifer (KY) (acornfork@hotmail.com), June 16, 2000.

I grew up near Daytona Beach and spent a lot of time in the ocean as a teen-age kid. I have fare skin, red hair etc. I learned early to wear a long sleeved sweat shirt, I covered my nose with zinc oxide ointment and still got burned. Now days I wear the biggest brimmed sombreros I can find when on the tractor for hours which is a challange because then I can wear ear protectors to handy, I still wear long sleeves which are hot in the summer. I have had skin cancers on my face and arms for years but find sun blockers deceiving.

-- Hendo (redgate@echoweb.net), June 16, 2000.

I imagine sunscreens cost so much for the same reason a $60 bottle of perfume costs $2 to produce. You gotta pay for advertising plus it's being hyped by the media so the companies that produce that stuff can charge whatever they want for it. I love the hot weather and down here in Texas I work outside in the hottest part of the day. I just wear a big sombrero and long sleeves and pants and drink lots of water and Gatorade. And slow down a little. If the kids go swimming take them before noon or after about 4pm and don't let them stay too long. Maybe T-shirts for in the water too.

-- Joe Cole (jcole@apha.com), June 16, 2000.

Helen, no smearing all those chemicals on isn't good for you-neither is being out in the sun too much. I don't know all the details, but heard a report about sunscreens affecting people's liver. Maybe someone can verify this.

-- Cindy (atilrthehony_1@yahoo.com), June 16, 2000.

All of this on this board that are effected by chemicals will tell you--- keep the sun screen away from us! If it bothers us --think what it is doing to your children! Sonda in Ks.

-- Sonda (sgbruce@birch.net), June 16, 2000.

My daughter has vitiligo (albino patches -- not born with it, lost pigment a few years ago). These unpigmented patches of skin burn VERY easily -- this was hard to get used to, because her natural skin tone is tan enough that she had never burned at all before getting this. So, she wears shirts with high necklines or I have to put sunblock on her neck. She has finally gotten the idea that she has to keep her hat ON -- I make her wear a wide-brimmed straw hat -- so I don't have to put sunblock on her face very often. She has a couple of small patches on her hands, which I usually leave alone, and the rest of the patches are covered by her clothes (except swimming suits), so we cope with a minimum of sun-block. I am concerned about insect repellant, as we use 100% DEET -- as seldom as possible -- at home we use bug nets. But sometimes it is just impossible to stay outdoors without the DEET. I tried Naturapel a few years ago, oldest daughter and I both got hives from it.

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), June 16, 2000.

My littlest kids proved to me that mud is a very efficient sun block. No chemicals, either. Of course, they are only allowed to play in the clean mud!

-- Laura (gsend@hotmail.com), June 18, 2000.

The best sunblock is either the earth between you and the sun or else lots of extra atmosphere between you and the sun. When I retire to my farm to piddle I plan to do like my grandfather did. Get up before dawn and be out at sunrise. Lots of extra atmosphere at that angle. Work till maybe 9:00 a.m. then quit until late afternoon (or the next morning). Hot afternoons with the cicadas making a racket are for inside jobs and good long naps in a dark cool room. Notice when the other mammals are out and about - just after dawn, just after dusk, or at night.

-- charles (clb@watervalley.net), June 22, 2000.

Here is a cheap, fast, and easy homemade sunscreen recipe by "Ask Annie" -- http://www.betterbasics.com/askview.php3? view=bodycare/homemade_UVA_and_UVB_sunblock

She mentions titanium dioxide, which I would NOT use...but zinc oxide is OK.

-- Molly Kiely (mkiely@cheskin.co), April 26, 2001.