22 April 2007

To help get your T-A-N on safely


When I woke up this morning, only one word was on the tip, middle and back of my tongue.

Poolside.

But before I make the tough decision between the brown triangle halter and the emerald bandeau and head out to meet C, the nice man in the membership office of the Ritz Carlton's Sports Club/LA who thinks I'm activating my one-week guest pass today for legitimate, I'm-thinking-about-joining purposes, I thought I'd put together a collection of wrinkle-protection-in-a-bottle options to keep your skin looking as fresh, tan and not-like-this as it did all those summer days up at the lake when you did nothing else but jump off the dock, dive for clams and erect towel forts.

Unlike some of the other recommendations I've put forth, this group below is tested-and-approved by yours truly. No hearsay, no secondary sources, no beauty-editors-at-Allure-said-it-worked-so-it-must-be-good.

And though I'm all about investing when it comes to my skin, my experience has been that the best sunscreens for your body are drugstore sunscreens, not department store makeup counter sunscreens.

Ladies, your sun protection arsenal:

1. All Day Waterproof 15-plus by Hawaiian Tropic ($7.99 at drugstores everywhere)*
2. SPF 15 Sunscreen Lotion by Coppertone ($7.59 at drugstores everywhere)
3. Sport Sunblock Spray SPF 15 by Coppertone ($8.39 at drugstores everywhere)
4. Age Shield SPF 30 by Neutrogena ($9.99 at drugstores everywhere)
5. Orange Gelée by Ban de Soleil ($8.99 at drugstore.com)*
6. Sport Sunblock Lotion SPF 15 by Banana Boat ($7.73 at drugstore.com)
7. Protective Tanning Lotion SPF 8 by Hawaiian Tropic ($7.99 at drugstores everywhere)
8. Superblock SPF 45 by Bull Frog ($8.99 at drugstores everywhere)**

*in your editrix's beach bag
**ideal if you don't want any color of any kind

2 comments:

Jenifer said...

And, of course, the key to proper sunscreen usage is reapplication. Using anything greater than an SPF 15 is unnecessary. The amount of added protection is so minuscule, it's not worth the money.

Anonymous said...

so...brown trianlge halter or emerald bandeau?

inquiring minds - or just mine, actually - want to know!