I dont tan I freckle...

lol - my grandmother (born in england but scottish heritage) called those "fairy kisses".

Originally Posted by threenorns:
lol - my grandmother (born in england but scottish heritage) called those "fairy kisses".

Hahaha, well the fairies need to lay off with the kisses towards me. If I'm out in the sun without crazy high SPF, I come back looking like a walking polka-dot advertisement which lasts for months.

Originally Posted by threenorns:
lol - my grandmother (born in england but scottish heritage) called those "fairy kisses".

I like that!!

I'm a big fan of hats, long sleeves and umbrellas when out in the open (beach, soccer field, etc). I also love the mineral based sun screen for the face. Given that, all the sun tanning I did when I was younger has given me tons of "age spots" and suspect other moles. I have luckily avoided cancerous spots so far, but a dear friend who lives near the beach and is very blond and light skin has had numerous ones taken off in the last few years. Luckily they've been the non-deadly kind. But it is good to see a dermatologist yearly. My sister and SIL both have bought tanning beds - arrgh. That I don't get at all. My dear mom still tans (at 75 yo) and her face is terribly wrinkled. I really want to avoid that as long as possible too. So vanity sometimes helps :)

I read WEB MD while in the doctors office yesterday..I couldnt find the exactr article but this one was good to answer the cancer question

"I'm afraid the chemicals in sunscreen might increase my cancer risk." — Laura Baugh, 33, Indianapolis

You may have heard that two common sunblock ingredients — oxybenzone, a UV-absorbing compound, and retinyl palmitate, an antioxidant — may actually increase cancer risk. But the research was done on rats, some of which had a high propensity for developing cancer, and some of the doses were astronomically high, says dermatologist Steven Wang. All the experts we talked to said the evidence isn't strong enough to conclude that the substances are harmful. If you're still worried, avoid retinyl palmitate (it's not an active ingredient anyway) and choose mineral-based creams that use zinc oxide or titanium dioxide instead of oxybenzone.