More dumb questions, I guess

[old hippy]

My wife has fair skin. I need to know, if she use a pre tanning lotion, will she sunburn while snorkeling as easily...thanks you all have been great with info

[Wennfred]

My wife has fair skin. I need to know, if she use a pre tanning lotion, will she sunburn while snorkeling as easily...thanks you all have been great with info

 

HELL YEAH!!!! Make sure you apply lots of 50 PF Sun Block on her as water and clouds magnifies the intensity of sun rays. Wendy is pure solid white, the poor girl has to pre-tan alittle before heading out into the beautiful Carribbean sun. :D

 

By nature I'm suppose to handle more sun rays then her as my family come from Puerto Rico and I burn!!! so make sure you get the good stuff, people here recommend the Bullfrog brand.

 

 

Fred

[keyguide]

My wife has fair skin. I need to know, if she use a pre tanning lotion, will she sunburn while snorkeling as easily...thanks you all have been great with info

Might be best to just wear a dive skin,very inexpensive compared to a bad burn.

[Wennfred]

This is what I use here in San Diego if I'm out in the sun for long periods like when I'm sailing out here in the ocean, I swear by it, its used in the toughest places on this planet like Australia. The bottle is white and it will even change colors with when there is higher UV rays out.

 

 

Website: http://www.crownlaboratories.com/bluelizard/

 

Blue Lizard Australian Sunscreen was developed to combat one of

 

the most intense UV environments in the world. Tested according

 

to Australian Standards, Blue Lizard maintains its extreme water resistance after 240 minutes in whirlpool water. Meanwhile, the FDA requires testing for 80 minutes in still water.

 

All Blue Lizard formulas offer more than 30 times your skin's natural protection against UVB rays. We list our SPF at 30+ to preserve the integrity of our Australian roots. If you are applying correctly, SPF 30 is really all you need, and 30 is all that Australian Standards will allow sunscreens to claim

 

 

 

[ash4020]

SPF 60! I have semi fair skin, I can get a tan (sorta) by August or so, but that Mexican/Carribean sun will BLISTER her. I'm talking from experience. I went swimming in Pensacola for a hour was so red that I literally got sick to my stomach. Not the way to spend a vacation. My advice is to find the highest SPF you can and reapply every 30 minutes, before, during, and after swimming.

[inanotherlife]

I burn very easily... fair skinned and freckled. I have to use the tanning salon a couple months prior to any sun filled excursions. I work my way up from 5 minutes in the tanning bed to 12 minutes...never staying longer than that either! This doesn't prevent me from getting burnt, but it does build my skin up so that I don't get sun poisoning as that has happened to me multiple times throughout my life.

 

I also purchased a rash guard (surfers use these to protect from getting wind burns) when we went to Hawaii several years ago. I will spf 50 all over my exposed skin first, then put on the rash guard over my swimsuit top and voila it's another layer of protection from the sun for my body.

 

They make some really cute girl/women rash guards. I wear one every time we go snorkeling so my back and neck don't get fried. :p

[Ehpride]

Bring the strongest sunblock you can find and apply often. I forgot to use it one day and burned like a lobster. Lovely formal night pictures!

[vacruizer]

Forget the pre-tan thing and just wear high spf sunblock that you re-apply very often. I burned in Grand Cayman and had 60spf that I reapplied every hour on. Luckily it was not a bad burn. I am so fair that I don't even leave my cabin to walk around the ship in the morning without sunblock. I may be pasty white but am at least not miserable with a sunburn! I also want no part of skin cancer down the road.:D

 

I use the Olay daily self tanning lotion a couple weeks before we cruise for looking a little more tan. Keep in mind this offers you NO sun protection - it's just for looks.

[sassy0930]

BTW... the tanning LOTION does not ACTUALLY build a tan. they mostly stain your skin, if she builds a tan by going to a salon with UV bulbs she can help delay the effects of a burn, but likelihood is that she'll still get burnt.

 

I start tanning for a cruise at least 4 months in advance. I start with 5minutes, then to 8 minutes then to 10 minutes then to 15. I am a scottish-redhead so i am very pale too. When I gradually increase the time like that I can get pretty brown, but the first two or so times I go on the next higher time I get pink. I still use sunscreen.

 

PS don't forget your lips. Get a lip balm with spf in it. I don't know the brand of the stuff I use, but it comes in a skinny little tube and comes in yummy flavors, but if I tan without it on my lips are sore and chapped for days.

[ehfl]

According to the label, self tanning lotions provide no protection against the sun. I would take their advice. Any pigment (whether in your skin, or in the tanning lotion) will block some UV rays, but it's best to consider that you have no protection.

 

So use the self tanner, then apply lots of sunscreen, and keep reapplying. I have seen peoples' vacation get ruined because of a serious sunburn.

[familyfromvt]

Nothing wrong with wearing a tee shirt or tank top to protect ;)

[pnkrkgrl21]

Just one other thing to keep in mind- it takes about two hours for the sun's effects to show up, so if you stay out till you're burned, it will only get worse from there. Best to use lots of sunscreen early and often!

[Kris7562]

Dont' forget the back and tops of her ears!!!! I got horrible blisters in the Dominican. Like many posters above, I am VERY fair skinned, spend about 2 months in a tanning bed, working my way up from 4 min to about 10 or 15, depending on the bed. I tan well, but it takes a LOT of work - and being very careful with the sunscreen applications too.

I swear by Banana Boat Suntanicals. I get a great tan and don't burn when I use that one. I don't go lower than 30spf in the Caribbean.

[HeidiHo]

Also, don't forget the part in your hair (if you have one), especially the ones you will have if you get your hair braided in port. I have found the easiest thing to use in your hair is a lip balm with a high SPF. Just run the lip balm up and down the part/s.

[dan40]

The sunshine in the US does not compare with the tropical sunshine in the Carib. In the US, the sun shines at an angle thru all our pollution. And still it burns.

 

The tropical sun is a very direct ray thru very little pollution. It will burn her like a blowtorch. I would guess that there has NEVER been a Caribbean cruise where someone did not go to sick bay for a severe sunburn.

Cruising is like going to a different planet with a much hotter sun.

 

Dan

[poptart]

the secret to NOT getting burned is to apply the sun screen and/or sun block at least 20 to 30 minutes BEFORE going out into the sun !!!! My dermatolgist told me this years ago and it works.

 

It takes that long for the chemicals to take effect.

 

I don't pretan for a cruise or trip. I do use a self tanner lotion for a week ahead of time so I don't look like a ghost.

 

I'm very fair and burn easily--I can stay in the sun on the lido deck, at the beach, or snorkling all day long and never burn if I apply my lotion right.

 

First thing in the morning on a cruise I put my sunblock spf50 on from head to toe--I leave it white on my skin and let it soak in. When ever I get in the water I will re-apply a thin layer ( I usually use the spray type--it's easier out by the water)

 

Since my skin is very sensitive I use the baby products. Coppertone Water Babies 50 spf is my favorite.

[Muumuu]

I have skin cancer and I must cover up almost completely. I wear a high sun screen, hat. sunglasses, long pants and long sleeve top. I look stupid with all those on an excursion who have barely anything on at all. But, I know that I MUST do these things or stay inside. Went on the Americas Cup Regatta this Jan in St Maartin and hardly got any color at all. I would rather be alive and cancer free than be tan to any degree.