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AIBU?

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Original poster

Not to wear suncream at all with slightly olive skin tone

64 replies

justineanna · 18/05/2025 18:46

I have the sort of skin that never really goes white I get quite tanned in the summer and it barely fades until the next summer when I just top it up, I just always look tanned/olive but I’ve never got sunburnt so have never worn suncream, I smother the children in it as they have much paler skin tone like their dad.
should I be wearing suncream regardless?

OP posts:
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BrendaSmall · 22/06/2025 15:00

yakkity · 19/06/2025 22:58

Coconut oil has an SPF of between 1-3. You are mad if you think this is protecting you from anything

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A good quality one stops you getting burnt!!

BrendaSmall · 22/06/2025 14:56

Silk70 · 20/06/2025 10:26

Nonsense

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Definitely not nonsense!
get a good quality one!!
Never burnt using it in the UK!!!

TheWandyDoorholes · 21/06/2025 02:46

anonymous98 · 20/06/2025 16:39

YABU I'm olive and I've still had nasty burns

Same. I wear a wide brimmed hat and cover up and stay in shade at midday if possible

LadyWestStar · 20/06/2025 19:51

I don’t know any Indians who wear regular sun cream. We might put some on if we’re going to be outside all day on a sunny day, in the height of summer.

I thought the risk was for people with fair skin. I’ve never heard of any of our family having skin cancer and this includes those living in searing heat in India.

anonymous98 · 20/06/2025 16:39

YABU I'm olive and I've still had nasty burns

DappledThings · 20/06/2025 16:23

Maybe they are all just doing it and not talking about it but I've never known anyone I actually know in real life wear suncream year round. Only in the summer.

KimberleyClark · 20/06/2025 16:18

CraftyGin · 18/05/2025 18:47

You might not get sunburn, but your skin will be ageing.

And you’ll still be at risk of skin cancer.

Drangea · 20/06/2025 16:18

I only do when properly sunbathing. Out and about I don’t, same with the kids tbh. I will now put some on my face in my 40s and have tendency to redness now, I just put it on if sunny and I remember. No wrinkles! But I’m fat so that ages me anyway

SugarPlumpFairyCakes · 20/06/2025 16:14

Any tan is a sign of damage. Even a light one.

healthyteeth · 20/06/2025 13:56

PeapodMcgee · 20/06/2025 08:06

A tan is skin damage

A tan is our body’s natural adaptation we have evolved to have for protection.

A deep deep perma-tan or any slight burn is damage.

summersun25 · 20/06/2025 12:01

And mostly you won’t get enough vitamin D especially if you work inside. So take a supplement

summersun25 · 20/06/2025 12:00

My mum is so dark skinned that she never burned, never used a sun bed and went abroad twice in her life
she got skin cancer

DontTouchRoach · 20/06/2025 11:57

Yes, you still need sunscreen.

Nearly50omg · 20/06/2025 11:39

Sunscreen should be worn ALL year round!!! Winter and summer!!! Apart from the ageing the skin damage and skin cancer isn’t worth it. People with black skin also have to wear sunscreen you realise?

BeachPossum · 20/06/2025 11:10

Yes. You are still at risk from skin cancer.

ADX · 20/06/2025 11:09

Sassysoonwins · 18/05/2025 18:54

Yes. Wear it. I'm mixed race and quite dark and thought I didn't need to bother. I'm over 50 now spending a fortune on retinols and creams to try and fade all the pigmentation.

This so resonated with me I am the same mixed race with Caribbean
am religious about all yr round factor 50 on face and also hav tween daughter do the same daily so it’s the norm for her and part of her routine

Charel2girl5 · 20/06/2025 10:36

I use it year round and my DH recently had a melanoma removed. Everyone of every skin colour should use it.

wednesday32 · 20/06/2025 10:32

Just to add, the SPF acts as a barrier between environmental damage and my skin, protects against early signs of ageing, and helps prevent hyperpigmentation/melasma/uneven skin tone, etc. Most people's skin damage in their 50s and 60s is from incidental exposure over many years.

wednesday32 · 20/06/2025 10:31

Also, an olive skin tone here, do not burn. I wear factor 50 all year round, it is part of my everyday routine, and I keep a spray top-up in my handbag to reapply if I'm walking home from work.

Silk70 · 20/06/2025 10:26

BrendaSmall · 19/06/2025 22:55

Plenty of coconut oil, it’s got a natural spf in it, beats the chemicals in sun cream

Nonsense

ShesTheAlbatross · 20/06/2025 10:24

PollyBell · 20/06/2025 08:05

Does different skin tone really protect people differently from skin cancer?

I really hope this is not the logic behind this thinking

Skin tone absolutely affects skin cancer rates.

ETA - yes, OP should wear sunscreen.

BananaPeanutToast · 20/06/2025 10:23

My MIL and her sisters all have a (white, European) skin tone that doesn’t burn. They have always been scathing about suncream, tanned their own kids to deep brown and worn nothing but zero or very low factor tanning oil on their own skin. Two of the three live in sunny countries.

Of those two, MIL has looked like a crumpled old leather handbag since her 50s and looks incredibly aged for her years. She’s now regularly having early cancers removed. Her sister has very thin skin which is a patchwork of sun damage, sunspots, discolouration and lesions which she keeps having to get treated. She looks like she has a skin disease but it’s all sun damage. The third sister (UK climate) is ‘just’ extremely wrinkly.

How none of them have got serious cancer is beyond me. Simply good luck and decent GPs.

Wear sunscreen.

JohnLapsleyParlabane · 20/06/2025 10:21

Wear sunscreen

PollyBell · 20/06/2025 10:16

justineanna · 18/05/2025 18:50

Maybe it’s time to start wearing it then, I just never thought to as I don’t burn and I’ve never actually sunbathed so I’m just out and about in the sunshine.

I still dont understand why skin tone would protect you more or less from skin cancer

SugarPlumpFairyCakes · 20/06/2025 10:15

I don't wear sunscreen in winter.

In summer, whack some on my face and throat etc. But I still look wrinkly and aged at 53 despite doing that.