New online trend to say it's better not to wear sunscreen

I think that poster meant darker skins need the vitamin D more, not need sun screen more. Pale skin burns more easily

Do you have a source for that? You may well be right, but I always hear people talking about being "a pale redhead" and therefore burning more easily. My mum is dark skinned, and does dress relatively conservatively (typically keeps her shoulders and knees covered) but doesnt wear sunscreen and has never burned in the parts of skin that is exposed. Anecdata, I know, but it seems to be a widely accepted myth that fair skin is more vulnerable, if it's a myth.
(As an aside, I had a midwife express surprise that I was finding BF painful because "its usually the paler nipples that's more sensitive" 🫩 so I'm aware that there are myths about darker skin being more... 'robust', and perhaps this is another of them!)

I am the same. I wish someone had told me this when I was younger although, to be fair, I am not sure my parents would have had enough money to be in a position to buy me a decent pair. I definitely would have bought them myself as soon as I started earning. My DM always used to prioritise teeth and feet, so I always had six monthly dental check-ups and always had good quality, well-fitting shoes for school.

My brother in law refused to wear sunscreen as he to believed it caused cancer. He had an aggressive melanoma on his head which spread to his skull. Part of the skull has been removed leaving a large dent and skin grafts to cover his brain. He also has had most of his ears removed and painful treatment to numerous skin cancers on his face.
Please wear sunscreen .

Jesus Christ. The claim it’s the sunscreen that gives you skin cancer and not the sun is as ridiculous as the anti vaxx movement. Tell that to all those people who in their 40’s/50’s/60’s grew up not wearing sunscreen and now have skin cancer. Myself included. I’m riddled with sun damage and have had a skin cancer removed in my early 40’s, having never been a sun worshipper, just through incidental exposure in the long term. If the sunscreen doesn’t kill you, the sun might…or maybe the water we drink, air we breathe and vegetables we eat covered in chemicals. Nobody can live entirely risk free, but no way I’m risking my kids burn, or even heavily tan, because even that is UV damage.

It's not, at all. Sunscreen doesn't block the production of vitamin d.

Not using sunscreen when it's bright/hot enough to warrant it is utter madness. Yes, it's better to cover up/ stay in shade etc but sometimes that's just not possible.

I’m not a massive fan of sun cream tbh. I do put it on my 3-year old. But I prefer to avoid the sun, I cover up and don’t go out in heat. Other times of the year, it is so grey that any vitamin D is always welcome.

Idiots. My best mate and I were talking about our skincare routines, I explained mine and mention spf 50 doing my face and neck mainly due to using strong retinoids, she then said oh I don’t use suncream because of the nasty ingredients in them cause cancer, so I told her about mineral ones, which she said would be too expensive 🤷‍♀️

I rarely use it on my kids but they wouldn’t ever sit out in it, if they were (say sports day) then I put sun cream on. Otherwise they always wear T-shirts and hats never sleeveless.

Me? Actually I do, but only because I used to work in the industry as a chemist and like to look at all the scary sounding chemicals that I know are vinegar and the chemical names for completely natural ingredients 😂

Have you checked the chemicals on your shower gel, shampoo, toothpaste, body cream, moisturiser, every item of food and drink you consume? Do you check the lead levels in the air you breathe or the airborne pesticides in any fields you walk through?

What about these chemicals:

ergocalciferol
lumisterol
cholecalciferol
22-dihydroergocalciferol
sitocalciferol.

these are all toxic to dogs on skin exposure and ingestion.

It is only needed if you are going to be outside, in the sun and with exposed skin. I cover up, stay in the shade and avoid the peak times. I don't need sunscreen unless I'm doing something exceptional. In this heat I'm up dog walking at 5.30am, last walk at 10, 11 pm. I'm not going to burn in the 5 minutes I might be outside in a long sleeve top at midday

I lived in the south of France by the sea when I was a child and teenager.

We could always spot the German and British tourists: they were the ones who had bad sunburns because they were silly enough to not use sunscreen, hats and sunglasses when lying on the beach for hours.

@megatwat · 20/06/2025 12:48
I never use it in the UK it is not needed and yes the chemicals are not good for you, i have vit D deficiency

Of course it is needed in the UK on sunny days...

I’m the same. Rarely use it in the UK.

I don't think this is true. I looked up 'Common locations for skin cancers'
That’s why the cancer is most common on areas of the skin regularly exposed to the sun, including the face, neck, scalp, shoulders, back and ears.
ExDp's father fought in Africa in WW2. 20 yrs later had scalp lesion problems because of all the sun.

Hahahaha - not needed in the UK? Complete fallacy. Just go to the beach on a hot day and look at people. Sunburn everywhere. Less now than in the 60s, admittedly.

I spent a summer, working in a holiday camp shop in the early 80s. Never seen so much sunburn in my life, southern England.
Also us pale skinned people need sunscreen or we just fry. Factors 30-50 normally, in summer.

I strongly suspect “natural” suncream is only different in the marketing.

the active ingredient will be the same- no amount of aloe or chamomile will protect you from the sun. Then it’s just a carrier cream, which again, will be the same, maybe just “vitamin C” instead of “ascorbic acid” etc.

personally I think if you’re slathering petroleum on your skin daily anyway - most creams and emollients are petroleum based- sunscreen won’t be much worse.

i saw an ad for “non toxic” sunscreen yesterday, because of course toxic ones get past h&s and all the testing 🙄

I don’t get why people are so adverse to supplementing given you’re not getting any meaningful amount from October - March
plus if you work inside you’re also not getting any then so that leaves weekends
my level was 9 and it took a high dose course and months of taking 4000IU daily to get it to 66. My friend works outside all year round and was deficient

It's utterly ridiculous and just the latest health conspiracy theory. Sure, if you're slathering suncream on your whole body multiple times a day 365 days a year then the risk might be slightly higher. But there's no scientific evidence that suncream is more risky than sun exposure. I see a lot of people recommending Ultrasun as an alternative but it's failed Which's UVA test.

Surely vitamin D deficiency is caused by the lack of UV in the winter months. I can't imagine applying suncream is a big factor.

I live a very hippy part of the country and there's a LOT of it here.

They're always bright red and aging like raw milk

Exactly. All those posts where people are talking like the "best " parenting is to have your children out all day covered in suncream. But I have always quietly judged people who didn't organise their day to be put of the worst of the sun when necessary. There's a reason most Mediterranean countries have a siesta.

I do use suncream on my children, but in priority order ahead of that

• we stay inside wherever possible for the hours in the middle of the day
• if we have to be out all day sometimes (rare) we would be looking for shade/covering up
• suncream is the third line of defence not the first!

This. Most Brits are Vit D deficient. I almost never used sunscreen on my very fair DC and I never use it myself. I'm also fair. We need the Vit D. DC only ever had it on the tips of their noses and ears and over their shoulders when very young on beaches. But once they were school age, they'd cover up with tees and hats once the sun was too strong. Otherwise, getting a bit of sun on skin and Vit D was good for them. I had lots of friends and family who thought I was mad but DC never got burned. Nor do I. I've been outside most of today - bare arms. Caught a touch of sun - not much - certainly not burned. I need the Vit D badly.