AIBU to be shocked by the sunbathing advice?

[Doman]

We are in Tenerife in an apartment complex around a pool. It's blazing hot. Yesterday lunchtime a woman came to the poolside with a microphone and announced that she was the 'suncare advisor'. Call me naïve but I expected some half sensible advice about avoiding the midday sun, wearing hats, reapplying cream after swimming etc.

It turned out that she was selling a range of products. That's fair enough, I guess, but the 'advice' she gave was unbelievable. Don't use sunblock, you only need up to SPF15, anyone can get a 'healthy tan'. She was telling freckly fair-skinned women they had ' good base tans' and anyone with olive skin that they 'won't burn anyway'.

I was truly shocked that anyone would be allowed to dish out this dangerous twaddle in 2018. AIBU?

God, you've just brought back terrible memories of the lady that did this when I was in the Canary Islands.

She was certain that you didn't need suncream, just the 'specially formulated' rose-hip lotion that she was flogging, as it turned sunburn into suntan.

I was gobsmacked.

The 'sun advisor' is clearly a loon but the sun terror on this thread is also ridiculous. We need the sun to make vitamin D, a small amount of sunlight on your skin is beneficial. Avoiding it like some kind of vampire will lead to musculoskeletal problems in the future (osteoporosis etc). 1 in 5 adults in the UK has low vitamin D. Unfortunately it's not a vitamin we can absorb easily from our diet so sunlight is the best way to get it.
People need common sense, obviously don't bake yourself every day covered in oil but equally don't be terrified of stepping out in sunlight. Yes skin exposed to the sun brings with it a risk of cancer but then skin hidden from the sun has a risk of other serious medical issues. Its about balancing risk and being sensible.

Does she work for a private dermatology clinic? Drumming up trade for the future?

I agree with fuckthisforfun it has some of the hallmarks of MLM (unqualified idiots dishing out unsafe advice) but I’ve had a look at their website and it doesn’t look like there is recruitment by reps/building a team (though they might have nicely obscured that agenda).

That’s shockingly dangerous advice.

Is she still going?! I was in Tenerife maybe 10 years ago and remember her!

Don't buy suncream from these people.

In Bryan Cranston's autobiography, he talks about how he once had this kind of job. He had to buy the stock himself. So at the end of each day, he'd go around the pool collecting up all the abandoned, partly used bottles, then empty all the contents into a big vat (regardless of the brand or SPF) and fill the bottles again so that he could sell them for a second time!

Get your suncream from a reputable provider!

That's terrible! When I was last in the Canaries someone went around the pool handing out flyers reminding people that while the islands are Spanish, they are not "in Spain" and to take greater care in the sun.

Oh good lord, we should in fact all be using F50 since most people apply it too thinly and therefore don't get the protection they think they are. Also check the UVB rating for 5 stars.

YANBU, that's so irresponsible!

@tootiredtobeinspired
I was told that an adult needs no more than 20 minutes UV exposure daily (and that can be wintry light or light through a window) to get their recommended Vitamin D. Is that right?

@MadeleineMaxwell
I'm pale skinned, quite freckly and a sun avoider. I was wearing a specialist waterproof SPF50 and after 20 mins in the pool had started to go red. So imagine if I'd heeded her advice. I'd be in hospital!

Perhaps it's no coincidence that there are some seriously burnt people here.

I was told that an adult needs no more than 20 minutes UV exposure daily (and that can be wintry light or light through a window) to get their recommended Vitamin D. Is that right

I'm pretty sure it's not. October to Aprilish I think there is not enough sun to make sufficient vitD. Everyone should be supplementing, and it is a much safer way of getting vitD.

I'd be tempted to march over and announce yourself as a consultant dermatologist and ask exactly where her qualifications are from and tell her she's talking nonsense.

But, then again, I'm a mouthy cow

Yes, you don't actually need that much UV to get enough vitamin D. However as tootired says, from some threads on Mumsnet you would think that human beings are actual vampires who will shrivel up and die if they are exposed to any sort of sunlight.

Most people change colour in some way on some part of their body in the summer months or when they go on holiday (ie. Some melanin is produced as a natural reaction to sunlight). Most people do not get skin cancer. A tan is not 'dangerous' in itself, but obviously you have to assess the risk of these things and its best to ensure that you don't baste yourself in the sun and that you are sensible about covering up and using sunscreen.

As I said upthread, most people do use much higher factors now don't they? I remember going to Florida in the 90s and bringing factor 25 and thinking that was like a a ridiculous factor of sunscreen, whereas now I don't bother even going below factor 30 if I am wearing it. The fake tan industry is much more of a thing now.

Are you in the HV? When we were there the same woman was telling people that factor 50 suncream causes prickly heat :-S

UVB rays are blocked by glass so you need to be in direct sunlight between 11am and 3pm in the UK. But it is only for a matter of minutes a few times a week (NHS won't give an exact figure but some other health organisations say 10-15 minutes). And vitamin D supplements in winter.

The advice the 'suncare advisor' is giving sounds ill-informed.

They go round hotels selling stuff. Just the same as the fashion shows hotels sometimes have on. Not employed by Tui. They are independent businesses who are allowed in by hotels. I love asking them questions about the twaddle they are spouting especially the tan accelerators.

Surely if they want to flog sunscreen they would be encouraging people to put it on?

Surely if they want to flog sunscreen they would beencouragingpeople to put it on?

They are encouraging people to put it on - but only their own-brand low SPF products.

we need a minimum amount of sunshine - psychologically as well as for the reasons one of the above posters stated.
BUT we can get this from only being out in the sun (protected with sun cream) before 10 am and after 4 pm (in this country). Not sure if even that is too much in baking weather.
Back in previous times - women porotected their skin with sunshades or staying indoors because to be burned (tanned) meant you were lower class and out in all weathers.
The advent of air travel and foreign holidays in the 1950s/60s meant that a 'tan' meant you were upper class as you could now afford foreign holidays
Where we are now is - still some [people bizarrely associate looking tanned with healthy skin ! and even like their children to get out in the sun with not enough SP factor cream to prevent sun 'damage'
A tan as someone else said is damage - look at the wrinkled heavily tanned ex-pats on the continent - they do not age well.

Genuine question - if a tan is skin damage but I apply factor 50 to my ds and put him in sum hat etc, a fair bit of time spent indoors during the day and he seeks the shade himself but still goes brown as a berry in summer is that really still damaging him?

if he is going brown as a berry - his skin is being 'damaged' to a degree. Young skin is particularly vulnerable.

Genuine question - if a tan is skin damage but I apply factor 50 to my ds and put him in sum hat etc, a fair bit of time spent indoors during the day and he seeks the shade himself but still goes brown as a berry in summer is that really still damaging him?

I really wouldn't worry about it. Some people just tan very easily, there is very little you can do about it apart from keep him indoors all day or keep him completely covered up, which I don't think would be better to be honest.

It's nearly impossible not to get at least lightly tanned if you're outside regularly during the summer, even with a high spf on. It's a natural reaction to sunlight and doesnt mean you're going to get cancer ffs.

It's nearly impossible not to get at least lightly tanned if you're outside regularly during the summer, even with a high spf on. It's a natural reaction to sunlight and doesnt mean you're going to get cancer ffs.

Exactly, its the body's natural response to sunlight. And if you have genes which produce melanin very quickly and easily, then you are going to go brown. Unfortunately, I have none of those genes!

I never said - it would lead to cancer - I was making the point that deep tanning is sun damage not that it necessarily is life-threatening. And young skin is particularly vulnerable to 'damage'. It is the skin's natural response to sunlight (as a protective measure) not as something to be deliberately sought.