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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To be surprised how many people don’t know you can burn on a cloudy day?

81 replies

Icepops · 03/06/2021 12:07

Out with friends this morning. Hot but cloudy. I covered mine in suncream and offered it to friend as she had commented that she didn’t have any.
She refused and said her dc didn’t need it anyway as it was cloudy and didn’t believe me when I said you can still burn on a cloudy day! Shock

I really think they should teach this in schools (maybe they do these days but certainly didn’t when I was at school in the 1990s).

YABU: everyone knows you can still burn on a cloudy day
YANBU: I didn’t know you could burn on a cloudy day

OP posts:
Pinkblueberry · 03/06/2021 14:35

A bit of sunlight is good for you and sunscreen is actually full of strong chemicals that often irritate my kids skin.

Indeed, 10 mins or so of it to absorb your vitamin D for the day, not the entire day. There are many types of suncream to suit all types of skin, even sensitive. None of them as ‘irritating’ as skin cancer.

Northernsoullover · 03/06/2021 14:36

I used to be a tour rep in the canaries. The rare cloudy days saw plenty of people abandon their suncream only to be bright red and pained at the end of the day. I did warn them but no one likes to be nannies so I was ignored.

PattyPan · 03/06/2021 14:46

@Drunkenmonkey well it’s cloudy here today but the UV is high so you’d actually have to be out for less time than last week when it was sunny but UV was medium because that’s literally how sunburn works. It’s caused by UV radiation, not sunlight.

EnjoyingTheArmoire · 03/06/2021 15:04

This is the constant conversation I have with my mother about suncreaming the dc:

Her: "but the sun's not out!"

Me: "Unless it's still dark out there, I think you will agree that it is"

It is also my belief that modern suncream allows you to getyour daily vitamin D whilst still providing UV protection. Worth checking that just to be on the safe side.

Loubiemoo · 03/06/2021 15:08

@Pinkblueberry

A bit of sunlight is good for you and sunscreen is actually full of strong chemicals that often irritate my kids skin.

Indeed, 10 mins or so of it to absorb your vitamin D for the day, not the entire day. There are many types of suncream to suit all types of skin, even sensitive. None of them as ‘irritating’ as skin cancer.

Unfortunately I burn in less than ten minutes even on a day like today.

On the plus side, I look a few years younger than I really am because I don’t sunbathe and I use a high factor uva/uvb sunscreen (just ignore the grey hairs

).

daisybrown37 · 03/06/2021 15:08

A lot of people on Weymouth beach last weekend did not seem to know this based on the redness we saw when we arrived!

QueenPaw · 03/06/2021 15:09

I just keep an eye on the UV
Wear SPF 50 on my face daily anyway. Can burn in 5 mins if the UV is high

Confusedandshaken · 03/06/2021 15:09

My husband is in many ways a very smart man. People pay a lot of money for his professional expertise and advice. In other ways he is a complete pinhead as demonstrated by the many, many times he has gone out to play golf on a cloudy day and come home looking like a strawberry in a wig. This despite the fact he has a bottle of factor 50 in his golf bag.

He also expressed surprise this week when he came into the kitchen as I made jam - apparently he didn't know there was sugar in jam.

Nonmaquillee · 03/06/2021 15:16

I understand that even one episode of sunburn damages the skin permanently. Yes, I would definitely put cream on my kids on a cloudy day.

littlepeas · 03/06/2021 15:19

The only time I have ever been badly sunburned was on a cloudy day - I was out in it all day and didn't have a clue that I could still burn (I was 17 - music festival). It involved blisters and then scabby scales that I picked off Shock.

SimonJT · 03/06/2021 15:19

Worse are the ones who think its a hot tan rather than a sun tan.

I very rarely get sun burn as I’m not white, but I’m still at risk of skin cancer and skin damage/premature aging. My husband is white, he burns fairly easily, as he is white he is at aj increased risk of skin cancer and sun damage so he wears suncream on his face/neck everyday. If the uv levels are 4+ he also wears it on his arms etc if they are exposed.

I have a t-shirt tan at the moment, said t-shirt tan has been visible since mid march, if the UV is high enough to give me a visible tan its high enough to burn some people and its certainly high enough to cause skin damage.

missfliss · 03/06/2021 15:26

I'm sat out here today and I have factor 50 only face and neck, long sleeved cotton top, chambray lose trousers, and a broad brimmed hat on.
I use retinol on my very fair ( burns, freckles but never ever tans) skin at night time and so go for as much sun protection as I can.

My skin never goes a pleasing brown. Just red.
It's not worth it. Gradual tanner makes me a bit more even and less ghostly but I look weird if I pretend to be tanned!

OrangePowder · 03/06/2021 15:29

You can, but most people won't in UK, unless out all day and through the midday period.

I wouldn't have used sun cream on mine for a morning in the park on a cloudy day and they both have skin you have to be really careful with (ginger). I would have used it for a whole day on the beach with a picnic, even when cloudy.

They do need some sunlight and I'm still half expecting to find out somewhere down the line that some of the problems caused by sunbathing are at least partly to do with sunscreen. I'm not putting powerful chemicals on anyone's skin unnecessarily.

ScreamingMeMe · 03/06/2021 15:31

come home looking like a strawberry in a wig.

Grin
BigPyjamas · 03/06/2021 15:32

I wouldn't suncream my children on a cloudy day on an normal outing (ie not outside all day on the beach) unless we were abroad somewhere with stronger sun.

That said, I've never burnt or tanned in the UK on a cloudy day so would change my attitude if I had.

I'd rather skip the chemicals if I didn't think it was needed.

doadeer · 03/06/2021 15:34

These days the summers in London are regularly between 22-34 degrees for most days throughout summer. Once it gets warm I put suncream on myself and toddler every day. I always wear Spf 50 anyway on my face

Drunkenmonkey · 03/06/2021 21:27

@pinkblueberry I don't think any of us really know the impact of all the chemicals we are consuming. I read a frightening article in the guardian recently about certain chemicals and impact on fertility, and there is lots we still don't know. It is impossible to find a completely harmless sunscreen. I have found the best one I can for my son's very sensitive skin but I wouldn't be coating them in it when I don't need to.
Obviously skin cancer is very serious and I am very careful and take precautions, keep them in the shade when possible, use sunscreen (when necessary) make sure they never burn etc, but I will never lather them in it 'just in case' which I see a lot of people do. No judgement but that's just my view.

Nutrafin · 03/06/2021 21:36

White clouds only block about 10% of UV rays. You're actually at higher risk of burning on cloudy days, because you're less likely to appreciate your exposure to the sun.

Carycy · 03/06/2021 22:00

I wouldn’t put sunscreen on mine on a cloudy days. They need the vitamin d. They also get eczema and sun does it good. They also never burn. They are blonde with medium skin that tans. If they were out all day on a warm but cloudy day I would put a bit on their faces but that’s it.

BogRollBOGOF · 03/06/2021 22:33

@PattyPan

I know but I read a thread a month or so ago where posters were saying the OP was crazy for trying to get her pale and ginger toddler to wear a hat on a cloudy day in April. That same weekend my DP got burnt to a crisp for refusing to wear sun cream (although he knew it was possible) and I’m sure many others did too. I remember a work colleague coming back from a ski holiday a few years ago with a goggles imprint burnt onto his face. Check the UV forecast, not the heat or sunshine!
That thread took the tone it did because the OP had refused to let the toddler outside at all for days and wasn't considering the less confrontational approaches that many posters were suggesting for dealing with an irrational u2.

I never cease to be surprised by the corelation that people have between UV and heat rather than intensity of sunlight (time of year and cloud cover) I've not been burnt many times but it was on clear days with a fresh breeze and not topping up the suncream enough because the sweating wasn't so obvious. I don't tend to worry about cloudy days as my skin doesn't visibly react (although probably still aging) and it still builds vitamin D. I tend to use suncream from the spring equinox until into September.

Original poster
Icepops · 04/06/2021 05:08

Really interesting to read all the different opinions on this!

OP posts:
HarebrightCedarmoon · 04/06/2021 05:29

I don't burn on a cloudy day in the UK, unless it's a very warm day and I'm out in it all day, but I wouldn't assume everyone's skin is the same. DC1 has skin like mine, DC2 is fairer skinned and would possibly need sun cream depending on how long we are out and what she is doing. DN's dad is black Nigerian, and DN hardly ever needs sun cream. I think you are looking at it from a white, fair-skinned perspective, OP.

Mypathtriedtokillme · 04/06/2021 05:33

I did find I burnt differently in the UK and the rest of Europe than what I did at home in NZ and Aus.
In the Uk and Italy I tanned beautifully
Here (Aus) I wear SPF (zinc based) all the time as do my kids as I fry like bacon even in winter.
We also take Vit D tablets.
I’ve had 4 skin cancers removed by my early 30’s but I used to get so burnt as a kid that I peeled in sheets of skin.

Mypathtriedtokillme · 04/06/2021 05:37

My kids have never been sunburnt, they wear sun hats all the time (have to at school and preschool) so they just wear them happily.
I normally wear a hat too.

piefacedClique · 04/06/2021 07:23

I was taught from a very young age.... “if you can cast a shadow you can catch a tan!”

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