Weapons of mass protection

{ September 19, 2008 @ 2:42 pm } · { shopping }

Alas, UV, the common enemy of all women. The regrettable lack of use of sunscreen in my formative years had led to the development of freckles in my late teens. They have since multiplied in size and became (damn) stubborn brown spots/pigments which no amount of (*piang piang*) SKII whitening source could easily remove.
 
Since for my face, I’m already using La Roche-Posay Anthelios Fluide Extreme SPF 50+ together with InsBeaute sunshield SPF28 together with Averine Satin Smooth Foundation SPF 15. I thought I needed something for my arms, neck and chest in case I will start looking like a geisha. (ok.. legs will be taken care of later)
 
While loitering around at Guardian yesterday (yes…, that’s right, Guardian and Watsons are our favorite hangout places) checking out the latest creams and supplements, I was mesmerized by yet another weapon which i could add to my “Sun Defense” armoury.
♣
Weapon #1 – Neutrogena Sunblock, Ultra Sheer Dry-Touch SPF 70 ($19+)
Neutrogena - Sunblock, Ultra Sheer Dry-Touch SPF 70 - 3 fl oz
Usually sunscreen products that have high SPF (Sun protection factor) would be so thick that you would need to do some vigorous rubbing to get the white coat off the skin, and afterwards, you walk around feeling as if you have some been dropped in flour+corn starch batter and waiting to be fried under the sun. Surprisingly this one can be easily applied without much fuss and the sticky feeling is of acceptable level.

Satisfaction level: 4.5 ♥♥♥♥♥ (can’t give full marks since I generally don’t like putting on sun screen on body).

♣

Weapon #2 – Evergreen umbrella with UV protect ($6.90)
The Silverback-LiteWalker - Click Image to Close

Well, today while passing by one of those direct-import shops, saw the sale of anti-UV umbrellas. Geez, you really know how to turn me on!! ANTI-UV leh! So being a sucker for anything anti-uv, I just had to get it.

 Well, call it the placebo effect of whatever but it feels immediatelly cooler once it’s opened under today’s 32°C !! What a great relief ! Check out the UV Index for today 10+ Extreme !!!

Being a “how does this work” kid, I did some research on “UV umbrellas” and found this from another brand of UV umbrellas (Umbrellaheaven)… well interesting stuff, good to learn something new everyday…

“There are many umbrellas on the market with a silver UV protective inner canopy surface – indeed we sell them ourselves. The silver lining is intended to reduce the amount of Ultra Violet getting through the canopy. One slight drawback of this approach however is that some UV can sometimes be reflected from the ground (depending on the surface) and then again from the reflective interior of the umbrella onto one’s head and face. The parabolic shape of the umbrella can actually have the effect of concentrating the UV rays onto ones face. To combat this we have inverted the conventional UV protective design so that the silver is on the outside and the black on the inside. This maintains the benefit of filtering out much of the UV strength and reflecting it away from the outer canopy surface. However by having a black interior we are able to stop the sun’s harmful rays from being focused on the user’s head and face….”

Leave a Comment