Does Oprah Need A Melanoma Before We Realise Suntans Aren’t Healthy?

I’m 56 years old. Sunny beach day, sitting in our fold up chairs at our table on the sand. Two couples, chilled wine and animated conversation. The crowd around us has sandwiches, lying on towels. Do we stand out? Might have bothered me once.

Eventually my wife kicks me out for a surf, just to prove I can still manage. Three small waves later, the Sauv Blanc is calling. On the way in, I give a toddler a couple of quick rides in the shallows in front of his laughing Grand-Mum.

And here I am at the table again, dressed as always these days in my long sleeved sun protective shirt. The rest of the beach is turning red, sweating harder than I am, and generally less comfortable.

There is no sad story here. No cancer scare that got me into this business. I just became aware that the suntan thing was a con job. So I started to look for a long sleeved summer shirt. And here I am today, running this little company selling Ultraviolet Protective clothing on the internet. Shucks, most people don’t even know there is such a thing. I was speaking at a Rotary event on Monday evening to forty business people. Not one of them had heard of the Ultraviolet Protective Factor (UPF) for clothing.

Not one person.

And we live under a sky that is suffering ‘ozone depletion’ – which means more UV rays. New Zealand is the least educated western nation when it comes to this issue. At best we are warned to slap on lotion. But most of us are now suspicious of the chemicals in sunscreens. With reason enough. In the EU, any sunscreen with more than 0.5% Oxybenzone in it has to carry a warning label. You can walk into a pharmacy here and find sun lotions containing up to 6%.  You don’t want to know what they are finding out about Oxybenzone.

Everyone else at that beach was predictably garbed. In swimsuits only, sweating more than me, burning more than me, they didn’t even know how to do a designer beach lunch with a fold up table. Why do people follow the crowd? Does Oprah have to get a melanoma before we realize suntans aren’t healthy?

At Sunware we run cute little sayings like ‘decades remain or decayed remains.’ Or, ‘don’t rub on your skin what you wouldn’t eat.’ Our business is online, selling only proven sun protective shirt and hats, designed and manufactured here in this country. We put more thought into design than looks, but guess what. People like the looks. Our business is not large but, like I told the press the other day, we get serious repeat orders.