10 NEW SPF Secrets - Protect Your Skin!

I recently started receiving "Women's Health" magazine in the mail, and while I won't say it's my favorite subscription I will say it has a few helpful articles. With it being the middle of summer and all, I wanted to pass this one on.

Some dangers lurk within: A form of vitamin A is added to some sunscreens to minimize the aging effects of the sun. However, researchers have found that this vitamin A compound may speed up the development of skin cancer related tumors and lesions when used on skin hit with sunlight. You'd think the developers would not want this, right? Ugh. Be careful what you put on your skin, folks!

Sunscreen can harm the environment. What?! The article states that 20,000 tons of sunscreen wash off swimmers, divers, and surfers into the oceans every year, eventually affecting marine life - especially coral reefs. So, if you're going to be swimming in the sea, make sure you use biodegradable sunscreen (who knew there was such a thing?).

SPF doesn't always block UVA rays. I know most of us knew this already, but the FDA is considering a set of guidelines that would use a four-star system to rate a sunscreen's effectiveness against UVA rays. Keep an eye out for it.

Sunscreen expires. Leaving sunblock in intense heat for long amounts of time may make it less effective. Sunscreen also has an expiration date - so check it!

Medications can make you more vulnerable. Meds like tetracycline, diuretics, and painkillers like Aleve can up your chances of getting burned according to this article. They make your skin more sensitive to sunlight, so be sure to reapply sunscreen often if you take any of the medications listed above.

Certain foods can turbocharge your protection. Whodathunkit? Load up on lycopene-rich fruits and veggies (think watermelon & tomatoes) to help aid in the protection of your skin.

Labels can lie. Well, I think we kinda knew this, but still. The FDA doesn't regulate sunscreens so the manufacturers aren't legally required to prove what they claim on their labels. So when a sunscreen says "waterproof", it doesn't necessarily mean it. I've heard that they are working on improving this system, but haven't read anything solid on it yet.

The SPF number doesn't mean much. Now, I admit, I didn't know that until this year. I used to buy the highest SPF possible, but now I just use SPF 30. According to this Women's Health article, the super high numbers are just a marketing ploy. *gasp* They lied to us again?

Makeup with SPF doesn't cut it. This is kind of true, kind of untrue. If you reapply every two hours or so, they'll protect you just fine. But, let's face it, who does that? Solution: Always add an extra layer of lightweight sunscreen (the article suggests Clinique's City Block Face Protector SPF 25).

Soaking up vitamin D is no excuse for skipping sunblock. Vitamin D is good for lots of things (strengthening your bones, reducing your risk for certain cancers, and more), but no amount of unprotected sun exposure is OK. Vitamin D is very important, but there are other ways to soak it up (try milk, or a supplement).

What are your sun safety tips? 

Summertime Fun!

I don't know if I have mentioned it yet, but my younger two girls are in Arkansas with their Grammie for a few weeks, so Jenelle and I have been getting to spend a lot of one-on-one time together. We went to Six Flags last week (so fun!), have been lounging around the house being super duper lazy this week, and then today we went to Grant's Farm with my friend Sam and her kids. (Sam does Beauti Control so check it out! << Shameless plug for my friend.)


Anyway, I wanted to share some pictures. I love that a lot of you do the Wordless Wednesday thing, but if you know me at all you know I can't do a wordless anything! And sharing a picture without words, well, it's nearly impossible for me. I do share a picture every Friday but for some reason the little intro that is allowed makes me feel not so closed in. I guess I'm just not a good rule-follower.


These pictures were taken with my camera on my phone, so they're not the greatest quality, but the camels and goats were so cute I just had to share!


We will start the tour with the photos of this historic building. Anyone know what it is?






Were you right? It's the historic home of Ulysses S. Grant!


We took a tram ride up the hill, and we saw a few cutesies along the way.



^^ Deer in the lake.



^^ Donkey wanted to hop on the tram!



And this weird looking goose followed alongside the tram for a bit.



This big guy was blocking our path on the bridge, but he kindly moved.


When we got to the top of the hill, we saw the carousel right away. This is Jenelle pretending to have fun, I think... is 9 too old for a carousel ride? :/


 


Then we got to feed the goats! She was kinda leery at first, but quickly warmed up when one of the smaller goats followed her around. One of the little guys chewed on my toe! Gross! And another kept chewing on my pants.





The brown one is the one that really liked her. Even when he wasn't hungry anymore, he kept rubbing up against her leg. It was adorable.





Here he is up close...






After petting and feeding the goats, we got a snow cone - the perfect thing on a 90 degree day. Then, we fed the camels. This camel was so funny! He had personality.





So, that was our day. What was yours like?

2 weeks!

2 weeks left til summer vacation for my kids. Well, that's a lie. They're going to summer school so technically I have until July 1st before they're home every day (woooooo hooooo!), but I am starting to put together some 'plans' for summer to keep them busy anyway.

 I bought a book on clearance one time - 1,444 Fun Things to Do with Kids. There are so many great ideas in this book, it's just amazing! I'll share a few with you, but if you click that link you can get the book for under $5.

Monster Dough

Combine 1 cup of salt with 1 and 1/4 cups water and 2 teaspoons of cooking oil. Knead the mixture until smooth and then divide it into several small bowls. Color with food coloring and mix well. Too sticky? Add flour. Too dry? Add a few drops of water.

Magic Mud

1 cup cornstarch in a bowl and 1 cup of water -- add water gradually until the mixture is like bread dough. Then roll the mixture into a ball. Watch the ball carefully and it will magically dissolve to liquid!

Candle Maker

Collect all the old candles you have. Let the kids choose the shapes for new candles (using dishes, cartons, and other forms that can withstand contact with hot wax). Affix to the bottom of the form a string that can be used as a wick, and then carefully supervise the melting of the candles. Fish out the old wicks. Melt in a crayon to change the color of the wax. Cool slightly, and then pour into molds. After the wax cools a little more, straighten the string wick or insert in the center a thin candle as a wick. When firm, remove from the mold and enjoy on the dining table or elsewhere.

Reading Journal

I'm going to have my girls keep a reading journal this summer so they can write about the books they'e read. Jenelle has her own blog so I might let her get away with typing it up, but we'll see. :) Just get a notebook together and give them a time chart, a suggested reading list, and 50 stickers to use when they read the books. Have them write down the title, author, and a short review about the book. Would they recommend it to a friend? Would they like to read it again?

Chalktown

In your driveway or on the sidewalk, help your kiddos sketch out a large transportation system using white chalk. This is educational as well as fun! Draw highways, small roads, airports, etc. Using green chalk, add in the trees, fields, and other greenery. Make rivers and lakes with blue chalk. Red chalk: houses, skyscrapers. Use your imagination! Use toy cars, boats, and people to play in your chalktown. This can lead to days of fun, until the rain washes it away!

What's in the yard?

From your garden or yard, gather blossoms from flowers and leaves from trees. place them between wax paper and then under heavy books. After about 2 weeks they will have dried. Make a plant identification book! Use a tiny dab of glue to affix them to the page, and label the page with the name of the flower or tree. Super fun and educational!

Sail Boats

Make some little boats out of folded paper or big leaves. Use a water puddle after a rain to see if the boats will sink or swim.

Shadow Plays

Hang a sheet in a doorway and place a floodlight about 8 feet behind it. Let kids play between the sheet and the light, acting out nursery rhymes and scenes from familiar books. See if you can guess who the actors are portraying.

1,444 Fun Things to Do With Kids really is a great book. I recommend buying it (or checking it out) if possible. It has given me lots of ideas for fun, inexpensive, and sometimes educational, projects!

What do you like to do with your kids during summer break?