Hacker News Reader

Comment by jerrysievert | Hacker News Reader

in addition to the sale, it seems like it would make sense to ban the importation of sunscreen with tourists in their luggage. Hawaii's a frequent vacation spot for me, and I always pack my own (high spf) sunscreen. I can never find sunscreen when visiting that works well with my skin.

if they can't ban the luggage-packed sunscreen, perhaps an information campaign. if I know what not to bring, I'll tend to make sure I don't, and I'm not alone.

View on HN

If you're playing in the water and not looking for a tan, another option is a rash guard to minimize sunscreen use (just face and neck if you get a long sleeve). I lived in Hawaii for a number of years and found rash guards to be the best option for me personally. I would spend hours at a stretch in the water and sunscreen will wash off quicker than you might think.

When I go on vacation to the tropics I wear a long sleeve part polyester/spandex shirt that dries quickly even when I go in the pool/ocean. The effective SPF is 50. It's a bit dorky, but much better than getting a sunburn and I don't have to reapply sunscreen.

Many rashguards test at SPF 200, but they can't advertise as more than "50+"... at that point, it is basically SPF infinity.

An information campaign is already in place on Hawaiian airlines. Not sure if that's just them being pro-active or what, but they do warn you.

They also have had signs on beaches for a year or two - or, at least, beaches near coral reefs.

What I do is stay out of the sun from 10-2.

10 to 4 you mean?

Solar noon can vary a bit, such as 12:30pm to 1:30pm (depending on DST also).

I don't think that helps significantly. Check out the plot on Wikipedia [1] for the ultraviolet index in NYC. At peak on summer, solar noon versus 8am there's a factor of ~3 difference between UV incident on a horizontal surface. Since the sun is much lower at 8am, that factor is primarily from the surface being at an oblique angle to the sun. So atmospheric absorption is significantly smaller than a factor of 3 and since much of the human body is not oriented horizontally, that's the part I'd want to be considering. Either way though, SPF of at most 3 is insufficient.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultraviolet_index

never needed sunscreen, seems like brown skin saves the corals :D.

Seriously, though. I learned from the movie Get Out that dark skin is totally in fashion. And whenever I go under 30° latitude, I feel very poorly adapted to the climate.

If one of you biohackers could invent a hormone or something to change your skin color, that would be amazing. Prevent skin cancer/vitamin D deficiency, the kuro gyaru would love it, and maybe we could all find some class more interesting to discriminate against.

> Seriously, though. I learned from the movie Get Out that dark skin is totally in fashion.

"Seriously"?

A fictional movie about carving out someone's brain so you can transplant yours to take over their body?

There are https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melanocyte-stimulating_hormone and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skin_whitening#Whitening_agent...

You mean "increase vitamin D deficiency"? AFAIK dark-skinned people produce less vitamin D because melanin blocks UV light.

Depends on which way you go with skin color.

I don't understand why people bring easily acquired items like sunscreen in their luggage. Unless you're going somewhere that doesn't have a Walgreens or a Rite-Aid, I see no reason to haul around sunscreen, shampoo, toothpaste, deodorant, mouthwash, contact lens fluid, etc., to get stopped by the TSA multiple times and have to throw it out anyway because it exploded because of the pressure difference.

Cost and convenience. The markup on personal hygiene products at Walgreens for example is horrific compared to say, Walmart. After landing in a far away place, I don’t want to have to spend any time tracking those items down.

If you follow the TSA regs for liquids, it’s a non-issue.

in my case, I know what's there when I get there, vs what I can bring.

I tend to stay outside of Lahaina on Maui, and there's a CVS pharmacy (long's drugs), a Walgreens, and a Safeway. all of them tend to carry the same mass-market greasy sunscreen with low spf values. my skin does not do well with that, and I end up extremely sunburnt. bringing my own ends up being a better value proposition.

editing to add: if I'm on vacation, I'm checking a bag, so taking extra liquids is no problem. if I'm traveling for work, I have a bag already packed with everything within TSA requirements, so no need to try to track down a store to walk or ride to somewhere near my hotel.

Often personal preference, especially when travelling through different countries. Canada has vastly different preferences in deodorant style and scents to New Zealand for example. Also different countries have different brand names (eg Lynx in NZ, Axe in North America), so if you have a preferred brand for whatever reason it might have a different name or not exist at all.

Plus the last thing I want to do after getting off a long flight is go shopping for toothpaste.

No Old Spice in NZ :(

I can buy a 3 pack of sunscreen at BJ’s for $10. The same sunscreen in a smaller bottle was $13 a CVS on the Maine coast.

If it's a vacation, that's not a significant expense compared to the other vacation activities, a rental car or taxis, meals out, etc.

Have you considered the possibility that some people are able to afford a vacation only because they are thrifty? Your comments are very close to "let them eat cake" levels of detachment (and yes, I know that quote is apocryphal).

My idea of a vacation isn’t trudging to a busy CVS to buy sunscreen and personal care items.

So you arrive somewhere on a holiday, and rather than getting out and seeing the sites, you go shopping at a grocery store? And you are confused why everyone doesn't do the same? That is such a strange question to me.

Yeah, it takes about 12 minutes and the extra $12 spent is worth not having to haul those things around. I prefer carrying as little with me as possible. Plus, the grocery store has gummy worms.

Hell, you can get it on arrival at most airports. I agree with you - I hate packing stuff I can buy.

You must only go to boring places if you can always get those extra things easily ;)

So the first thing you do when you arrive at any destination is load up and go shopping? Sounds very inconvenient to me and that's assuming you are probably travelling alone or with a companion. Add kids to the mix and things get worse. I take things in 3 oz bottles and can't remember the last time anything exploded due to altitude. At most, some might squeeze out into the ziploc. I guess occasionally, lodging will have a little kiosk open until 6pm that will sell you a small bottle of sunscreen for $13.

It really isn't that big of a deal. I don't pack "essentials" either, unless I know that a place won't have what I need (stick deodorant is a good example of this).

Most people will check into their hotel first-thing anyway. A 10 minute diversion to stop at a convenience store isn't as bad as you might think.

What do you do with the things you buy? Dump them in the trash when you leave?

American sunscreens don't work as well. Thanks, FDA.

Yeah, I've heard that. Would love to hear recommendations on what better foreign sunscreens I can buy.

I'm with you- but I always pack as lightly as possible. It seems we may be the exception!

Reply on news.ycombinator.com