The downside of sunscreen

Mom - if this offends you in any way, I apologize in advance ;).

My grandmother hasn't seen a ray of sun on her skin since before I was born. Mom is a sun worshipper. It's not their only night and day difference. I'm somewhere in between. I love the sun - as long as there is shade and icewater handy when I need/want it.

My mom and I have our share of night and day differences as well. She's a sports fan and loves to be outside, I'm more of the be outside if I have to be (unless the weather is cool or cold and then I'm all about the outside) and I'm decidedly not a sports fan.

For most of my life I've heard Mom say as she encouraged/pushed me to be out in the sun "you should get a little color". When I was younger I tanned easily. Throw me out there for about an hour and I'd get some tan lines, no matter how faint.

But how the times are a changin'. In my late 20's, I briefly went out with a guy who was, truth be told, just about the same orange/bronzy color as Hulk Hogan. He was a tanning bed rat. I'd had a few tanning bed sessions before - when I married my first husband, and before I went on vacation once. But I never went regularly. For whatever reason (mostly I think it was because I could have my 'color' without time outside), I started going to a tanning bed. And honestly, I can see how people get hooked. For a couple years, I went regularly during the spring and summer and my skin was decidedly tan.

Then I got pregnant. And then I got sun spots (age spots?) on my face. Biiiiiig ones. I was hoping it was a side effect of pregnancy hormones, and that it would go away. Nope. They are still here, along with some new ones. And sadly, that's when I started taking sunscreen a little more seriously. I'm taking much better care of myself in general these days, having kids will do that to you. Now I even have a skin care regimen (who would have ever thought!), which includes moisturizer with and SPF of 15 or higher.

Yesterday morning, I had taken a shower and was standing in front of the bathroom mirror. As I'm slathering on moisturizer, I notice something. My face and neck are the same pale shade - or at least close to it - while my skin on my chest that is exposed when I wear v necks has some color. Hmmmm. It's not a subtle difference, either. In fact, I don't know how I could have missed it before. It's amazing how you can stand in front of a mirror and not really see yourself. I found myself thinking - oh, it's okay, I just need a little color. And then I laughed out loud at how much I sounded like my mom. So starting yesterday, the chest gets the sunscreen too.