Products supplied by Banana Boat for review & giveaway
While I wouldn’t exactly say that spring has completely sprung around these parts (it’s a still a bit cool for my liking), the sun has definitely been showing its face around here a lot more lately. I’m already planning so many more outdoor activities – beach time, more outdoor running, spending time in the garden, working on the outside of our house, trips to the playground, socialising and more. Yay! SUMMER IS COMING!
*stops happy dancing and puts on serious face*
Only thing is… with summer comes more risk of doing damage to our skin. While we can still do damage on cloudy days, it’s during the summer that I start to see disturbing images on social media of people with pretty bad sunburn. Usually captioned with silly emoji and a bit of a light hearted, “oh – whoops – burnt again – silly me – hahaha!”
Some people even seem proud of it. Sometimes there’s even talk of how they hope that after their skin burns, they’ll be brown and tanned.
I’d be lying if I said that I don’t worry about it. I’d also be lying if I said that sometimes it doesn’t frickin’ annoy me that they’d potentially mess with their lives just for a tan.
Look, I get it. Sometimes we can be forgetful. We can fall asleep in the sun after a couple of beverages, forgetting to find shade or reapply our sunscreen. We can be so absorbed in a rousing game of beach cricket or a productive day in the backyard and lose track of time. We can unexpectedly find ourselves outdoors for a prolonged period and realise we have nothing to protect us.
But I am appealing to you all to stop getting sunburnt. Make it your mission this summer (and all year round). My own family has experienced tragic loss to melanoma. It’s real and it’s happening to Aussies everywhere. Our lifestyle and our weather put us at more risk if we don’t take precautions. It doesn’t just happen to “other” people. Believe me when I say this.
Ever since our family’s very sad wake up call we try to keep up with our skin checks (you might be super scared to do it in case the results are bad but trust me – not knowing won’t change the reality of a situation – it will only steal away the time you could have been treating it). I have my house, handbag, and beach bag stocked up with sunscreen everywhere. I have it in roll on form, spray form, cream form, formulated for children, stuff for sports activities, water play. You name it, we’ve got it. Wherever we are. It has to be easy or we forget.
We cover up as much as we can. This spring/summer I’m on the hunt for the perfect wide brimmed hat. I am terrible with hats (so not a hat person), but I want to protect myself better and set a great example for the Little Mister. I urge all of my fellow non hat people to give it a go too. There’s gotta be something flattering out there for us!! We just have to commit to the search. Vanity just can’t be an excuse anymore.
Wear your sunglasses. Protect your eyes. I have been making a huge effort to remember my sunnies everywhere I go. See, during the Little Mister’s first year of life, I kept forgetting them. I was completely consumed by what to pack for the baby, that I put myself last. I don’t know why but sunglasses always went to the bottom of the list as I ran out of the door. It doesn’t sound like a big deal, but by the time the Little Mister was about 18 months old, I realised the damage. In just that short amount of time (after years of being dedicated to wearing my sunnies for most of my life), I had sun spots around the corners of my eyes. They look a bit like I’ve made a mess of my eye make up. At first I thought that was what they were. I rubbed at them, thinking I’d stained my skin with eye liner or mascara. When the realisation dawned on me that it was the sun’s doing, I immediately changed my ways. I admit it started with vanity, but it showed me just how quickly you can do irreversible damage. It doesn’t take long. I promise you that. Wear them when you’re driving, walking around outdoors, any time your eyes are exposed to the sunlight.
I want my family and friends to take it seriously, because I want them around for a loooooong time. I’d rather they all be a little bit pale and perfect than burnt, leathery and flaky (and potentially sick). Tell me, which is the better look?
So that is my plea to you. Please don’t be weirdly proud of your sunburn. Do not increase your risk in the hopes that you’ll tan. Protect yourself when you’re out and about. Protect your precious children. Let’s teach them good habits now that will pay off later.
Let’s prevent the heartbreak of you or your family suffering from melanoma. Let’s not forget to look after ourselves (I know it can happen easily if we don’t put self care at the top of the list but it’s so important). Let’s stop laughing about sunburn like it’s a funny joke and start having meaningful conversations about preventing skin cancer.
This is an issue very close to my family’s heart and I want to help you to get your family’s sun protection routine in order, so I’ve arranged a little something to get a couple of my lucky readers started! I am a big fan of Banana Boat and I am so stoked to be able to run a Banana Boat giveaway right here on the blog!
You can win either a kid’s pack (4 items as below):
…or an adult’s pack (2 items as below):
How to enter…
Leave a comment right here on the blog, telling me which pack you want (kids or adults – if you don’t mind which one then let me know that either would be fine) and what you plan to do to make sun protection easier for you and/or your family this summer. Any great tips for my other readers?
T & Cs
- There will be two separate winners. One winner will receive the kids prize and one winner will receive the adults prize. While prize preferences of competition entrants will be taken into consideration, it is not guaranteed that they will receive the pack they preferred, should they be named a winner.
- Giveaway ends at midnight WST on Sunday the 4th October, 2015.
- The prizes will be sent out by a 3rd party. Products may vary slightly from what is pictured.
- Winners will be chosen based on the quality of their entry comments. My choices will be final.
- The winner will be notified privately via email and be announced on my Facebook page (click to follow).
- Giveaway only open to Australian residents (so sorry my gorgeous foreigners).
GOOD LUCK!!! 🙂
