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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!!! 🙂
16 Comments
Janet aka Middle Aged Mama
We had a big wake up call last year, the hubster had a tiny skin cancer removed from his back near his shoulder, and now has a 10cm long scar. We were surprised that HE was the one with skin cancer as he has lovely mediterranean olive skin – while my skin is lilly white! My top tip – I am a big fan of wearing one of hubster’s old white business shirts as a cover up when fishing or swimming. It’s soft from much wearing, and keeps the sun off. I’d love the adults pack seeing as my kids are all grown!
KezUnprepared
I like the point you make about it not mattering what colour our skin tone is. I think people often believe that if you don’t burn easily, then you don’t need protection! x
Pinky Poinker
Oooh a competition! I’ve had a deep skin cancer lasered from my cheek fifteen years ago and now wear sunblock every day. Nth Qld is the melanoma capital of the world (so I’ve read). Hats and long sleeves are the way to go up here.
KezUnprepared
Yikes. I’d say we’re not far behind in WA. It’s so important that we are careful! x
Lena | Lena Talks Beauty
This is a great post – people’s attitudes towards sun damage and sun burns totally blows my mind. It’s just ASKING for trouble to be lying out baking yourself. i think people think you can just get a skin cancer cut out and it’s no big deal, but it really can kill you, and that’s so serious.
KezUnprepared
Exactly. I think we need to take it more seriously. I know lots of young people who have died or suffered from it and we need to remember we’re not invincible x
toddlers plus teens
We are a sun loving family and spend a lot of time at the beach . I always pack a tub of towels , changes of clothes , sunscreen , hats etc ready to go . I lost my grandfather to skin cancer at a young age . I’ve also learnt how important it is to get regular skin checks and mole scans with quite a few friends having moles removed . Great shout out . I’ve shared on my page as I’m passionate about this to . X
KezUnprepared
Thank you so much for sharing my post. I am so glad to get the message out. Sorry for the loss of your grandfather. I think we learn from these tragic losses and I like to think that the ones we lost have saved our lives xo
Dianne Childs
It’s all about the hats! I’m going to buy a wide-brimmed hat for myself and ensure my husband and son wear their hats when we visit the beach, park or go on a walk this Summer. And obviously we will be slip, slop, slapping as usual! I found you through the Ultimate Rabbit Hole Linky 🙂 I’d love the Kids pack please.
Di from Max The Unicorn
KezUnprepared
Yay – let’s rock the wide brimmed hats together! 🙂
Rebel Without A Pause
So important, the region where I live has the highest rate of melanoma.
We avoid the sun in the middle of the day, and when we are in it the old slip, slop, slap message is loud and clear.
Sunscreen is not easy to pop on the wriggling kids, so I make a game of it. The kids stand there, arms out and with their eyes closed – then they have to guess what pattern I am drawing on. This little tricks means they stand stand very still while they concentrate – which means I can concentrate on getting that Banana Boat ‘pattern’ everywhere it needs to be before we rub it all in!
(either pack would come in handy here x)
KezUnprepared
I love it! Making it fun is definitely the key x
Jennifer B.
I’d love an ADULT pack please… my kids think they’re way too old to wear SPF from any pack with cartoons on them these days!
KezUnprepared
I am so sorry to hear, but I do hear you about becoming so much more aware and careful after a tough loss like that xoxo
Carly May Nichols
I’m putting my hand up for the KIDS pack please! I have fair skin and have burned easily all of my life. I try and protect myself but I admit I usually get burnt at least once every summer. Thank you for writing this blog post, you have given me the kick in the butt I needed to admit that even one time is ONE TIME TOO MANY! Now with a little one to protect, I want to do my absolute best, nay, BETTER than best, to make sure she is not only well protected, but that she grows up knowing that Slip Slop Slap is part of a healthy lifestyle here in Oz. To protect ourselves as best we can, the SSS mantra is going to become gospel in our house, and I’m always going to make sure we have hats, sunnies, long sleeves and sunscreen in the car and in my bag at all times. Banana Boat is such a great and trusted brand, I would love the opportunity to try all of their kids products and give my daughter the absolute best in sun protection, because she damn well deserves it!
KezUnprepared
Good for you, Carly. Little H will be the grooviest little sun safe kid around x