Inside Marcy's Mind

Greased Up Like a Rotisserie Chicken: A No-BS Guide to Sunscreen

• Marcy

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Think sunscreen is just for beach days? Think again. Harmful UV rays are bombarding your skin daily—even through clouds, windows, and during quick dog walks. Your left arm is likely aging faster than your right from driving, and that "healthy tan" is actually radiation damage in disguise.

In this eye-opening exploration of sunscreen, I dive into the sticky world of sun protection with some startling revelations about how most of us are doing it all wrong. Adults need a full shot glass of product for their entire body, reapplied every two hours—and no, that misty spray-and-pray technique isn't cutting it. I break down the critical differences between chemical sunscreens (containing oxybenzone, avobenzone, and octinoxate) that can disrupt hormones and damage coral reefs, versus mineral alternatives with zinc oxide and titanium dioxide that reflect rays safely.

I share personal recommendations straight from my beach bag, including Elta MD UV Clear, Supergoop Unseen Sunscreen, Blue Lizard Baby, and Coco Kind Silk SPF. Plus, the shocking truth about heat destroying sunscreen effectiveness—meaning that bottle baking in your beach bag might be worthless by midday. As someone currently undergoing radiation treatment for breast cancer, I've gained a new perspective on protecting our bodies from unnecessary radiation exposure. Don't treat SPF like an optional accessory; make it your daily armor against skin cancer and premature aging. Subscribe, leave a review, or simply commit to better sun protection habits—your future self will thank you!

Speaker 1:

Hello and welcome to Inside Marci's Mind. My name is Marci Backus and I am your host. Well, hello, sun worshipers and shade dwellers, welcome back to Inside Marci's Mind. The podcast where curiosity meets caution and today we're getting slathered Makes me think of cinnamon rolls. You could hear the stuff in the background. Just ignore it. I have the windows open. So today you're going to get slathered with knowledge. That's right.

Speaker 1:

Today we're deep diving into the slick, sticky, mysterious world of sunscreen, because nothing says I love myself more, like greasing yourself up before walking outside like a rotisserie chicken. It's that time of year, it's a that time of year, it's a sunscreen time of year. So we're going to talk about sunscreen, but first I'll do a little catch up. To do a little catch up, what's happening in my life? No catch up on hot dogs here in Chicago, that's for sure, but catching up on me. Let's see, my son and his girlfriend are here visiting right now. So our tiny little house is full of four people, our tiny little condo, but we're doing just fine. They're off at the gym right now, the climbing gym, and I'm getting a chance to do laundry and record my podcast. I'm in the halfway through radiation. Have another 13, 12 or 13 more sessions to go. So we're halfway there. Then I get a little break and July 17th we start chemotherapy again. So that is my breast cancer update. No, I don't know anything else. I just keep doing what they tell me to do, putting one foot in front of the other, being positive and doing as much as I can. So so far, with the radiation, I'm sleeping really good at night, but I have good energy during the day, so I'll take it. I will take it.

Speaker 1:

Today we are going to our architectural river cruise here, which are very popular in the city of Chicago. We have a very big river that runs through our city with beautiful architecture, so we're going to be doing that and then going to dinner at Smith and Molenski's, one of my favorite river restaurants for dinner. Tomorrow is very exciting. We're going to a very big Korean day spa out in Niles, illinois. It's this giant Korean day spa and we're going to go there Alex, sharon and I Craig has decided not to do that one and then we'll come home and have a nice barbecue and some pool time. Sunday is Father's Day. To all you fathers and mothers who act as to has had to step in as fathers, happy Father's Day to you. We are going to be going to church and then later in the afternoon we're going to the Old Town Art Fair and then to a Twin Anchors Restaurant is where Craig wants to go.

Speaker 1:

Kids will be here Monday, all the way through Tuesday, and they'll be leaving Tuesday afternoon. So we've got some things planned. They went to the gym with me yesterday. We'll go Monday. Oh, what else? Let's see. That's about it. Life is good.

Speaker 1:

Have our 4th of July trip planned, heading to California to Baba Lucy's Beach House, spend a few days there. Then Craig's going home and I am going on to the desert, which is my favorite time I know. July in the desert is 115. Whatever, there's air conditioning and cars, there's air conditioning and buildings, and I love the heat Plus, I love the desert. So Lynn and I will be doing that.

Speaker 1:

That's my little catch up on me, but I really thought, you know, let's dive into sunscreens. Let's talk about sunscreens, because I don't know about you. I didn't grow up with sunscreens, so sunscreens are still. I am not good at using them. I'm not going to lie. Okay, I've had my skin cancer checks. I'm amazed to tell you, I'm okay. Breast cancer, that's another story. Skin cancer I'm good on, but I thought it would be fun to kind of dive into sunscreens and when to use them, so on and so forth. So hang in there, give me a minute to get my act together and we are going to come back to you with sunscreen knowledge. I'm going to hit you hard with this. Oh my gosh, sunscreen.

Speaker 1:

Sunscreen is not just for the 4th of July and poolside, it is for any time the sun is up and, honestly, even when it's hiding behind the clouds like a shady X that's UV is still creeping through like it knows your secrets. I'm telling you, foggy days at the beach are the worst. They're the worst. You need sunscreen. So when do you need sunscreen? When you're walking the dog sunscreen. When you're driving in the car? Yep, your left arm called. It's been aging twice as fast. Look at your arms. Your left arm is always tanner than your right arm, and that is literally from coming through the window sitting near a sunny window. Don't trust that golden glow. It is radiation in disguise. And right now, trust me, I'm getting enough radiation.

Speaker 1:

And this is kind of what made me think about sunscreens, cause, like I said, I'm not a big sunscreen user. I have, um, I have. I went ahead and bought myself like a rash guard to kind of do extra cover up for when I'm out at the beach or by the pool, I just UVA rays, uvb rays. They go through glass. Even if you're working in an office building, if you're working near a window, you really need to think about sunscreen and most of us use it wrong. I'll tell you that much.

Speaker 1:

So, adults need about a shot of a shot full, like a shot glass full, for their whole body. You need to reapply every two hours. Let me tell you that every two hours. Raise your hand If you've been doing that, fyi, my hand isn't raised, nor do I use that much. Reapply every two hours. And again, if you sweat or swim, spraying a mist in the air and walking through it just like you do, perfume is not enough. Now let me tell you something when Lynn and I were going to Disneyland all the time, any hot day these mothers I want to just smack them because they're spraying their kids with sunscreen as you're walking and Lynn and I are talking and you get sunscreen in your mouth. Be kind, don't spray everybody else. Go to a corner, stop. Think about the wind when you're, and even at the beach you're spraying that crap everywhere and I don't want it in my mouth, I don't want it in my eyes. So be kind, when you're spraying that junk everywhere, because most of it's not going on your kid, I'm telling you. And you wonder why they're crunched up, burned. At the end of the day, again, reapply every two hours. Think of it as a lotion and not a prayer. I'm praying I won't get sunburned, kind of you know it's a lotion, okay.

Speaker 1:

So, number one, there's chemical sunscreens. They absorb uv rays and turn them into harmless heat. Common ingredients are oxybenzone, avobenzone, octinoxate I don't know how to say. It can cause hormone disruption and damage coral reefs. So these are the bad sunscreens. Sorry, I didn't preface that that is the bad sunscreens. Chemical sunscreens that that is the bad sunscreens. Chemical sunscreens Again, those ingredients are the oxy, the avo and the octi. They can cause hormone disruption. Think about that if you're putting them on your kids. Think about that if you're putting them on your kids and they damage coral reefs. So when you're swimming, they're damaging our coral reefs, all right. The next ones are mineral sunscreens. Mineral sunscreens are good.

Speaker 1:

Zinc oxide remember the old white zinc oxide Any sunscreen that has zinc oxide. When you're putting it on your kids, keep it away from their eyes. Also, titanium dioxide is good. It reflects rays away instead of absorbing UV rays and turning them into heat. Refriendly and ideal for sensitive skin. Tinted options prevent the mime look. So if you're going to put it on the face, there's tinted oxy Cause you know, I mean, think back when we were kids. That was really the only sunscreen there was, and only people only put it on their nose. It was always the lifeguard with the white nose up there, but the rest of him is all tan and probably full of cancer now.

Speaker 1:

So again, here's your good guy, your good ingredients first, your bad ingredients. Good guys are zinc oxide, titanium dioxide, mix, oreo, sx and tin, tin, oorb S, niacinamide and hyaluronic acid. Okay. So bad guys are oxybenzone, your oxys. Again, oxys aren't good to take and they're not going to put on your skin. Octane and oxate. And fragrance Any fragrance in a sunscreen is not good for you.

Speaker 1:

These are some myths that you hear all the time. I don't burn. I tan Well. I tan really well, but I also burn. Skin cancer loves a tan too. I have melanin. I don't need sunscreen. Everybody needs protection, no matter how much melanin is our, how dark your skin already is, it's in my foundation. Not enough, sister, not enough. And sunscreen is toxic. Skin cancer is more toxic. Cancer is more toxic and, trust me, you don't want to deal with it.

Speaker 1:

So here are some um recommendations from inside my beach bag, and I don't use all of these. I just bought the third one. It's come highly recommended to me. So the first one is Elta E-L-T-A-M-D UV clear Supergoop unseen sunscreen. The one I just bought because it was recommended highly to me, is Blue Lizard Baby, and the last one is Coco Kind Silk SPF. Okay, so let's go through those again. Alta MD UV Clear Super Goop Unseen Sunscreen. Blue Lizard. Coco Kind Silk SPF. Those are some that I recommend.

Speaker 1:

Again, sunscreen is super important. This is something that you really really need to be using. I am a failure, a big fat failure, at sunscreen. I am going to do better this year.

Speaker 1:

Here are some other things I've learned about sunscreens. We all keep it in our beach bag. Right, heat destroys sunscreen. Let me repeat myself Heat destroys sunscreen. So even if you look at the label and they also have an expiration date on them FYI, sunscreens do have expiration dates, so think about that Just because your expiration date hasn't come.

Speaker 1:

If you've kept it in your beach bag and it's been in the sun, it's no good. My feeling is, no matter what, every season, buy new sunscreen and you're probably gonna have to. If you're using it properly, you're gonna have to buy more than one sunscreen a season. So think about it. I want you to think about your kids. I also want you to think about what sunscreen does to our environment and the ocean. The spray ones I'm telling you people, those spray ones. I have them. I am very cognizant of when I spray and what the wind's doing. I I really appreciate it If you guys can do that. I'm sick of having it in my mouth. Maybe if I'd shut my mouth every once in a while, I wouldn't get sunscreen in it all the time. But again, heat destroys sunscreen. So if you have any qualms, especially if you're using it on kids, you want to make sure you're doing it right. Especially if you're using it on kids, you want to make sure you're doing it right.

Speaker 1:

So today's episode's not very long. Hope it's super informative. Use sunscreen, use enough. Use it often. Know what's in it. Don't treat SPF like an optional accessory. Especially it's necessary all year long, but I'm you know we're going into those high sun months, lots of sun. Let's think about it. Don't use it as an optional accessory. I want to thank you for tuning in to Inside Marci's Mind. Subscribe, leave a review or scream I love zinc out your window and I'll hear you in spirit. Stay shady, my friends.

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Marcy Backhus

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