Just wanted to do my part for society and share this… these are my legs, a few years back after having spent approximately an hour in the sun. They’re gauzed and bandaged up because I suffered 2nd degree burns and was under hospital treatment for two weeks.
I had plastered my legs (the only real exposed large area of skin) in factor 20 sunscreen so couldn’t understand why I had burnt so horrifically when the rest of me was fine! Now here’s the scary bit…. Little known fact that I feel should be widely shared. OUT OF DATE SUNSCREEN TURNS INTO COOKING OIL!!
Hence instead of protecting you, cooks you nicely! Every product has an expiry date, you will find a number, either a 12, 24 or 30 etc. Its in a little square or container symbol on the back. This is how many months from purchase it is safe for. I had bought my cream the previous summer, so was only gone by a few months. It looked and smelt fine to me but clearly wasn’t! I was lucky, another 10-15mins in the sun and my 2nd degrees would have been 1st, and I’d of suffered permanent scarring.
PLEASE PLEASE don’t put last year’s sunscreen on as this warmer weather approaches, especially not on your children. The pain I experienced was beyond words!!! Hope this helps people!
Jessica Bleakley-Meyer
