You may not know it, but May is Skin Cancer Awareness Month. With most of my recent runs taking place during the hottest part of the day, I’m careful to protect myself from the sun as best as possible. The Skin Cancer Foundation has always recommended using a sunscreen with an SPF of 15 or above, but sunscreen alone is not really enough. Their full list of skin cancer prevention tips are as follows:
- Seek the shade, especially between 10am and 4pm
- Avoid tanning and UV tanning booths
- Use a sunscreen with an SPF of 15 or above EVERY day
- Cover up with clothing, including a hat and UV-blocking sunglasses
- Examine your skin head-to-toe every month
- Apply sunscreen 30 before heading outside. Reapply every two hours or as recommended by the sunscreen manufacturer
- See your physician every year for a professional skin examination
Long time readers of this blog will know I’m a huge fan of Mission Skincare Ultra-Sweatproof Sunscreen. I searched for several years to find a sunscreen that wasn’t greasy, wouldn’t sting, would let my skin breathe but most importantly protect me from the harmful UVA/UVB rays.
I tried all the popular brands – Coppertone, Coppertone Sport, Banana Boat, BullFrog to name just a few – and many not-so-well-known brands, like Watermans and HeadHunter.
To be honest, none of the popular brands were that great and most of them were absolutely awful. They may be useful for a few hours at the beach, but for an avid runner like me, they just didn’t fit the bill.
Luckily I stumbled upon the MISSION Skincare range of products, which includes various sunscreens in both lotion and spray form, protective lip balms, an anti-friction cream, foot gel, after-sun revive gel and more.
My favorite (and most used) is the Ultra-Sweatproof Sunscreen SPF 30+ Lotion – “althete-engineered to be absorbed quickly and provide a broad spectrum protection”. I love the fact that it doesn’t feel greasy and doesn’t clog my pores like many of the “goose-grease” formulas I’ve tried.
If you’re skeptical about MISSION Skincare, you may be interested in the athletes who use and endorse the products. From a running perspective, none is more impressive than Charlie Engle – one of the world’s premier endurance athletes. The father of two has competed in over 200 marathons, triathlons and adventure races and in February of 2007, Charlie and his team became the first people to run across the entire Sahara Desert. They ran more than 42 miles per day for 111 days while crossing the most forbidding terrain on earth.
Other notable MISSION Skincare athletes include Serena Williams (tennis champion), Mia Hamm (Soccer Legend), Hunter Kemper (Pro Triathlete), Sarah Haskins (Pro Triathlete), Sergio Garcia (Pro Golfer) and Amanda Beard (Gold Medal Swimmer).
More information on the athletes and the range of MISSION Skincare products can be found at their corporate web site. If you’ve used, or about to use, any of the MISSION products, feel free to leave a comment at the bottom of this post….
By the way, if you’re a Twitter user, you can follow MISSION Skincare here.