The beach - it's a place that most of us to go when it's hot outside to get a tan. If you're anything like me, you despise sunscreen with a passion and might even resort to telling it that it can't sit with you. Usually, I'm not one to wear sunscreen most of the time out of pure laziness. This time around at the beach, I've decided to try putting on some sunscreen to see if my skin would tan/react any differently than if I "forgot" to put anything on it.

What parts of my body went without sunscreen?

beer, water
Nancy Chen

When I went to Brighton Beach in Brooklyn on June 11th, 2017, I didn't apply sunscreen to at least half of my body. The "neglected" body parts included my back, chest, feet, my left leg, and my right arm. 

What happened at the beach?

coffee, water
Audrey Landau

When I was at the beach, I was laying on the sand for a solid hour and a half. I based what I was wearing off of the weather, yet I underestimated how hot it was actually going to be, yet realized that once I was already at the beach - so I guess you can say that I was partially screwed. 

Ultimately, I spent 45 minutes "tanning" my back and the back of my legs while the other 45 minutes were spent "tanning" the front of my legs, arms, hands, feet, and chest. 

The two main parts of my body that ended up turning into lobsters as a result of no sunscreen were my back and my right arm. One of the main differences between the two shades of red would be that my back is mostly red while my right arm is tan featuring hints of red. 

salt, water
Sunny Liu

Was my goal to get tan? Yes. Did I successfully reach it? Kind of. What I would recommend using for future references would be a tanning lotion sunscreen. The main reason being for this would be because not only will you be protecting your skin, but it'd also help you to get the tan that you want much quicker. 

Whatever you do, please just use sunscreen on your entire body - even if it's just SPF 4.