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Lifestyle

I Went Halfsies With my Sunscreen at the Beach – Here’s What Happened

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?

Detox water beer
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?

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. 

depression during summer 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. 

Liz is a 25-year-old freelance writer that's based in Brooklyn, New York with her foster cat, Leif. Liz has received her start in the media world at Spoon University, and has acquired over 3.8 million views on her Spoon articles alone with millions more views on her syndicated content while finding her appreciation for consuming and producing branded content. Liz also has her articles syndicated on Business Insider, Insider, MSN, and Teen Vogue in addition to having her most popular article cited by Elite Daily. Liz has also contributed to YourTango and Entrepreneur.When Liz isn't writing, Liz is probably listening to music, walking around aimlessly like the hot mess that she is, cuddling with her cat, consuming new food dishes and drinks, at an event, at therapy with her one and only therapist that she absolutely adores, at an appointment with someone from her medical team, making up random dance moves in her bedroom, or figuring out what to do with herself. Liz's favorite cheese is feta and a pet peeve of hers is when people don't use the word "simultaneously" in the right manner.To get in touch with Liz, she can be reached at itslizab@gmail.com, @astrrisk on Instagram, and on LinkedIn. Liz is always down to be invited to an event or to talk about food, booze, and mental health. Liz's pronouns are she/her/hers.Please be patient when getting in touch with Liz - she probably is unaware as to what day it is, and might be dancing for her therapist.... to the Macarena, of course.