[McAlpine5892]

Sunscreen is, overall, a terrible experience. Five or six years ago I started getting into sun-protective clothing after running into issues with vitiligo. Clothing is vastly superior from every angle.

1. It’s easy to apply. Slip a sun hoodie over the head - protected.

2. Because it’s so easy to apply it always goes on when needed.

3. It’s impossible to miss spots or under-apply in certain areas. If fabric covers the skin, you’re solid.

4. This is subjective but it’s more comfortable. On a sunny 90F day with a high UV, direct sun on skin feels like sticking your hand on a hot skillet.

My fun fact for all this is that the Bedouins wear black robes in the desert heat. Not white. It’s counterintuitively cooler for the wearer [0]. Sunscreen is a great modern invention with its use cases, but humans have been wearing clothing for eons to ward off the sun for a reason. The only real downside is that you may look a bit silly when everyone else is lathered in sunscreen wearing very little clothing.

[0] https://www.nature.com/articles/283373a0.pdf