Sunscreen, my arch nemesis, we meet again!

For those of you who know me IRL, you know that I'm allergic to sunscreen. Yep. Sunscreen. Which poses a problem for me, since I live in FL—the Sunshine State, and I'm about to move to HI, where it's sunny year-round. I used to not be allergic, but it all changed when I hit puberty. Stupid hormone changes didn't just give me acne, it also gave me this allergy. (Mother nature competed the trifecta when she handed me my period, too. Thanks, MN.)


The first time I found this out, I was laying out in my backyard and I slathered on the sunscreen. I took a nap afterwards and I woke up to gigantic welts of hives all over and my face had swollen up so much that even my eyelids were puffy! Not a good look for a teenager. Needless to say, no more sunscreen for me. 


So I've gone without. 


I know. SO BAD! Especially since I love being brown. I feel better when I'm tan. It's in my DNA. I'm just glad I'm not fair-skinned. But seriously. I thought no sunscreen was no big deal. Until my very first trip to HI...

So this was me when I first got there that week. It was our first day and we decided to hike Diamond Head. In the middle of the day. Not a big deal. It wasn't at all humid in HI like it is in FL. (Hiking ANYTHING in the middle of the day in FL constitutes suicide!) So yeah... this was me during the last leg of our week-long trip...

Notice how the tiki and I basically have the same complexion? Yah, that was mainly from the Diamond Head hike. Yep. No sunscreen = terra cotta hazelwea.


So I'm prepping for my trip in two weeks. The hubs already has hiking, snorkeling, beaching and more hiking (Diamond Head again, prob) on our itinerary. Sun, sun, sun, and more sun. Like whoa. But I say, bring it! 'Cause I finally found my saving grace!

Neutrogena Pure & Free Baby, where have you been all my life? (Or at least since my early teens?) I don't even know why I never thought to try out sunscreen for babies before now. So I thank my friend in NC who bought this for her cutie patootie baby and let me test it on myself. No hives for me! And no skin cancer, either. 


Have you ever been allergic to something ordinary, too?