Help me get ready for the beach

[Guest guest]

Hey gang,

In my ongoing efforts to lead a less toxic and xenoestrogenic life, I

need advice on sunscreens and I also have a question on allergy

remedies while I have your attention.

I'm planning a beach mini-vacation at the end of May in the Gulf, ie,

very sunny. I'm very, very white and sunburn within minutes. Last

year, I got a bad sunburn on day two of seven days and it was really

miserable for the rest of the week. Over the next few weeks, I'll be

going outside a lot and will try to build up a tan. Previous

attempts at tanning have been disappointing. Does anyone know of a

good way enhance tanning (besides a tanning bed) – either supplement,

vitamin, or skin cream? This just reminded me of the Seinfield

episode where Kramer spreads butter all over himself while sun

bathing, and then " overcooks " .

And, if my efforts fail and I don't look like a Tahitian native by

the end of May, what's a good sunscreen or sunscreen alternative? I

sure hope natural sunscreens work better than natural deodorants! NT

(I think?) said cod liver oil, but I don't want to smell like cod

liver oil (I can just imagine the pack of dogs following me around –

and the flies) and I don't think I could afford to use it as a

sunscreen, anyway. What is it about the cod liver oil that makes it

a good sun screen – the vitamin D? Maybe lard would work?

And my allergy question: last year when I got the sunburn, I was

learning to surf, I ended up with my face in the water, a lot. Later

that day (same day I got the bad sunburn), I noticed the area under

my eyes swelling. One swelled out way more than the other. It

didn't look like pink eye or a clogged tear duct, because I could get

both eyes to tear. It didn't hurt and the white of my eye wasn't red

at all, but looked really bad. Everyone who commented on it (which

included my family, waiters, convenient store clerks, other tourists)

all thought it was some kind of allergic reaction to something in the

water. I don't have any other allergies and benadryl (sp) didn't

help. It went away on it's own after about 4 days. Also, this was

my first experience with salt water, and I don't have much other

data. So, has anyone ever had something like that and figured out

what it was, and if it is an allergic reaction does someone know of

some kind of remedy that I could bring that might help if it happens

again?

TIA, and my travel companions will be forever indebted to you all if

you help keep me from getting a sunburn this year because I'm kind of

unpleasant when I'm burnt.

Betsy