blister in the sun

It's time to buy new sunscreen again. I recently went to a nearby drugstore and earned a somewhat strange look from the clerk because, after she informed me they no longer carried the sunscreen I used last year (Kiss My Face...and it smelled so good), I told her I was looking for a physical blocker -- zinc oxide or titanium dioxide. She looked at me like I was stepping out of a different era and told me, 'Well, they're not really making those anymore.' I left without buying any new sunscreen (we're using up some Waterbabies we have here at home) and without asking, 'Who exactly is 'they'?'

As far as I can tell (I've done very little reading on this since that day about a month ago), there are still companies making sunscreen with physical blockers. Am I living in my very own little out-of-touch world?

Anyhow, I've decided to order some of this online. It's TruKids Sunny Days SPF 30 sunscreen. I always use Pic's sunscreen anyway, so we'll share. This contains titanium dioxide. The reviews I've read are very positive. I might go check out Whole Foods, though, to see if they carry the Kiss My Face line and if I still want to go that route.

I know that I seem to obsess about weird things, but I'm a lifetime sunscreen junkie. When your skin is as pale and burn-inviting as mine is, you just have to be (or, stay inside during all daylight hours but I'm incapable of that). I'm hoping to get Pic hooked on sunscreen also. We're both still working on Cardo. I think I've finally convinced him that it doesn't matter how dark his skin is, he still needs to wear sunscreen. However, I haven't yet actually convinced him to actually slather the stuff on. I do worry about the random ingredients in sunscreen and how the lotion itself could be potentially harmful, but I consider it a necessary product.

As I know I've mentioned here before, I have a perhaps exaggerated fear of one day being diagnosed with cancer. I try to take care against this happening, but I'm frustrated (and frightened) to know that at some point, it doesn't matter what I do because cancer is something we face and develop and die from. I'll not dwell on this thought here, though.

So, what about you guys -- what sunscreens are you using? Does anyone obsess about this as much as I do? (Probably not, I know.)

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Oh, one more note: Earth Day Festival this Sunday at Idlewild park. Earth Day is one of the few days I celebrate, so we plan on being there. I don't think we'll be there long enough for the worm-bucket composting presentation, though, which makes me a little blue.

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[Violent Femmes and John Cusack...ah.]