Sunscreen Soap 10 SPF

No one wants skin cancer. But if lighter-skinned people avoid the sun, there's vitamin D deficiency. What to do? There's inspection: a mnemonic—ABCDE—for the five guidelines used to evaluate whether a pigmentation variation is a mole or a menace we must have checked.

Assymmetricality Border variations Color (uneven in shade or tone) Diameter (over six mm) and whether or not it's 'Evolving' (nice euphemism on that one—‘If you can see it grow, let them know.')

It's never occurred to me to use a tanning bed, one of the most fundamentally ironic fashion devices imaginable in a fundamentally racist society. Then again, human culture appears to inevitably contain prejudice; it's just a matter of whom, based on which characteristics, at what time. As Caucasian North American residents pay money to expose themselves to unhealthy UVA radiation, others all over the globe adhere to colonial standards by shelling out for skin lighteners. The mind boggles.

Fortunately, some things are simpler: in addition to inspection, there's prevention. If you have pale skin, avoid skin cancer by staying out of tanning booths, out of the sun, and using sunscreen. A convenient sunscreen product is now manufactured by Bethesda. Their soap contains aloe vera, chlorophyll, healing balm of Gilead (any reference to 'Gilead' always reminds me Offred's subversive 'Bomb in Gilead' conversation in The Handmaid's Tale), and glycerin. Initial use indicates that it is non-sudsing and lightly scented. Bethesda also intends to offer mineral veil, oatmeal, multi-vitamin, rosemary, carrot, and fragrant vanilla soaps. Watch their site, and watch those moles.

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