Does Your Guy Wear Sunscreen?

Heather Muir,Allure magazine

When my boyfriend and I recently opened his pool for the summer, he requested a sunscreen refill (ah, the perks of dating a beauty editor). I was more than happy to load him up, especially with a product of this much importance. But when I asked for his favorite, his pulled out a bottle of SPF 4-wait, it gets worse-oil. I went bananas.

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This obviously wasn't going to protect our skin all summer. (Thankfully, he also regularly wears a higher lever of sun protection in a sport-sunscreen form. Whew.) But his suncare habits made more sense after I read the study just released by the Skin Cancer Foundation and the makers of Banana Boat that reveals a gender divide in skin cancer awareness and prevention. Some alarming stats: 49 percent of men surveyed admitted that they haven't applied sunscreen in the past year. Say what? Equally as disturbing: 70 percent of men don't even know what skin cancer warning signs to look for and don't go see a dermatologist for annual skin checks. I plan on mailing Allure issues to every dude I know.

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So, ladies, help your guys out: Make sure they have a good, broad spectrum sunscreen on hand, that they put enough of it on and reapply frequently, and that they see a dermatologist regularly. Practice safe sun!

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