Some people prefer to discuss it anonymously. “I’ve given up on sunscreen,” is one Reddit thread. Another reads, “Do you think it’s necessary to wear sunscreen every day?” A quick search reveals online message boards filled with endless streams of equally skeptical questions and comments about not just sunscreen’s efficacy, but if it will actually harm users: Do the chemicals in sunscreen ironically cause skin cancer? Sunscreen was invented in the ‘30s. Why aren’t there shockingly high numbers of skin cancer cases prior to then? Big Sunscreen is making us scared of the sun.
And it’s not just random, faceless internet users promoting an anti-sunscreen lifestyle; everyone from celebrities to podcasters to TikTok wellness influencers to some fringe doctors have begun to weigh in. Last winter Maria Menounos, the longtime TV host, posted a photo on her Instagram and Facebook page of her soaking up the sun, noting with pride she had no sunscreen on and didn’t believe in it. Andrew Huberman, an associate professor of neurobiology at Stanford’s School of Medicine turned podcaster, has, for example, commented several times that he is “as scared of sunscreen as I am of melanoma.” Kristin Cavallari says she prefers slathering on coconut oil.
