I’ve had this ridiculous hat for about 18 months now. I’m not a hat person. Never have been. If I wear a hat; I end up with dreaded hat hair. Hair that’s stuck to my head like a helmet. And speaking of helmets, when I wear my riding helmet, the situation is beyond despair. My hair looks like a pathetic drowned rat.

But in New Zealand the sun is VERY strong. So that means strong levels of ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Every single day, even cloudy or Wintery days, I slap on the sunscreen. My favourite for arms, legs, neck and chest is Oasis Sun SPF30+. I’ve talked about this sunscreen before – it has no nasty chemicals or nano-particles and is great for sensitive skin. The Oasis Beauty range was actually started by a woman from Oxford. I can’t tell you how many tubes of this sunscreen I’ve been through. And they’re well-travelled having accompanied me to Italy, Malaysia, Thailand and Australia.

For the face, I prefer to go with higher sun protection. My favourite sunscreens are from Neutrogena and I usually slap on their Spectrum+ Face Advanced Sunblock Lotion SPF 100+. It has some fancy ingredient called Helioplex360™ technology. What the? No idea. But I like this sunblock as it’s oil free and light-weight.

And then there’s the hat. It’s a floppy white thing with some tropical Hawaiian-looking pattern on the brim. I think it looks ridiculous but it sure protects my face and back of the neck. The white part of the hat is looking a little muddy and dirty these days. And yep, hat hair is a hazard but that’s better than risking skin cancer, especially with my pasty white complexion.

Yep, looks ridiculous but it protects.