I live in a very hot country where skin cancer is almost the norm. I never go out without sunscreen on my face, neck and arms. The rest of my body I usually cover up during the day. I also wear a hat and sometimes gloves when I am driving. I am extremely aware of the dangers of prolonged sun exposure and spend at least $100 every month on sun protection. How are things where you live?
I don't necessarily spend a ton of money on sun protection BUT I make sure I get the best products for sun protection since I'm an avid retin a user so I need to make sure I always have PERFECT sun protection. I buy shiseido's sunscreen products because I think they're the best in the business. Of course they're expensive but I don't buy them because they're expensive. I spend a lot of money because for some reason, the best sunscreen products also tend to be more pricey.
I don't spend much money on it at all. I use essential oils in a carrier oil, and it keeps me from burning. I use lavender and helicrysm mixed with fractured coconut oil and roll it on. I am VERY sensitive to the sun, fair skin, blue eyes and red hair. So if anything natural was going to work, it would be me that would know. lol. I never burn anymore, plus, I don't have to use stuff that I can't know what it is in it.
$100 a month is a lot to spend on sunscreen. Even the full SPF 60 for children which tends to get a lot of use when small kids are around doesn't cost that much to maintain a supply. A bottle of decent screen can run upwards of $15.00 here but I would only use 2 to 3 bottles in a season and they would be more likely half used and just kept at different locations. I don't like to just bake in the sun so my arms, legs and face get exposure but I generally have a shirt on unless I am swimming so I have less flesh to cover. For me, I can get away with a combination of 15 or 30spf depending on what I am doing. I feel the key is to not burn rather than to be completely pale.
Since I hate the beach and being under the sun in general, I have never spent any money on sunscreen at all. I live in a tropical country, but since I avoid the sun as much as possible, I don't think I will get sun related diseases such as skin cancer.
I also live in a very hot place, and like you I also cover my whole body almost all day, during the time when the sun is still up. I also don't go out without me wearing a sunblock on my face. And sunblocks are pretty expensive, and you must apply them generously throughout your skin. So spend like $50 dollars a month. It's not yet enough, but I don't have any more money to extend my budget to $100.
This is so awful of me, oh my god, but I spend nothing on sun protection. I never put any sun screen on for the entire summer. Mostly because the only times I'm in the sun is when I'm driving to work and on the walk to work. I work indoors, so I'm not outside all that often. Also, our summers have been getting hotter and hotter (It used to be in the 70's and 80's at the very hottest, and it was considered a dangerous heat wave it got to 90. Now, it's regularly in the 80's and 90's.) so I try to spend more time indoors where there's my nice cool a/c. I did recently get a bottle of sun screen as a sun damage awareness kit that was given to me, so I might try putting on sun screen this year... (I do have a giant bottle of aloe vera gel though, haha.)
I probably spend about $100/month on sun protection, but a lot of that is because my face sunscreen is $65 for a tiny bottle. For my body I tend to use Neutrogena, but I am starting to look for other brands that offer more of a physical sunblock as opposed to the chemical that Neutrogena offers. I use a L'occitane sunscreen on my face and it's really expensive for not even a few ounces but it has never caused me to break out and I never get a sunburn when I use it. I sometimes use Neutrogena dry touch on my face, but only if I'm out of my L'occitane. I have extremely pale skin so I need to wear sunscreen everyday, even if I will not be out in the sun for a prolonged period of time.
I also live in a hot country, but I don't have a habit of using sunscreen on my body... I'm always indoor, which I know also requires protection but I only ever wear sunscreen on my face and neck. I usually use tinted moisturizer with SPF 30, or regular moisturizer with SPF. I never buy the actual sunscreen separately.
