It all began with an innocuous Instagram post by a self-professed healer, teacher, and tantrika called metaphysicalmeagan (30.3k followers), about the wonders of tanning her erm, nether region.
Upon educating her followers about the wonders of this ‘ancient Taoist practice’ and branding the perineum (i.e., taint/crotch) the “Gate of Life and Death”, her post combusted when it was further shared on Twitter.
What eventually ensued had me in stitches, when Avengers star Josh Brolin picked up on the trend and tried it out himself, absolutely botching it and chronicling it in an expletive-filled Instagram rant about his sunburnt crotch.
Moral of this story: the sun is not your crotch’s best friend… or any other part of your body that is!
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The Dark Side of the Bright Side
It’s good to get a little bit of sun in our system because of the Vitamin D it gives us, but the line between adequate and overkill is very fine, as Josh Brolin probably found out the hard way.
While Vitamin D brings about a host of benefits like the regulation of calcium for healthy bones, metabolism and skin protection, and rejuvenation, getting it from the sun and crossing that very fine line can result in accelerated aging, hyperpigmentation and more serious cases, skin cancer.
A safer source of Vitamin D can come from fatty fish like tuna, mackerel or salmon, dairy products like soy milk and cheese, or even in some cleansing products you use for the face.
There is no need to expose your skin to the sun more than you should, with intention.
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You Can’t Hide from It, But You Can Help It
The sun – you can’t live with it, can’t live without it as well. In an especially sunny place like Singapore, you’re more likely to be overexposed to the sun than not.
I do not know what’s worse – a sunburnt crotch or premature aging, but it’s better to protect yourself from both.
While sunblock or sunscreen are the natural choices naturally for sun protection, there is something about sun protection products that you ought to know as well.
Contrary to popular advertising, sunscreen products with SPF factors of 100, do not exactly provide 100% protection for your skin.
Multiple studies have shown that protection is only capped at 30% at best. Sun protection products also only last a total of 2 hours, before reapplication is required.
Maybe Josh Brolin and his sunburnt crotch didn’t get THAT memo. Yikes.
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The Truest Form of Protection
The surest manner of sun protection needs to be a double-pronged approach: from the inside and outside.
A prime example of a product that supersedes the basic functions of sun protection products is the Gene Therapy (spoiler alert: it’s not even a sunblock or sunscreen product).
It is named precisely because it hits aging, photodamage and an assortment of skin problems where it hurts the most – the genes.
Being the reason why we look and age, this product is borne from Nobel-Prize winning research and contains special enzymes that repair or replace damaged DNA strands that may contribute to our damaged skin, giving it the kiss of youth and restoring it to its intended glory.
While doing all that on the inside, Gene Therapy also doubles up as a defensive shield from the sun and environmental stressors. All in a day’s work.
So Miss Metaphysicalmeagan believes in tanning her taint to feel alive and energized… but it evidently is not for everyone.
I’d opt for gene therapy, ANY DAY.
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