Stocking up on sunscreen is one of those rites of summer.

But selecting the most effective type seems to get more complicated every year.

Hair dye. Sunscreen. Band-Aids.

If you believe this week's medical news, the stuff in your bathroom cabinets may pose a substantial health risk. Or it may not. It's hard to tell with the mixed information we hear in the media.

As a sunburn-prone redhead, sunscreen buys me a ticket to vacation fun. Without slathering on a thick coating of SPF 45 I would be unable to leave the hotel room in a tropical locale for even one minute. I sometimes wonder what life would be like without sunscreen (would I be forced to trade my beach holidays for winter ski vacations?) and I also wonder if my trusted SPF is the solar panacea that it claims to be.

If you, like me, are a milky-white redhead who has an intimate relationship with aloe vera, you understand that it is just no fun to be baked by the sun. I've spent more money on SPF 45 than I care to remember and more miserable vacation nights unable to sit down because I had unknowingly sizzled my derriere. I've accepted the fact that a good chunk of my recreational beach budget will be given to the likes of Coppertone and Hawaiian Tropic, but I have not come to terms with the extensive list of chemicals that make up these coconut-scented potions. I want an effective (i.e. not thick like paste and able to withstand a light misting of sweat or water or lemonade) sunscreen that is also all-natural. Considering the fact that I practically have to swim in the stuff, safety seems like a fair request.