10 US States “Ban the Tan” – Will more follow with new FDA warning label?

In July, Hawaii became the 10th state to completely ban indoor tanning for minors, alongwith California, Texas Illinois, Nevada, Louisiana, Minnesota, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington.

“Earlier exposure to indoor tanning is associated with a greater risk for developing basal cell carcinoma at a young age,” said Margaret Karagas, director of the Children’s Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Research Center at Dartmouth University in Hanover, New Hampshire.

2014 also saw the FDA move tanning lamps into the category of “moderately harmful” medical devices.

According to Dr. Henry Lim, chairman of dermatology at Henry Ford Medical Center in Detroit, Michigan, and senior author of the review. “There is a lot of evidence that early and frequent use of tanning beds increases the risk of skin cancer.”

All sunlamps will have a “black box warning label” that say they shouldn’t be used by those under the age of 18.

The FDA guidelines will likely encourage more states to enact legislation. Already there are regulations in most states, such as requiring parental consent.

The new FDA regulations reinforce the recent studies that teens and young adults are particularly vulnerable to developing skin cancer if they use tanning beds

People who are exposed to tanning beds before the age of 35 years have a significantly higher risk of developing melanoma.

During the winter month folks often take to the tanning salon to extend a summer tan, get a ‘base tan’ for a winter vacation or because they think they will benefit from additional vitamin d

Unfortunately many people still think that tanned skin offers protection from future UV damage but this is simply not true and just encourages people to spend increased time in the sun without adequate protection believing that their ‘base tan’ is protecting them.

Tanning devices primarily emit UV-A light, which are the longer rays that cause cellular damage deeper in the skin tissue. It is this damage that can lead to skin cancer and wrinkles, additionally UVA is less effective at inducing skin to make vitamin D than UV-B, so there’s really no reason to use a tanning bed for a health benefit.

Additionally it has been found that the use of tanning beds can be addictive in the same way as a drug.

According to the American Academy of Dermatology some 30 million Americans use tanning beds each year, of which around 2 million are teenagers.

Young women are the most at-risk population for developing melanoma directly associated with the use of tanning beds girls

This holiday season skip the sunbed and embrace your pale perfection, but if you really can’t bear to be without a little gorgeous glow opt for a splash suntan spray.

Fda, skin cancer, melanoma, sunbed, tanning salon, tanning bed, indoor tanning, uva, uvb, uv rays, sun damage, basal cell sarcoma, spray tan, American Academy of Dermatology, vitamin D, tanning lamps

Why Mosquitoes Think You Are Extra Tasty & What You Can Do About It

On a couple of our camping trips this summer we were besieged by mosquitoes. I don’t think there was anyone who came away completely unmolested but some of us definitely seemed to be tastier that others, with a trip to hot humid bug haven Florida coming up I thought I’d look into what is it about me that makes me so appetizing and see if there is anything I can do to make myself less appealing.
I came up with some facts that really surprised me so I thought I’d share my findings
1. Breathing.
Mosquitoes detect carbon dioxide in the air, & can smell their dinner from an astonishing distance of 50 meters, once they get a whiff they fly in a zigzag pattern through the CO2 plume until they zero in the source. Cut down on exercise later in the day when mosquitoes are most active.
2. Movement
Mosquitoes first locate potential victims using their sight, the more you run around, the more mozzy attention you attract, they see you as a waiter waving them to a free table at your skin smorgasbord
3. Heat Skeeters are heat-seeking missiles. They can’t sense your body heat from a great distance, once they get within a few yards, your warmth will welcome them with open (bare) arms.
4. Body Odor the more you move the more you sweat and now you have added the sweet sweaty smell of lactic acid on your skin, a succulent sauce inviting your mozzy neighbors over for chow.
5. Lotion If you do decide to shower off, be careful you aren’t following your ablutions with lotion, containing “alpha hydroxy,” as this will return a hearty helping of luscious lactic acid right back on to your skin!.
6. Color of Clothing.
Mozzys like dark colors, especially blue. They spot hosts by comparing your silhouette to the horizon. Dark colors stand out, while light shades blend in, Now this really irks me, we always dress in dark clothing when camping, I really don’t want to see just how dusty and filthy we are!
7. Socks.
A tent reeking of stinky feet may be repellant to yours truly but Mosquitoes love smelly feet. In an experiment Entomologist Daniel L. Kline actually used 3-day-old dirty socks as a mosquito lure socks, the bacteria that grow on human feet proved irresistible to them.
8 Perfume.
Discerning skeeters are especially attracted to floral scents
9. Eat, drink and attract many!
Studies show people who’ve had a few beers, drank coffee or indulged in some strong smelling cheese tend to score the most mosquito bites. Beware the Limburger, this cheese is actually made with the same bacteria that makes your feet stink!
10. Dusk and Dawn mosquitoes usually feed at dawn and dusk when the wind tends to die down and the humidity rises.
So what to do?
A Mosquito bite could mean more than a few days of itching, for some people severe allergic reactions can follow a bite and not to mention that threat of mosquito-transmitted illnesses.
The West Nile virus appeared in the U.S. in 1999. In 2008 alone, the CDC reported 1,356 cases of West Nile throughout the U.S. and 44 deaths.
• DEET continues to be most popular chemical in repellents, Repellents with 23.8% DEET (most formulas contain 10% – 30%) protects for about 5 hours.
• Picaridin has proven to be as effective as DEET but is pleasanter to use as it is odorless. Picaridin is safe for children older than 2 months.
• Avon’s Skin-So-Soft, o has been marketed as a mosquito repellent in the U.S. Research shows it’s much less effective than DEET.
• DeckMate Mosquito Repellent, available as a paper strip, to be placed in outdoor areas like patios and decks. It can also be worn; it comes in a small container with a replaceable cartridge. Clip onto a belt or clothing, it relies on a battery-powered fan to release the mosquito repellent into the area, surrounding and protecting the wearer
Non Chemical-based Alternatives
If you want to avoid chemical-based repellents altogether try these.
• Oils — citronella, cedar, peppermint, lemongrass, and geranium — provide short-lived protection.
• Oil of eucalyptus products, may offer longer-lasting protection
• Repel – uses oil of lemon eucalyptus offers protection similar to low concentrations of DEET. Lemon eucalyptus is safe for children older than 3 years
• Don’t Bite Me! Skin patches containing thiamine (vitamin B1) produces skin odor female mosquitoes don’t like.
Bugs Be Gone
• Mosquito traps, work by emitting substances that biting mosquitoes find attractive — such as carbon dioxide, heat, moisture, then trap or kill female mosquitoes.
• Insect shield repellent apparel — clothing infused with the chemical insecticide permethrin.
• Find and eliminate standing water, clogged gutters, garbage cans, bird baths even the crevices of plastic toys are an ideal breeding ground for mosquitoes,

So there it is, I shall spend my evenings dressed in all white, (sorry I shan’t be able to help with cooking or doing anything dirty, I’ve gone from mozzie magnet to stain magnet) situate myself in front of a fan and lay quite still on the chaise lounge not breaking a sweat and resisting any cheesy appetizers.
Thankfully I didn’t read anything about mosquitoes having a fondness my favorite red liquid, which I will of course sip slowly!

TENNIS Sun Sleeve (Adult) - Sunny SleeveZ Store

TENNIS Sun Sleeve (Adult) - Sunny SleeveZ Store (clipped to polyvore.com)

TENNIS Sun Sleeve (Adult) - Sunny SleeveZ Store

TENNIS Sun Sleeve (Adult) - Sunny SleeveZ Store (clipped to polyvore.com)

solid color sun sleeves, sun protection sleeve, sun block, 50 spf

solid color sun sleeves, sun protection sleeve, sun block, 50 spf (clipped to polyvore.com)

Sunny Sleevez (test)

Sunny Sleevez (test) by morris-kim featuring a black t shirt

Hank Player black t shirt
bluefly.com

Zara pants
zara.com

Nutcase Bike Helmet Women's
rei.com

9,700.That’s how many American lives will be lost to melanoma this year. Take action for safer sunscreen ingredients!

It’s been 15 years since the Food and Drug Administration last approved a new general usage, over-the-counter sunscreen ingredient. With melanoma rates tripling over the last 35 years, it is unconscionable that the United States still does not have access to safe and effective ingredients that have been available for years in the European Union, Canada, Japan and Australia.

But we could finally be seeing real change in the sunscreen industry when the Senate votes on the Sunscreen Innovation Act this week. If passed, the act would set firm deadlines for the FDA to review and act on sunscreen ingredients that have been used safely and effectively in countries all over the world.

If you want to see real change at last in the sunscreen industry, your senator must hear from you today. This can’t wait.

Take action for safer sunscreen ingredients!

The federal Food and Drug Administration last approved a general usage, over-the-counter sunscreen ingredient in 1999, and six new ingredients – already used in sunscreens in Europe and other parts of the world – have been awaiting a decision for more than eight years.

The Sunscreen Innovation Act could be coming up for a vote in the Senate THIS WEEK. The bill aims to alleviate the FDA’s backlog by expediting reviews of promising sunscreen ingredients while ensuring that the agency has the authority to keep unsafe ingredients off the market. This would give consumers more, and safer, options.

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If you agree that consumers in the United States deserve access to the same ingredients used in sunscreens in the EU, Canada, Japan, and Australia, please tell your senator to support the Sunscreen Innovation Act today.

CLICK HERE to tell your senator to support the Sunscreen Innovation Act!

Heatwave for Southern California – Have a Sun Safe Weekend

Los Angeles, CA – The heat wave across Southern California will continue today amid temperatures in the high 90s and low 100s,

“An upper level ridge of high pressure will build over the area this weekend, setting the stage for an extended period of heat for Southwestern California,” the National Weather Service said in a statement. “Afternoon temperatures will begin to climb today and Saturday as the onshore flow will be very weak.”

Temperatures will be 15-20 degrees above normal for this time of year, NWS Meteorologist Joe Sirard said. What the NWS calls a “decent heat wave” began Thursday.

“There is going to be some triple-digit heat Friday into Saturday and more widespread on Sunday,” when some record or near-record highs are forecast, Sirard said.

Be sun smart

Get FREE SHIPPING thru 9/16 with code FREESHIP 50+UPF Sunny Sleevez – Slip them on in the sun, slide them off when your done!

• Avoid going out between 11am-4pm
• Seek shade
• Drink plenty of water and not alcohol or coffee.
• Avoid strenuous activities when it’s hot.
• Wear sun hat, sun glasses, sun protective clothing
• Use broad spectrum sun screen on exposed skin
• Do not leave children or pets unattended in vehicles, which can quickly turn into virtual ovens.
• Provide pets with plenty of shade and water.

Can Frequent Flying Raise Melanoma Risk?

Airline pilots and cabin crews appear to develop melanoma at significantly higher rates, when compared with the general population, a new evaluation of previously conducted studies shows.

The lead author of the new analysis, Dr. Susana Ortiz-Urda, co-director of the UCSF Melanoma Center at the University of California, San Francisco and colleagues combined the results of 19 studies that tracked pilots & flight crews from the 1940s until 2008. The studies mostly examined European countries, especially those in Scandinavia, with onlyfive studies looking at crews in the United States.

What is not clear is if the increased risk comes from exposure to higher levels of UVA through the airplanes glass window or if airplane crews are experiencing higher levels of sun exposure on the ground when sunbathing between flights.

Dr. Susana Ortiz-Urda, co-director of the UCSF Melanoma Center at the University of California, San Francisco, believes this new analysis to be “very worrisome.” She wants airlines to change their windows to give greater protection against in particular the UVA rays of the sun which are significantly stronger at higher altitudes.

Melanoma can also be deadly; around 10,000 people will die of melanoma in 2014.

There is significantly increased exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation at higher altitudes. “At 9000 meters [about 30,000 feet], where most commercial aircraft fly, the UV level is approximately twice that of the ground,” researcher said.

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A Federal Aviation Administration report shows that windshields block almost all of the UVB rays from the sun, but glass windshields allow as much as 54 percent of UVA rays through. Both UVB and UVA have been shown to cause damage to the DNA in cells, which can lead to skin cancer.

The new analysis was published in the Sept. 3 online edition of the journal JAMA Dermatology.

Could the Cure for Cancer be Found in the Cat Box?

According to recent reports there is a bacteria inside the digestive tract of felines (house cats) that loves to eat cancer cells.

T. gondiiis a single-celled parasite that is most often found in a cat’s intestines, but it can live in any warm-blooded animal.

“We know biologically this parasite has figured out how to stimulate the immune responses you want to fight cancer,” said David J. Bzik, PhD, a professor of microbiology and immunology at Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth.

The way it works is cancer can shut down the body’s defensive mechanisms, but introducing T. gondii into a tumor environment can kick-start the immune system.

Bzik and senior research associate of microbiology and immunology Barbara Fox, created “cps,” an immunotherapeutic vaccine, as a safer alternative to injecting a cancer patient with the much more dangerous live replicating strains of T. gondii,.

Using “cps” to treat mouse models for melanoma, the study published by Geisel School of Medicine, shows unprecedented high rates of melanoma.

While this research is preliminary there is hope that this might lead to more effective treatment for skin cancer in the next few years.

Meanwhile stay sun safe during hot summer months when the sun is strongest.

50+UPF Sunny Sleevez

• Seek shade from 10-4 in summer,

• Cover up with UPF clothing,
• Remember hat, sun glasses and broad-spectrum sunscreen on exposed skin

Wondering How To Choose The Best Size Sunny Sleevez? Check This Helpful Video Guide To Measuring Correctly

Watch this short video to learn how to measure your arm for the best fitting sun sleeves, how to put on Sunny Sleevez and how to use the adjustable band for the best sun protection.

Sun Protection Video

The sun that gives us life… can also be a SNEAKY killer. While we are having fun in the sun,
it is also silently causing damage through UV rays. Protect yourself with Sunny Sleevez—our stylish answer to sticky sun block and nasty sunburns.

Our  sun protection arm covers block 98% of all UV rays.
Easy to slip on, this super lightweight, breathable,  eco-friendly 50+UPF fabric will protect your arms from the sun instantly!

Featuring an adjustable upper arm band, all Sleevez are available either with top-of-hand-cover (Classic, NOT shown in the video) or without hand cover (Skate, as shown in the video).

Sizes for babies, kids and adults.
Wear them while exercising, golfing, gardening, or even driving.

Pack them in your kids lunch box for sunny afternoons
                                                                                                                                                                           SunnySleevez.com

The sun sleeves shown are Skate style (no hand cover) – Tribal design, many other colors and designs available.

With Sunny Sleevez, you never have to be afraid of the sun again!

2014 Cobra Puma Junior Golf WORLD CHAMPION shows she is sun-savvy in her Sunny Sleevez!

 

Congratulations to Chloe, we are so thrilled to be shielding the arms of such a sun smart young golfer!

My kids spent much of the summer vacation reading the shade or going for a swim but for first grader Chloe Viray she was hard at work in the blazing sun.

Playing in temperatures when most of us want to do nothing more energetic that lift an ice cold beverage, Chloe became the 2014 Cobra Puma Junior Golf WORLD CHAMPION!

She played at The PGA West, Greg Norman Course in the La Quinta Resort. The temperature during the scorching 3 day tournament was 115 degrees!

Use discount code LABORDAY and get 25% OFF all Sun Protection Accessories thru 9/2/2014 50+UPF Sunny Sleevez – Slip them on in the sun, slide them off when your done!

Said her rightfully proud dad Wally “She wore her Sleevez and it protected her and kept her arms very cool against the blistering heat. It helped keep her focus on her game and helped her become the 2014 Cobra Puma Junior Golf World Champion. Your Sleevez have been a part of her success."                                                                                                                                                                                                                       SunnySleevez.com

Pictured above she was featured in FORE Magazine and the Southland Golf Magazine.

Summer’s Not Over! Try Adding Sun Protection To Your Breakfast

School used to start after labor day, this year it was the second week of August!  The transition from summer hols to school has been a tough one, but one way we found to ease into the day has been a delicious, slurp in the car, breakfast smoothie.

Knowing the kids are going to be on the playground in the middle of the day in the blazing sun I figure if I start their day with a tummy full of skin protecting and repairing antioxidants, as well as some brain fueling omega 3s they are off to a good start.

Every day the smoothie is a little different but I try to include some of these 2 groups along with whatever fruit and veg is on hand.

Skin Savers:

• ½ cup fresh or frozen spinach
• ½ cup dark leaf salad
• 1 small cup brewed green tea (antioxidants)

Brain Food:

• Walnuts
• Ground flaxmeal
• Avocado

Smoothie Basics

• 1 tsp raw cocoa nibs (great source of magnesium + calcium, iron, copper, zinc and potassium)
• 1 tbsp cashew/peanut/almond butter
• ½ banana (fronzen in chunks)
• ½ cup fresh or frozen strawberries/blueberries/raspberries
• ½ apple ½ peach
• Almond milk or apple juice to tasteAdditional items I might throw in
• 1 carrot
• ½ stick celery
• ¼ sweet bell pepper (make sure you don’t add any spicy seeds)
• 1 tsp green food powder

How To Safely Keep Ants Off Your Hammock and Keep Them Off!

Ahhhhhhh I hate ANTS! After a long day of gardening and putting up a shade sail over the hammock I flumped into it for a well deserved rest.

Then promptly leaped back out of it as a wave of  ants swarmed over my skin!

After a shower and change of clothes I came back to inspect and found the hammock was indeed swarming. The colony seemed to be under the impression that I had thoughtfully erected an ant superhighway to allow the little beasts to cross from one tree to the next without the inconvenience of walking all the way down to the ground.

Now up with this I will not put but what to to? I don’t want to start sprinkling chemicals or poisons around where the animals and children will be, nor do i want to spray anything where we will be breathing.

Solution

1) Dryer sheets! I tied a couple around the ropes at each end of the hammock, this didn’t stop them straight away but they clearly didn’t like them and many where hesitant to walk across them. Ants communicate through smell so I’m guessing the scent was confusing or maybe it’s the waxy feeling they don’t like. Whichever it was the upshot was that within an hour of tying on the dryer sheets there was a reduction by about 80%, but I’m an only child, I do not like to share!

2) Diatomaceous earth  I sprinkled a little into the folds of the outer dryer sheets, diatomaceous earth is very bad for creatures with exoskeletons, (see more here non-toxic-way-to-rid-your-home-of-insects-and-spiders/)

RESULTS

24 hours later  - 0 ants in the hammock! 

They have rerouted themselves across the top of the shade, which is just fine with me.  It’s been over a week since the ant attack and so far I have not had to share my hammock with anyone, of course that may be because it  slipped my mind to tell the children I successfully got rid of the ants!

Do you have any great chemical-free tips for getting rid of ants or other bugs?

How Much Sunscreen Should You Apply? Check Out This Handy Graphic

Remember most sunscreens need to be applied 20-30 minutes BEFORE going out in the sun, that’s how long it takes for them to START working.

Sunscreen must be reapplied EVERY 2 hours, more often after swimming, sweating or Toweling off

KILL WEEDS with Ingredients From Your Kitchen- It’s Easy, Fast and Cheap!

Weeds are a time and water consuming pest, if like me, you are fed up with them always showing up in the wrong place but you don’t want to add to ground water pollution give these low toxic homemade herbicides a try instead of their more toxic chemical versions.

Many common weeds can be used as either food (dandelion leaves as salad greens), medicine (daisy for a sore muscles and headaches) but all of them are unwanted. Using a more environmentally friendly herbicide reduces the risk to you, your kids and pets.

Strong chemical herbicides, pesticides, and fungicides can end up polluting our groundwater, and get into storm drain run over that goes straight unfiltered to the ocean.

Hands down the lowest impact on the environment is to pull them up and be sure to dig out the roots. Which is fine for the odd one or two but it can be hugely time consuming and frankly a pain the in the bum!

For a quick, cheap way to effectively get rid of weeds, give these homemade herbicides a try.

[NOTE. 'natural' or homemade does not mean that they are completely safe for your soil, or you. Keep in mind something designed to kill weeds will likely kill any other plants it comes in contact, and they may cause human injuries if misused.]

COOK ‘EM:

This is by far the easiest and safest, as long s you can manage not to spill it on yourself/kids/pets! 

So fill the kettle, bring to the boil pour it over the leaves and stems of the weeds, this is particularly effective for those pesky weeds in sidewalks or driveway cracks. You can also do this over a large area that you’d like to replant after you have got rid of all weeds as nothing is left behind to harm new planting.

SEASON ‘EM

Common table salt is an effective herbicide as is white vinegar, and citrus oils, but salt & vinegar can have a detrimental effect in the soil so that nothing will grow after. It can also discolor cement so keep well away from paths and walkways.

We use regular white vinegar sold in the supermarket is 5% acetic acid, this usually works on most weeds, there is a stronger version available in many garden supply stores but this can also be harmful to skin, lungs eyes so we steer clear of that.

Cover or tie back the leaves of all plants not to be sprayed.

• Dissolve 1 cup salt in 1 gallon of vinegar
• A few squirts of liquid dish soap (helps to stick to leaf surfaces)
• Few drops of citrus or clove oil (smells nice too)
• Add to spray bottle.

DO NOT SOAK SOIL

Multiple applications may be necessary.

LET THE MULE DO THE DONKEY WORK:

Borax, which is sold as a laundry and cleaning product in many grocery stores, can be an effective herbicide.

Cover or tie back the leaves of all plants not to be sprayed.

• dissolve 10 ounces powdered borax in 2.5 gallons water,
• Add to sprayer, coat leaves weeds.
• Avoid contact with bare skin.

DO NOT SOAK SOIL

Multiple applications may be necessary.

If you've been fighting with unwanted weeds in your yard, what other homemade herbicides have you found to be most useful?

Summer Vacation – Build a PVC Pipe Bike Rack With The Kids

The bikes and scooters were driving me bonkers, left all over the yard and garage. I love things we can make from stuff we already have and we have loads of bits of PVC pipe lurking around from our various irrigation efforts. We already have pipe cutters but we did need a couple of the longer long pieces, new glue  and some of the fittings.

Because we already had a lot of the materiels I only spent about $10 but even if you have to buy it all I think it would come in for around $20.

After a trip to Home Depot followed by a lot of very silly pipe related improve, our splendid new bicycle rack was created.

If you have bikes of different sizes and not a lot of space you can vary the distance between the wheel supports

Materials Needed:

• 50′ - 3/4″ Schedule 4o PVC pipe I bought 5×10’
• 20 T-connectors.  I bought a contractors pack of 25
• 14 – 90-degree elbow connectors (elbows). Another contractors pack
• PVC pipe cement (optional)
• PVC pipe cutter or small-toothed handsaw.
• Measuring tape or ruler
• Sharpie
• Spray paint (if you want to color coordinate)

Cut List for PVC pipe:

• (8) – 12″ pieces
• (2) – 23 1/8″ pieces
• (20) – 16″ pieces
• (14 )- 2″ pieces

The kids had fun measuring, the big’un was in charge of the pipe cutter and the little one was in charge of the sharpie .

Cut all the big pieces first, and use the leftover pieces of PVC for your smaller cuts.  Once you have everything cut do a dry run and get everything to fit together before gluing . It should take 5 mins to assemble but the kids were ‘helping’ and loved the pieces of pipe so much they had to build all sorts of other stuff with the pieces first!

I glued some of the pieces together for added stability but left some able to pop apart, so I could change the size as need and make it portable for camping trips (no more bikes dumped on the ground), or you could fit it in the back of a pick up to store bikes.

Have you built anything with PVC ? I’d love to hear your ideas.

Uh oh – Bad Idea Ellen

I like Ellen, I like her show but I just saw this invitation on the show’s website and think it really sends the wrong message.

“Send Us Your Bad Sunburn Photos!” I know this is meant in the spirit of fun but I think it inadvertently encourages people to actually go out and get strange looking sunburns in order to send in a photo and have it possibly appear on national TV.

People make enough bad choices regarding sun protection they don’t need any more encouragement.

I’ve had sunburns, lots of them, really bad ones. They were miserable not funny and have left me with a fear of the long term damage that may show up at any time.

In fairness the request goes on to say ” … Just don’t forget the sunscreen! If you did, and you have the bad sunburn to prove it, we want to see the funny photos.” but I’m sure there are some people who will see this and think it’s a challenge!

What do you think; do you think it encourages stupid-sunburn-selfies?

UPDATE – WELL DONE ELLEN! The link has been REMOVED

It’s not that we don’t have a sense of humor, we love pictures of misspelled tattoos, auto correct fails, bad facebook status updates etc. With so many people still unaware of the dangers of sunburn we’re glad to see Ellen isn’t encouraging silly-sunburn-snaps.

We’d love to see segment on Stylish-Sungear…