three woman laugh while they walk down the street. The middle woman strikes a Michael Jackson pose with a single white glove.

Sun Protection Gloves Have a Mind of Their Own

If you use hair ties, you might have the same problem with them that I have. They seem to disappear. As many times as I buy a colorful package of them, my collection goes down to one and I start all over again. As soon as I buy a new package, the old ones reappear.

There might be a creature who goes around stealing them along with socks and other wayward items.

Wayward sun protection gloves

Why am I talking about hair ties on a skin cancer site? Because my problem with hair ties is similar to my problem with sun protection gloves. A mysterious power seems to move them around. Either that, or I’m absent-minded.

I lose a glove, I buy a new pair, and then I find the old ones. At least the hair ties are interchangeable. At times I have ended up with two gloves for one hand and none for the other. Sometimes they’re around the house and I have grabbed two for the left, or two for the right, when rushing off to tennis. A while back, when taking a walk with my kids on a sunny day, I realized I had two for one hand and turned one backside front to wear on the other hand. I asked if I looked silly and one said it didn't matter.

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A missing glove

The other day I laid out a nice clean pair. But when I looked in my tennis bag I only had one for the left hand. Note to self: They only work if you take them with you. I slathered sunscreen on the exposed right hand and wore the glove on the left.

An observer might have thought I was trying to imitate Michael Jackson, who wore his famous sequined glove on his left hand, but really I had just forgotten the right glove.

Like hair ties, they disappear and reappear around my house, in my car, or in my tennis bag. It’s almost as though they have a mind of their own. Right now I am looking at a counter under my window. A coaster is on the counter. A single glove is on top of the coaster. I just have no idea how it landed there. You might be thinking, “Why doesn’t she move it?” I will...eventually.

My initial search

Before I got my first pair, I had no idea that sun protection gloves were a thing. The tops of my hands were getting sun damaged, due to all my outside activities, and I thought gloves would be a good idea. I had biking gloves, but not gloves for tennis, running, or walking. Just out of curiosity, I did a search for fingerless sun protection gloves, and voila, they were a thing after all.

In 54 seconds, 1,060,000 results came up.

The purchase was worth it

I have a few pairs now. I got my first pair from Coolibar. Later, when searching for a more breathable sun protection shirt than the one I had gotten from Coolibar, I discovered Solbari and bought a shirt from the Australian company. Next I got a pair of gloves from them. I also bought a pair of sleeves to protect my arms when I’m driving. The gloves don’t vary in comfort like shirts do, but it is good to have some extra pairs around.

Because, as I said, they come and go like the hair ties do.

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