One attempt, and when it happens
The single application you get needs three conditions, and the ordinary sequence of getting ready destroys all three if you leave it too late.
Dry skin. Once you have carried a board across wet sand, or been rained on, or started sweating in a suit, the surface is compromised.
Dry hands. The moment your hands are wet or sandy, application becomes smearing.
Before the wetsuit. Both because you need access to your neck and because pulling neoprene over a fresh application immediately removes some of it.
Which means the right moment is early: at the van, before the suit, before the walk down. Not on the sand at the water's edge with your board under your arm, which is when most people remember.
Use a fixed order, not attention
Coverage failures are not knowledge failures. Nobody thinks their ears do not need covering. They get skipped because the person was in a hurry, thinking about the waves, and the small fiddly things dropped off.
A fixed order fixes that, because it removes the need to decide anything. Run the same sequence every time until it is automatic, and the fiddly items happen without being remembered.
A sequence that covers what gets skipped: forehead and into the hairline, temples, nose including the underside of the nostrils, cheekbones, the strip under the nose, the upper and lower lip, the jawline, under the chin, both ears including the rim and behind, the back of the neck if nothing covers it, the backs of the hands, and the tops of the feet if they are bare.
The order matters less than having one. What matters is that the small items appear in it by name.
| Area | Why it gets skipped | Better answer |
|---|---|---|
| Ears, rim and behind | Small, awkward, you cannot see them | Name them in the fixed order |
| Underside of the nose | Shaded on land, so habit says skip | Name it. Reflection reaches it on water |
| Jaw and under the chin | Feels like an odd place to apply | A high necked garment, which the collar cannot abrade |
| Hairline and temples | Falls between headwear and application | Go up to and into the hairline |
| Backs of the hands | Nobody thinks of them | Name them, or wear gloves longer into spring |
| Tops of the feet | Nobody thinks of them | Name them, or keep boots on longer |
| Lower back | Only exposed when a top rides up | A longer cut of top |
| Back of the neck | Cannot reach it or see it | A high neck or a cap with a flap |
Working framework of this manual. It is not a measurement, it is not drawn from any study, and it carries no numbers we cannot source.
The areas people skip, and why
Ears. Small, awkward, invisible to you. Covered in ears.
The underside of the nose and the strip above the lip. On land these are shaded, so a lifetime of habit says skip them. On water, reflection reaches them directly.
The jaw and under the chin. Same reason, plus they feel like a strange place to apply to. And they are abraded by the collar anyway, which is why a high neck is better than an application here.
The hairline. Falls between headwear and application, so it gets neither. Go up to and slightly into it.
The backs of the hands. Facing the sky on every stroke, and almost nobody does them.
The tops of the feet. Facing upward whenever you sit, and always a surprise when they burn.
The lower back. Where a top rides up. Easier to solve with a longer garment.
Quantity, and the thing nobody does
Guidance from public health bodies is consistent that most people apply considerably less than the amount products are tested at, and that under application reduces the protection achieved. The NHS and Cancer Research UK both make this point.
This manual will not put a number on how much to use, because the sourced guidance on quantity is expressed in ways that do not translate neatly to a face and ears on a windy beach, and inventing a figure would be exactly what this publication refuses to do. What is worth taking from it is directional and useful: most people apply too little, and applying more is free.
The second point, which is easier to act on, is timing. Guidance generally advises applying before going out rather than at the moment of exposure, and giving it time to settle rather than immediately covering it. In practice that means applying at the van and letting it sit while you get the suit on, rather than applying and immediately pulling neoprene over it.
The two pass approach
A practical habit worth knowing. Apply, get the suit on, then do a second pass on the face and ears before you walk down.
It costs a minute, it catches whatever the suit collar wiped off during the wriggle, and it means the final state of your face is set immediately before entry rather than ten minutes and one wetsuit struggle earlier. Anyone who has fought their way into a winter suit knows how much contact the face and neck get in the process.
Applying to somebody else
Two situations where this matters. Somebody has to do your back of the neck if nothing covers it, because you cannot reach it properly and cannot see it. And if you are with children, or coaching, you are the person doing theirs.
For groups and children the relevant point is time: it takes far longer than anyone allows for, it has to happen before anybody gets wet, and it is the first thing dropped when a lesson is running late. That is dealt with in coaching groups.
What to take away
You get one application, and it needs dry skin, dry hands and to happen before the wetsuit. Do it at the van, not at the water's edge.
Use a fixed order with the small areas named in it, because attention is what fails on a windy beach. Most people apply too little, and applying more costs nothing. And do a second pass on the face and ears after the suit is on, because getting into a suit removes a surprising amount.