Quick poll, mama. When was the last time you fell asleep with your phone uncharged? Probably never, right? When was the last time you went a full day without sunscreen?
…yeah. Same.
A new survey of 2,000 American adults — commissioned by ISDIN and conducted by Talker Research — just confirmed what a lot of us already secretly knew about ourselves: Americans are 4x more likely to remember to plug their phones in at night than to put on sunscreen daily.
The numbers are wild:
- 79% of us remember to plug in our phones every night or most nights
- Only 10% of us put on SPF daily
- 53% frequently forget sunscreen entirely
- 29% think wearing SPF daily seems “unnecessary”
- Out of the entire year, the average American wears sunscreen for just 31% of it
- 58% of people who initially put on sunscreen then forget to reapply
Friends. I love a charged phone as much as the next person. But we live in Florida. The sun does not care that you have a 9 a.m. meeting and 4 carpool stops. The UV index here is doing its thing 12 months a year, and that includes every cloudy day, every car ride, every walk to the mailbox.
This is your sign — and mine — to do better.
Living in Florida Means We Don’t Get to Half-Ass Sunscreen
I’ve written before about why sun protection deserves a permanent spot on every Central Florida family’s wellness checklist — you can read that full piece here: Sun Protection: What You Need to Know. If you haven’t bookmarked it yet, do it now. Florida moms cannot afford to wing this one.
Because here’s the deal: most of America thinks of sunscreen as a beach-day product. The survey backs that up — 67% are most likely to put it on in the summer, and only 31% of the year do we bother at all.
But in Orlando? Every day is a sun day. UV exposure is cumulative. The damage you don’t see in your 30s shows up in your 50s — and the time to prevent it is now.
Per Dr. Latanya Benjamin, a Double-Board Certified Pediatric Dermatologist from Florida and ISDIN partner quoted in the survey: “UV rays are not only damaging in the summer months — wearing SPF daily year-round protects us from UV rays that reflect the snow in winter and can damage our skin even on cloudy days.”
And Alain Vallejos, Head of Marketing at ISDIN, shared his own wake-up call: “I grew up in Miami, spending many days on the beach, and today I’m managing sunspots I now have checked regularly with my dermatologist — something that could have been prevented.”
If a Miami kid is dealing with sunspots in adulthood, we Orlando moms are very much on notice (I am a Miami kid too, and I’ve lived in Orlando for 20 years now).
We Care About Skin Health… On Paper
Here’s the contradiction the survey called out, and I felt all of it:
- 78% of Americans believe skin health is an important part of overall health
- But 40% have NEVER had their skin checked or screened for abnormalities by a dermatologist
- 35% think they should be screened annually
- 30% think it should happen even more often (semi-annual, quarterly, monthly)
- 57% use moisturizer daily
- Only 24% use SPF daily
8 out of 10 of us say skin health matters. 6 out of 10 of us moisturize every day. And only TWO of us out of 10 are actually doing the one thing that genuinely protects our skin long-term.
I’m not pointing fingers — I’ve absolutely been there. The texture of old-school sunscreen was the worst. White cast. Greasy feel. That weird chemical smell. The way it would slide right off into your eyeballs the second you started sweating in 95-degree humidity. No thanks.
But the formulas have changed, mama. Drastically.
The Sunscreen Has Gotten WAY Better — That’s the Good News
The main reason Americans say they skip daily SPF is the texture of the product. The good news? That problem has been solved.
Dermatologists in the survey recommended looking for sunscreens that are:
- Lightweight — not heavy, not greasy, not chalky
- Formulated with hyaluronic acid — for hydration
- Loaded with antioxidants like vitamin C or E — to fight free radical damage
The newer-generation sunscreens essentially double as a daily moisturizer. They wear under makeup. They don’t pill. They don’t streak. They don’t smell. You put them on after you brush your teeth, and that’s the whole routine.
That’s the goal, per Vallejos: “We’re working to make sunscreen feel less like a chore and more like brushing your teeth or checking your phone — an effortless daily habit.”
Yes please.
The Florida Mom Sunscreen Reality Check
Let’s quickly run through the moments you ARE getting sun exposure that you might not be thinking about:
- Driving to school pickup (windows do NOT block all UV)
- Standing on the soccer sideline, the baseball field, the dance studio drop-off
- Pool days, splash pad days, sprinkler days
- Walks around your neighborhood
- Loading groceries into the car
- Lake Eola, Disney days, theme park days, beach days
- Just walking out to the mailbox at 2 p.m.
If you live in Central Florida, you are getting significant sun exposure most days, even when you don’t realize it. Especially us moms who are constantly outside being the team mom, the carpool mom, the pool mom, the everything mom.
And our kids? Same. Their cumulative sun exposure adds up FAST in this state.
Melanoma Awareness Month Is Right Now — Let’s Use It
Dr. Benjamin pointed out something important in the survey: Melanoma Awareness Month is approaching, and it’s the perfect time to schedule that overdue skin check and build the family routines that protect everyone.
A few things to put on the to-do list this week:
- Schedule a dermatologist appointment. For yourself. If you’ve never had a full body skin check, NOW. If it’s been more than a year, NOW.
- Schedule one for the family too if you can. Pediatric dermatology exists. Our kids’ skin matters too.
- Audit your sunscreen stash. Expired? Old textures you hate? Throw them out and replace them with something you’ll actually use daily. Lightweight, antioxidant-loaded, doubles as moisturizer.
- Park sunscreen by the toothbrush. Make it the very last thing you do every morning before walking out the door.
- Set a reapplication reminder. That 58% reapplication-forgetting stat? That’s most of us. A simple phone alarm fixes it or try these sunny patches that we love to use.
- Read our full sun protection guide: Sun Protection: What You Need to Know — it covers SPF, hats, UV clothing, kid-friendly options, and the protective routines every Florida family should have on auto-pilot.
A Final Word From One Florida Mom to Another
If you have made it to the end of this article, here’s my ask: plug yourself in tonight like you plug in your phone.
Pop a sunscreen bottle on the bathroom counter. Set the alarm. Schedule the derm appointment. Read the sun protection guide. Do the easy thing today so future you (and future-your-kids) don’t pay for it later.
Your phone gets to live to see another day because you remembered the charger. Let’s give your skin the same energy.
We live in the Sunshine State. The sun is gorgeous, and the sun is relentless, and it doesn’t care about our calendars. Daily SPF is no longer optional for us — it’s just part of the routine. Like brushing your teeth. Like locking the door. Like charging the phone.
We’ve got this, mama. One pump of sunscreen at a time.
Research methodology: Talker Research surveyed 2,000 general population Americans with internet access; the survey was commissioned by ISDIN and conducted online between Apr. 8 and Apr. 13, 2026.
