(For the photo of the rash caused by the Piz Buin, please click HERE)

So I had a fairly awesome weekend of sunning it, except for Sunday night where the backs of my ears started getting itchy. On Monday (Yesterday) I had a rash everywhere I had applied Piz Buin In Sun SPF 15, and today (Tuesday) I’m probably going to kick the bucket! My eyes are swollen, my ears are swollen and there was quite a little belter in the pharmacy who would not stop staring at me…for all the wrong reasons. It honestly looks like I’ve been chilling in the boxing ring with Manny Pacquiao.

That’s me on the left, and Piz Buin SPF 15 In Sun Lotion on the right

So I’m not saying don’t buy Piz Buin, but actually…wait…I am. I used the Piz Buin SPF 15 In Sun Lotion last summer and it was fine, and I even used the Piz Buin SPF 30 Active Lotion two weeks ago with no problems. But the SPF 15 In Sun Lotion makes me look like I’ve been sleeping around and doing drugs.

The bottle that slayed a Greek God in Cape Town

I find hooking up with the opposite sex difficult enough as it is, and now we need to complicate things with a rash.

“What’s that rash?” Girl says

“Oh no just some sunscreen I used”

“Yeah whatever, I bet you do loads of drugs and sleep around”

You see where this leaves me Piz Buin? Summer has just kicked in on the Cape Town side, and now I’ve been sidelined from the action for God knows how long? A week? Two weeks? A month? From the other peoples concerns, it looks like I could be out of the pants party for a month. I mean, come on! Sort your stuff out, this is a joke. And you say your products are dermatologically tested? Whatever!

I’ve never had a rash from sunscreen and now this hits me…

Oh and I e-mailed you guys earlier, I trust you will be replying with a free holiday trip, or something or other to make up for the major inconvenience this is causing on my life.

Thanks! Spending summer indoors is really what I dreamed of!

Seriously though, the reviews from the latest batch of Piz Buin products are terrible, as seen on Review Centre. Let’s have a look at what some others said (There are loads of these reviews, all with the same problems):

“I returned from a 2 week holiday on 14th August, the last week being totally spolit by a nasty red and extremely itchy rash plus swelling around my neck and eyes from piz buin. I visited the local doctor and was given a steriod injection plus anti histamine tablets. One week later I am still suffering. Having read the other reviews of Piz Buin I am now sure that this was the cause of the problem. Like other reviewers I have used Piz Buin for many years, as has my husband, who also had a much milder reaction to this product. I will be taking this up with Piz Buin and urge others to do the same.”

And another review:

“I too have suffered a severe allergic reaction to the Piz Buin 1 day long lotion as described by others on this site, needing treatment with steroids and antihistamines. The itching is still a problem after 3 weeks but is now improving. I have used this product for the last 2 years and found it great but the problem seems to be that they have now added oxybenzone (look it up – its not nice!)to the product. The packaging gives you no reason to think the product has changed. I have contacted Johnsons who seem to have a team dealing with this problem. They will send out a questionnaire and have offered to refund the cost of the lotion. I would urge everyone who has suffered this reaction to contact them in the hope that this will make them reconsider using these chemicals, after all the product was great before! I would consider this product unsafe to use at the moment.”

Click here to read the rest of the stories.

I’ll keep you updated as to when I can leave the house again.

UPDATE: The new Piz Buin formulations use oxybenzone, commonly known to cause skin reactions, wow that’s very clever to add that to your formulations! This from the Island Tribe website:

“The most famous sunscreen is PABA (para amino benzoic acid). PABA became so well known because a significant number of people turned out to be allergic to it. Most products are now “PABA Free” but many people still have problems with one or another of the organic sunscreens. For example, Benzophenone (Oxybenzone) is an organic sunscreen that is commonly used. It is probably the one most associated with adverse reactions.”

So are SLXS looking at an Island Tribe sponsorship for the Cape Town Summer 2009/2010 season? I think that’s the direction we’re heading in.