Sunscreen
Chinese Woman (with a Parasol) - Utagawa Yoshikazu - Philadelphia Museum of Art
The Netherlands is not known for its good weather. Like Great Britain, rain and clouds are very prevalent in the small nation. When coming from China, where temperatures can get very high, you might not think that it is necessary to buy sunscreen here.
However, for the PhD student who bought it in the Netherlands, it just made sense. When she showed the sunscreen, she immediately asked if this was a good brand. Yet, most Dutch people do not use sunscreen daily. Where she applies sunscreen every day, most Dutch people tend to use it when going out for a long time on a sunny day.
There has been an increasing awareness on the use of sunscreen worldwide. In the Netherlands, cases of skin cancer have been on the rise in the past few years.
In the past, it was popular to have white skin in Europe. Having a whiter skin meant not having to go outside for work. However, this changed when many people started to work in factories. When Coco Chanel -- a massive fashion icon in her time -- came home from a cruise with a tan, others started to imitate the tanned look, and a new trend started.
In Asia, the practice of tanning did not become popular. In many regions in Asia, having a tan is associated with working in the field, whereas having lighter skin is associated with higher social positions. Many therefore try to prevent their skin from tanning.
In China, many also bring umbrellas when going outside to protect themselves from overexposure to direct sunlight. The sun in China can be very intense, and the weather very hot. Umbrellas are thus brought to many places as parasols, and it is almost considered a fashion accessory for some.
The PhD-student we interviewed regularly wears sunscreen, but does not carry an umbrella to use as a parasol. This way, she can protect her skin from tanning and harmful sunlight as much as possible. Though not all Chinese would want this, she does see protecting her skin from the sun as something positive. Applying it to the face before going outside is thus something done regularly, because the face is seen as most important, and preventing the face from tanning is therefore seen as most important.