Two in three Australians will be diagnosed with skin cancer by the age of 70. That statistic is the backdrop for everything Johanna Young does.
Johanna is the founder of Solbari, an Australian sun protective clothing brand now distributed in over 160 countries. What started as a solution for herself and her fair-skinned husband on the golf course has grown into a company of 35 people, a warehouse in California, and more than 800,000 customers worldwide. In this conversation, she joins Dr. Dustin Portela to talk about UPF clothing, why most people dramatically underestimate the sun protection their everyday clothes provide, and what the US could learn from Australia's decades-long commitment to sun safety.
The conversation opens with something most people don't know: a standard white cotton T-shirt offers roughly the same protection as SPF 5 sunscreen, and when wet, that drops even further. UPF 50+ clothing, by contrast, blocks at least 98% of UVA and UVB rays and maintains that protection throughout the day without reapplication. Johanna breaks down what actually determines a garment's UPF rating, from fabric composition and weave density to color and stretch, and explains why Solbari tests every color in every product to ensure that rating holds through at least fifty washes.
Dr. Portela and Johanna also get into the broader cultural question of why sun protection is non-negotiable in Australia while it remains a hard sell in parts of the US. The answer involves school policies, government-subsidized skin checks, a national ban on tanning beds since 2015, and a public health infrastructure built around prevention rather than treatment. It's a candid and genuinely interesting comparison between two countries with very different approaches to the same problem.
For anyone who loves being outdoors but has felt caught between protecting their skin and actually living their life, this episode is worth your time.
Product of the Week
Solbari UPF 50+ Sun Protective Clothing
Lightweight, breathable, moisture-wicking UPF 50+ clothing designed for all-day outdoor wear. Use code SKINFLUENCE15 for 15% off at solbari.com.
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