SOME STILL TAN AND BURN - BUT OTHERS HAVE LEARNED.

Byline: Daily News Staff and Wire Services

Her face turned up to the sun, Amy Mullins of Simi Valley smears sunscreen on her face and throat.

But she leaves the rest of her body, except the parts covered by a teeny-weeny chartreuse bikini, to the mercies of the sun.

Mullins, 29, relishes a deep, dark tan during the summer.

``I love the sun and I love the beach,'' she said. ``I don't think anything could keep me away from the beach. Yeah, I've noticed a difference in my skin - it's drier, especially in the summer. But I'd rather wrinkle and be out in the sun than live inside or under a hat on a day like this.''

Sunscreen on her face - SPF 30 - should keep the wrinkles at bay, she figures, but the rest of her body - already tanned a deep copper this early in the summer - is on its own, she said.

``I don't like to use sunscreen 'cause it stains your bathing suit,'' Mullins said. ``At least I don't use tanning oil anymore. Way before the sunscreen warnings came out, we used to fry with baby oil. We'd go home and put tea bags on our skin to take the burn out. We don't do that anymore.''

Her friend, Linda Pallares, 23, of Chatsworth also uses sunscreen only on her face. She doesn't worry about sun damage, especially since a traffic accident two years ago nearly took her life.

``I could die tomorrow, so I'm going to enjoy the sun today,'' she said, stretched out on a towel near the water's edge. ``I love it.''

Despite two decades of consumer education on the value of sunscreen and the danger of sunburn, a tan is still something millions seek each summer.

Although still a tiny segment of the market - about 4 percent of total sales last year - sunscreen-free oils, gels and lotions that supposedly accelerate tanning have been gaining popularity, especially among the young.

Last year, sales in the ``0 SPF'' market segment grew by 15.5 percent, according to Ken Meeker, vice president of marketing for Banana Boat Sun and Skin Care Products. Banana Boat's ``Tan Express'' line of 0 SPF products is sold alongside the company's sunscreens with SPFs ranging up to 50.

``I don't know that this is a long-term trend,'' Meeker says of the 0 SPF market, pointing out that almost 50 percent of skin-care sales are made up of products with an SPF of 30 or higher. The tanning products sell mostly to winter vacationers who want to show off an off-season tan back home - and to teen-agers. Says Meeker, ``I think it's a little bit of youth rebellion.''

Damage done early

``These young kids,'' mutters Dr. Perry Robins, a dermatologist who is president and founder of the Skin Cancer Foundation. ``There's a tendency for them to abandon sunscreens altogether. They have no idea.''

What they're doing, for those who have somehow missed the message, is increasing their chances of developing skin cancer (and, incidentally, accelerating the wrinkling and sagging that comes with skin aging). According to the Skin Cancer Foundation, exposure to the sun's ultraviolet rays is responsible for more than 90 percent of skin cancers, including basal and squamous cell carcinoma and the more serious melanoma. The foundation says the chances of developing melanoma have grown from 1 in 250 in the 1980s to 1 in 87 today, and patients are younger than ever before.

Is it all due to the popularity of tanning products? No, says Robins. ``I wouldn't pay much attention to these tan accelerators,'' he says. ``(The products) are selling to people who wouldn't be buying sunscreen in the first place.''

What we should be paying attention to is even younger kids - ``2, 3, 4, 5 years old,'' barks Robins, whose demeanor over the phone from his New York office suggests he's a proponent of tough love when it comes to tanning. ``Start 'em when they're young. If they know to use it when they're growing up, they'll know to use it later on.''

Back at the beach, Joanna Dehen, a Granada Hills 35-year-old with the skin of a teen-ager, has raised her two daughters - Jackie, 10, and Vicky, 13 - to guard against the damage the sun can do to their skin. They routinely use sunscreen whenever they're outside.

``But at the beach, it's hard,'' Dehen said, stretched out on a towel next to her wet, sandy daughters. ``Once you get wet, then it's almost impossible to get sunscreen on evenly.''

``And when you've having fun, you forget,'' Vicky said. ``It's hard to remember it all the time. But we try. Mom makes sure of that.''

Staying safe under the sun ?13Knight-Ridder Tribune News Wire

Avoid exposure when the sun's rays are strongest, between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.

Use a sunscreen with an SPF of 15. If you are extremely sensitive to sunlight or are visiting a spot with intense sunlight or reflection, use a higher SPF.

Apply sunscreens about a half-hour before exposure to enable them to bind to the skin better. Reapply sunscreen every two to three hours; more frequently if you swim or sweat a lot. Don't forget to wear sunscreen even if you sit in the shade, since reflected sunlight can burn you.

Babies younger than 6 months should not use sunscreen, nor should they be exposed to the sun. Teach your children from a young age to regularly use sunscreen.

Wear tightly knit, protective clothing and sun hats.

If you are fair-skinned or have relatives who have had skin cancer, avoid unnecessary exposure.

Sunscreens, the English translation

Here's a glossary of terms you may find on your sunscreen's label, compiled with the help of Dr. Henry W. Lim, professor of dermatology at New York University School of Medicine.

UVB: Ultraviolet B rays are linked to skin cancers. UVB is the main cause of sunburn; sunscreens have long effectively protected against UVB rays.

UVA: Ultraviolet A radiation, believed to cause wrinkling and leathering of the skin. Once thought to be safer than UVB rays, recent research has shown that UVA penetrates deeper into the skin than UVB and may exacerbate skin cancers.

Broad-spectrum: Indicates that a sunscreen protects against both UVB and UVA rays.

SPF: Sun protection factor. The ratio between the amount of exposure to ultraviolet rays that causes skin to redden with and without sunscreen. That is, if a sunscreen has an SPF of 15, skin it is applied to can be exposed to the sun 15 times longer than skin without protection. Currently, SPF measures protection against UVB rays only.

Sunscreen: Chemical or mineral preparations that work by absorbing UV rays. Some common ingredients are PABA esters, benzophenones, cinnamates, salicylates and anthranilates.

Sunblock: Physically blocks or reflects UV rays. Titanium dioxide and zinc oxide are probably the best-known sunblocks - they do not blend into the skin. New ``micronized'' sunscreens now break zinc oxide molecules into tiny pieces that do blend. The FDA is considering classifying zinc oxide as safe and effective for both UVA and UVB sunscreen.

Waterproof: Sunscreen remains effective after 80 minutes in the water.

Water resistant: Sunscreen remains effective after 40 minutes in the water.

PABA-free: Para-aminobenzoic acid is a very effective sunscreen that was once used widely. However, some people had allergic reactions to it and it can discolor clothing, so many manufacturers stopped using it.

CAPTION(S):

4 Photos, 2 boxes

PHOTO (1) Sun worshipers at Will Rogers State Beach near Pacific Palisades. Despite two decades of consumer education on the value of sunscreen and the danger of sunburn, a tan is still something millions seek each summer.

(2) Brad Hayes and Susanne Alpiger of Geneva, Switzerland, apply sunscreen at Topanga State Beach. They know they must use it because, otherwise, ``we would roast,'' Hayes said.

(3) Sophia Perusset, 10 months old and liberally coated with SPF 30 sunscreen, plays on Topanga State Beach.

David Sprague/Daily News

(4 -- color -- cover) Still going for the burn

Box: (1) Staying safe under the sun (see text)

(2) Sunscreens, the English translation (see text)