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The Queen's Hamlet

The Queen’s Hamlet is a charming attraction in the park of the Palace of Versailles, built for Marie Antoinette in the 18th century. It consists of a group of rustic cottages and farm buildings, arranged around an artificial lake, that served as a place of leisure and education for the queen and her children. The hamlet was inspired by the naturalistic movement in art and architecture, and by the model farms that were popular among the French aristocracy at the time. The hamlet was also a way for Marie Antoinette to escape the formalities and pressures of the court life, and to enjoy a simpler and more intimate lifestyle. The hamlet was designed by Richard Mique and Hubert Robert, who also modified the landscape of the Petit Trianon, where the hamlet is located. The hamlet has three distinct areas: the reception area, where the queen entertained her guests in the boudoir, the billiard room, and the Queen’s House; the farm area, where the animals and crops were raised and the dair
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Sun Protect Factor


SPF stands for Sun Protection Factor, and the number beside it indicates how well the sunscreen protects skin against sunburn. It is not an indicator of how long you can stay out in the sun, rather, it indicates how much longer it takes untanned skin to start to redden with sunscreen applied compared to how long it takes to start reddening without it.

To work out the SPF of a sunscreen, laboratory tests are carried out on an untanned patch of skin (such as the buttocks) of human volunteers. Sunscreen is applied liberally to the skin, which is then exposed to simulated sunlight via UV lamps. Measurements are taken of how long it takes the skin to get a minimal burn when covered with sunscreen, and how long it takes to get the same minimal redness without it.

To get the SPF number, a simple formula is used. The number of seconds it takes a patch of skin to slightly redden when covered in sunscreen is divided by the number of seconds it takes to slightly redden when there is no sunscreen applied. Say it took 300 seconds for the skin to burn with sunscreen, and 10 seconds to burn without it. 300 is divided by 10, which is 30. The SPF is 30.

Under current Australian regulations, sunscreens must have an SPF significantly higher than 50 in order to be rated at 50+ (the plus means the rating is ‘at least’ the value given). A rating of 51 won’t cut the mustard; the sunscreen needs to have an SPF of 60 or more to be compliant.
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