REI Co-op  Sahara Shade Hoodie - Women's

I purchased this because I am tired of putting on sunscreen while backpacking. Sunscreen can be heavy for multi-day trips, and the spray cans take up a lot of room and I can also run out of it, so that means I have to carry an empty bottle in my pack. I thought about getting carious other sun hoodies, but settled on this one because it was a) relatively well priced, b) people weren't complaining about the thumb holes being too tight, and c) the hood didn't feel too tight on their neck and was apparently designed in a way that still blocks the sun without leaving a gap to expose your neck and collar bone. All of these are true, and the fit was great. I bought my normal size because I figured I would be wearing this mostly in the spring and summer months as my hike shirt. There are a lot of sun hoodies that are overly priced and simply do not meet the needs of the wearer. But this hoodie is great. As I stated above, the arm holes on this are not restrictive, and the hood covers up my neck and collarbone. I wore this with one sleeve up and the other down to feel the difference of the sun on my bare skin vs with the fabric over it, and there is a pretty big difference to how cool my skin feels underneath the fabric. I love the feel of the warmth on my skin, don't get me wrong, but I am glad to know that if I am hiking in this thing, it is going to cool me off while my BP is elevated. Other things to note: the hood has a small stretch pull so that you can tighten the fit over your face. I suspect I'll pair this with a ball cap, but that is a nice touch for when you need the hood out of your eyes or want to cinch it down in the cold. There is also a small detail at the bottom hem where it comes up higher at the waist. I didn't know if I would like this. I tend to prefer a straight cut, but I found that in terms of functionality, it isn't too high so my abdomen doesn't show if I'm wearing low pants or leggings. The material on this is so soft. It's not buttery soft, but it is close, so that makes it nice to wear regularly. Fit on this is perfect. It's loose but not baggy. I picked my normal size (M) for my 5'7", 160lb athletic frame, and I think this is great to sleep in. I actually will be purchasing the other colors, because I have been living in the green one I bought and I need to give it a rest. What I purchased for backpacking is actually now for every-day wear. Go figure (They are not pajamas, Ash! .....or at least I have to tell myself that...).

Beware - the sides of this shirt are cut extremely high, so that my waist/sides are exposed if I lift my arms even a little bit. I didn't notice this awkward cut before ordering because most of the models are wearing high-waisted tights and/or have their arms down and I didn't see any review mentioning this. The men's version is cut straight across, which makes so much more sense (why would anyone want their sides exposed in a sun shirt)? Going to return and try the men's version or a different brand.