Hearts Fading

When we first tested hearts in the window to see if they would fade, only the pink ones faded quickly. But after a few more weeks, more colors had faded as well.




This heart used to be purple. The other side, exposed to the sun, has faded completely. On this side, the bottom of the heart, the edges have faded from sunlight, leaving only the untouched purple spot in the middle.





The blue candy heart on the left has faded noticeably. Compare it with the unfaded heart on the right.

Candy in the Sun

I didn't mean to conduct this experiment, it was just a byproduct of leaving this pink mint on the kitchen counter for a few weeks because I kept meaning to throw it in the oven.  The sunlight faded it so much it's hardly pink anymore.

Pink mint (original color) next to sun-faded mint

Here's a picture of the underside of the mint.  Again, you can see the contrast between the faded edges, which perhaps got some sunlight because the mint isn't actually quite flat, and so a little sun would have shone on the very edges, and also perhaps because the mint was sitting on a reflective pie tin.  Whatever the reason, the difference is significant.

I hope my dermatologist sister is proud of me writing about the strong effects of sunlight!  I wonder if the mint would have been protected against fading by a coating of sunscreen?