May is Skin Cancer Awareness Month. To celebrate, we asked our Facebook fans and Twitter followers to tell us how “aware” they’ve become over the years. Yes, we wanted to hear all the great habits they’ve adopted to prevent skin cancer, but we also wanted to hear all the stuff they look back on with regret, too — just to show how far we’ve all come.
Let’s just say we have a very honest group of followers. Take a look. And, remember: Dr. Zein Obagi insists that SPF is your best defense against aging, too. Apply it liberally for its many benefits.
PAYING THE PRICE: Becky regrets spending more money on her tanning salon passes than her skincare products in the early ’90s.
STYLE SOLUTIONS: Karen is proud to carry umbrellas and sport trendy hats to protect herself from the sun’s damaging rays.
THAT’S (NOT) AMORE: Tanji can’t believe she once told friends she didn’t have to worry about skin cancer because her Italian skin wasn’t susceptible burning.
GREASE ISN’T THE WORD: Liz can’t believe sheused baby oil in place of sunscreen as a teenager.
WHAT’S UP, DOC?: Felicita is glad she knows enough about skin cancer to schedule a dermatologist appointment whenever she or one of her kids gets a strange mole or spot on their skin.
BURNING BED: Kirsten wishes she didn’t believe the people who told her tanning beds were safe because they didn’t have UVB rays. Forget about the powerful UVA rays to which she was exposing her skin!
CHECK PLEASE: Elizabeth wears her SPF with pride and visits a dermatologist once a year for a mole check, just to be safe.
FAIREST OF THEM ALL: Lea is thrilled that she learned to love her fair skin and no longer needs a tan to feel pretty.
**Join the conversation! Follow us on Twitter here and become our Facebook fan here. Or just leave us a comment right here and let us know how you’ve increased your Skin Cancer Awareness over the years.
A recent TotalBeauty.com-conducted study sought out the worst cities in theUnited States — for your skin. Findings were based on several factors including smoking rates, climate and pollution, to name a few. (And you thought it all came down to genes and Botox.) Did your city make the list? Here’s hoping a move isn’t in order.
#13 Portland Maine: This city has a penchant for tanning beds, which explains why its skin cancer rates are so high. You know how dangerous the sun’s rays are, but did you know the UVA rays in a tanning bed are two to three times stronger? Hey, folks in Portland, Maine, meet the spray tan.
#12 Tacoma, Washington: This city, largely populated with blue collar workers and military servicemen and women, grabbed a spot on the list for its stress levels. When your life has tension, your body recognizes it and answers with stress hormones, like cortisol. Cortisol is a green light for oil production, which leads to blemishes. Put. The Blackberry. Down.
#11 Macon, Georgia: The state may be known for its peaches, but there’s nothing peachy keen for your skin with 88 percent average humidity. All that moisture in the air leads to more sebum in the sebaceous glands, which increases your chances of acne. ZO Skin Health’s creator, Zein Obagi MD, recommends cleansing skin one full minute to rid of sebum, but Macon residents might want to go longer.
Your city didn’t make the list? Don’t say “Phew!” just yet. We’ll share 9 more cities with you over the next week. Which city needs to substitute its nicotine addiction for an SPF addiction, making it #10 on the list? Find out right here!
ZO Skin Health
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