If you thought your frizzy hair was scary, how's this for a true beauty fright? When Sephora writer (and former R29'er!) Kelley Hoffman went to the dermatologist for the first time in her life, she found out — at the age of 28 — that she had basal cell carcinoma, a form of skin cancer. Puts things in perspective, no?
Thankfully, Hoffman is healthy today, but her brush with the potentially deadly disease has made her super-serious about sun protection. (Hoffman writes: "I’m as devoted to wearing sunscreen as I am to brushing my teeth) — and concerned about rising skin cancer rates among young women. In her piece, Hoffman shares information from the Skin Care Foundation that skin cancer rates have grown by 800 percent in young women — an increase which researchers attribute to the rise in popularity in indoor tanning among women.
We're grateful for Hoffman's straightforward (and brave) sharing of her personal experience, and applaud her attempt to use her story as a warning to other young women who still fall victim to the siren song of tanning. It's a powerful reminder to us all to be vigilant about sun protection and sport our bronzers and self-tanners if we're craving a glow — or, even better, enjoy the skin tone that our mamas gave us.
(The Sephora Glossy)
Clinique Broad Spectrum SPF 50 Sunscreen Face Cream, $21, available at Sephora.