Being Sun Safe.

You stay out of the Sun as much as possible, don’t you? You also wear sunscreen every day, right? And only self-tanner is what turns your skin a beautiful golden bronze – true?

Nowadays, when I am at the beach, I plop myself down under an umbrella, but what about the years in the past?

I remember sunning myself for hours on end as a teenager. I used Crisco, Baby Oil, and tanning oils with no sunscreen in them. You know all the tings that promised the deepest darkest tan. So un-safe.

Please practice safety in the sun. Every 67 minutes someone dies from melanoma – the deadliest type of skin cancer. We must do something about it, especially now, as May is Skin Cancer Awareness Month.

I was so glad to hear that Olay has teamed up with the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery to bring more awareness to this very serious Cancer. Visit their website to get the facts and set yourself up for a free screening.

First be scared. Here are some frightening statistics that I found on the site:
* One person dies every hour from skin cancer.
* One in five Americans will develop skin cancer.
* Skin cancer in women under 40 has tripled in the past 30 years.
* Five sunburns double a woman’s chance of getting skin cancer.
* UV exposure at tanning salons is just as risky as sunbathing outside.
* People with fair skin that burns rather than tans, people with red hair and people with blue eyes are at greater risk of developing skin cancer.
* People who have many (extensive) freckles on their upper back are at a greater risk of developing skin cancer.
* People who have a history of sunburns, especially during childhood, are at a greater risk.
* The depletion of the ozone layer may be significantly affecting the incidence of melanoma.
* Exposure to ultraviolet radiation from the sun between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. and exposure at high altitudes are the most dangerous times to be exposed to the sun.
* Those with an impaired immune system — especially those who have had an organ transplant, leukemia or lymphoma — are at a greater risk of melanoma.
* According to one study, the use of a sunscreen of SPF 15 or higher during the first 18 years of life would cut lifetime risk of melanoma by 78%.

I am urging you…

Be smart. Play it safe. Sun-Safe!