Those of you who know me, know that I am Asian. In my younger years, I was extremely misguided and misinformed and thought that only people with really fair skin needed to wear sunblock. I rarely put on sunblock or covered up. I worshipped the sun and basked in it as much as I could. As a teenager, my friends and I even used sun tanning oil to get as dark as we could possibly get.
Now that I’m in my thirties, I have learned how foolish we were. I now have freckles all over my face from the sun (and I thought Asians didn’t get freckles!) and I’ve got spots on my arms where I never used to have them. They’re definitely not birthmarks.
After doing lots of research on the harmful effects of the sun and after having my daughter, I am extremely cautious now. My husband has very fair skin and we’ve noticed new sun spots/moles that we need to keep an eye on. The idea of skin cancer is quite scary! Because we live on a farm and on an island, we are outdoors for most of the day.
My husband never puts on sunscreen and doesn’t really protect himself from the sun very well. With him working on the farm and in the sun all day, his skin is exposed to the sun’s harmful UV rays for many hours and every day of the year. SCARY.
I make sure that Little One is wearing protective clothing, a wide brimmed hat, sunblock, and I keep her in the shade or in the house when the sun is at its strongest. If we’re out on the farm or on the beach, Little One stays under our sports umbrella.
I may seem a bit overly cautious, but I believe we’re always better safe than sorry!
78,000 Canadians will be diagnosed with skin cancer this year. 5,500 of those cases will be skin cancer’s deadliest form – Melanoma. La Roche-Posay, the #1 Dermatologist recommended skin care brand wants to help save lives by spreading the word. Check out the Save Lives! Program featured on the La Roche-Posay Canada Facebook page. Read, educate yourself, vote, and share with your friends. You can vote for your favourite submission in the advice gallery. Vote for as many stories as you want! You can do this every day until July 15th! Stories with the most votes will get the chance to win grand prizes. Feel free to get your friends and family to vote!
Did you know:
· Your skin is damaged after 15 minutes of unprotected exposure to the sun
· You need to use a golf ball-sized amount of sunscreen to adequately protect yourself from head to toe
· 43% of individuals only apply sunscreen when the sun is very intense
· 36% of Canadians think having a tan is important
· Melanoma represents 1/3 of all new cancers – one of the fastest growing cancers worldwide
· In North America, one person dies from melanoma every hour
· 1 in 7 Canadians will develop skin cancer in their lifetime
· 7 in 10 women don’t know how to properly apply sunscreen lotion
· 4 in 10 individuals don’t use sunscreen becuase of texture
Awareness of Melanoma and sun protection and early detection are key. It’s important to note that 90% of skin cancers can be cured if detected early enough.
Canadians, visit MySkinCheck.ca for tools and resources to check yourself for early signs of skin cancer.
“Like” the La Roche-Posay Canada Facebook page to receive sun tips every week!
** This post is cross-posted over at www.lifeonmanitoulin.com **
2 Responses to How Sun Savvy Are You?
Ah cute pictures!!! I didn’t know dark skin need sun screen till now! This campaign has taught me so much!! GREAT POST!
Great post, Christine!
When I was younger I thought that darker skinned or tan people didn’t need to use sunscreen. I thought they were safe in their own skin from the suns extremities. Look how naive I was.
This campaign has taught me many new statistics and prevention tips that I didn’t already know. I hope others take the time to familiarize themselves with just how harmful the beautiful sunshines rays can be.