I used to hate being pale. I desperately envied the girls who came back from spring break with perfect, even tans. My skin burns incredibly easily, so unless I cake on bottles and bottles of sunscreen, I end up the color of a boiled lobster. I mean really, really red. Fire engine, ripe tomato red. Eventually, my sunburns fade into tans, but that takes weeks, and my “tan” is pretty pale by most people’s standards.

After years of lamenting my pasty state, I finally realized: I’m never going to be tan! My skin has always been and will always be pale. Baby, I was born this way.

Here are the reasons why I don’t tan:

Skin cancer. Yes, this one is obvious. Warnings about the dangers of the sun are everywhere. But I have personal experience on this front. My dad has struggled with skin cancer for the past ten years, and helping take care of him after his worst surgery was particularly good motivation for me to protect my skin. He had to have a ping-pong ball-sized piece of skin cut out of his temple and the spot still has to be carefully watched.

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23 is a young age for a lot of things.  It is a young age to be a mother, to be on your own, to lose a friend, or to have cancer.  Yet, all of these things and more happen to young people every day.

It was a cold day in November when I got the phone call from the dermatologist telling me my results were back and I needed to come into the office the same day.  As I put down the phone, I looked at my boyfriend and nervously laughed and said, “Well that can’t be good.”  Since I am a full time student, I had to go to class before I could even think about heading to a doctor.  I sat through the hour and fifteen minute class thinking that maybe I was being silly and everything was going to be fine.  Surely a girl who is 23 years old, outgoing, determined, and full of life could not have cancer.  It had to be something else.

The drive to the office took too long and I called my mom on the way to deter some thoughts.  She immediately went into full panic mode and I couldn’t understand why.  By the time I arrived at the doctor, she had called five times to find out what was wrong but they wouldn’t tell her because I am an adult.  I sat alone in the room and waited for the nurse practitioner.  She was the only that would see me that day because the doctor was too busy.  She sat down and said, “Katie, you have level four Melanoma and the next step is for you to go see a surgeon in St. Louis to have the tumor removed.”

It’s hard to explain what I was feeling at the moment I was processing everything she was saying.  I don’t really know if I was feeling anything but disbelief.  I’m not sure that I was even processing it.  I just shook my head like I was some kind of bobble head so she knew I was still listening.  The strangest thing, after looking back on it all, is the feeling that I just wanted to please her or that I couldn’t cry because I needed to be strong.  I asked her different questions about what the biopsy meant and she couldn’t tell me.  At this point the hardest thing was that she didn’t know the details or the main question everyone wanted to know:

Was I going to die? Read More »

I live for the summer.  In the spring, I count down the days until my last final and I miss it terribly during the fall.  I love the way the sun‘s rays touch my skin, I love reading novels lazily on the beach, my morning outdoor runs, and enjoying picnics and BBQs.  I love the skin-exposing, brightly colored fashions I get to wear.  I want nothing more than to be carefree during my favorite season, but unhappily I cannot be. There are two frightening words that come to mind whenever I’m wanting to bask in the sun and they are a constant reminder to apply sunscreen and limit my beloved time in the sun: skin cancer.

With that in mind it certainly is important to apply sunscreen, avoid tanning beds, and limit hours in the sunlight. But obvious these steps are not all that we can do to protect oneself from the sun’s damaging rays. It turns out that the foods we eat can have a protective effect! Read More »

I am pale.  White, pasty, corpse-like, albino, pallid- that’s me.  It wasn’t always me, mind you.  See, once upon a time I sought solitude and relaxation in the warm bluish-white glow of the tanning bed.  Those of you who tan, you know what I’m talking about.  You get out of class completely drained (because the Sudoku was really tough today) and head to your car.  Maybe it’s raining, maybe it’s not.  Maybe it’s the middle of December, or maybe Spring Break is a week away.  It doesn’t matter.  The light at the end of your tunnel is florescent and comes with the scent of coconut oil.

I’ve been there.  Chasing happiness through monthly memberships and bonus lotion deals, fighting hangovers as you listen to the best of the 80s, 90s, and today, as you fake-bake your way to sun kissed bliss. You know tanning is bad for you (the warnings are everywhere), but you don’t care. You don’t do it that much. You won’t get cancer. And you look so much better tan!

So you keep on keepin’ on.

Well, what if I showed you what tanning does to those precious looks to hold so dearly? Would that change your mind?  Looks like it. Read More »

Got something awesome everyone needs to know about? A really singer? A wicked new book? A product, like Yes To Carrots,  that truly changed your life? Email your “The Know” ideas to Jill@collegecandy.com or tweet me and I’ll pass them along to everyone right here, every week. Make your kindergarten teacher proud and share!

We all have those friends who seem to have a perfect something.

Perfect skin… and then they complain about their one teeny tiny pimple as they stare at my “wow, how unfortunate; her skin looks like it belongs in 7th grade” face.
Perfect hair…every strand is always in place, it never gets greasy or frizzy, it never gets Jew-fro-y in the humidity.
Perfect metabolism…you know those biatches who you wish you could hate as they chow down on their 4th piece of pizza in their size 27 jeans but you can’t hate them because they are so great?

Well, for years, my friend Jess has had the perfect tan; always radiant, glowing, never orange, never streaky, never Simon Cowell looking (I mean really, the dude should just wear a sign that reads “Some people choose alcohol, but self tanner is my drug of choice”).

Anyway, I never thought to ask dear ‘ol Jess what her tan-perfect secret was – I figured it was just one of those things that she would always have down perfectly and I would admire her glow whilst accepting the fact that I am and will always be Pasty McPasterson pals with Snow White. (What up, home girl?) Read More »

Moles helped make celebs like Marilyn Monroe and Cindy Crawford famous.  Their moles were sexy little perfectly-shaped beauty marks that everyone wanted to have.  And did by picking up the press-on variety at the neighborhood beauty supply store.

Unfortunately, though, a mole isn’t just another beauty accessory; it can also be the sign of skin cancer.

One of my best friends has been having trouble with her moles for years, constantly getting them removed. After hearing about her latest round of whack-a-mole, I began to panic; I had never even thought to have my moles looked at! What if they were dangerous? What if I only had days left to live?!

Shaking, I dialed my dermatologist and made an appointment to get everything checked out.  And good thing I did! I thought I only had a couple of moles but it turns out I was wrong.  Unbeknownst to me, moles aren’t only the raised brown marks on your skin – they can also look just like freckles.

In fact, moles can be raised, flat, large, small, dark, or light, and you may not even know that you have some.  And all of them – even those moles that have never seen the sun (yes, like that one on your booty) – can be cancerous, so it’s important to get them checked out  by a professional.  My dermatologist recommended that everyone performs a monthly mole self-check. This will not only allow you to discover any new moles that may be popping up, but to follow the ones you already have. When moles start changing in any way, it could be a sign of a problem. Read More »

Back in the day when Speedo one-pieces were cool, I had no interest in tanning. Although I fought through “sunscreen smear down” sessions with my mom, my skin was still, for the most part, shielded from the sun all summer long. It wasn’t until my friends started wearing bikinis and lots of Hawaiian tropic, that my Irish complexion got it’s first taste of sunburn. I quickly realized that getting the perfect tan wasn’t really in the cards for me…well unless I wanted to look like a leather handbag years later.

It’s scary how many times my skin has peeled, even blistered. I’ve accumulated many freckles, and one of them could easily be cancerous. At least that’s what I hear. Freckles appearing after a sunburn have been associated with an increased risk of melanoma skin cancer – the fatal kind. And even worse, it’s been estimated that nearly half of all Americans who live to age 65 will develop skin cancer at least once, according to MedicineNet.com.

Clearly we are all guilty of neglecting our skin for vanity’s sake. I mean, who doesn’t enjoy that bronzed glow? But ten, fifteen years from now, we’ll be kicking ourselves when the wrinkles, blotchy sun spots or melanoma develop.

So what can we do now to prevent further sun damage? Read More »

It’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt. And in the game of Bad Habits, you will always come out a loser. As I laid in a tanning bed, I thought about how this bad habit was going to affect me in the long run. Even though I love the immediate benefits of this vice (golden, sun-kissed skin!), I can’t help but worry about my future as a leather-skinned freak. Is the bronze skin of today worth the skin cancer of tomorrow? Let’s examine the dangerous games we play and weigh whether the consequences are worth the benefits:

Tanning

Why We Do It: I am addicted to the healthy glow I get from taking a 20 minute nap in my favorite tanning bed! I feel more relaxed, have less acne, and generally feel less self-conscious. When I’m feeling confident, I can stand up straighter, smile bigger, and show off my legs without feeling embarrassed. I feel like confidence enhances my life and I don’t want to go through my heyday without it. Read More »

October is the time to think pink as National Breast Cancer Awareness Month kicks off today.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention an estimated 182,460 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to occur among women in the US during 2008; about 1,990 new cases are expected in men.

Aside from skin cancer, breast cancer is the most common cancer in women in the U.S., and is the second most common cause of death among white, black, Asian, and American Indian women. It is the leading cause of death from cancer in Hispanic women.

While most college women don’t need to worry about developing breast cancer at such a young age (we won’t face the invasion of mammograms until our 40s), there’s still plenty we can and should do to protect ourselves. A  major study released in 2006 indicated that the number of new cases of breast cancer dropped significantly in the reporting period of 2002 to 2003. After 20 years of increases, this is incredibly exciting news and most likely directly correlates to new methods of early detection and prevention. Read More »

We’ve all seen the commercials, heard our mothers’ and doctors’ advice and read the warning articles. But SPF still remains a point of negligence for way too many of us. For a solid 16 years I tried to defy my Irish heritage and insisted on laying out and beaching it with my uber tan girlfriends, sans sunscreen. After several severe sunburns throughout my childhood and early teens (I’m talking blistering, purple skin, too painful to wear clothes or move sun damage), I was only slightly weary about the danger I was exposing myself to.

Finally, halfway through high school, I made peace with being pale and embraced the art of self tanning. Since then I have (tried to) become religious about slathering on sun protection every. single. day. It is a chore sometimes, but when I want to slack on the SPF, I just think of this gadget. Here’s how to work SPF into your lifestyle easily.

SPF Moisturizer: For every day exposure, protection while going to and from work or school, or spending minimal time outdoors. Daily use of a low SPF sunscreen (like 15) can reduce sun damage even more than occasional use of a super high SPF. Sub this for your regular morning face lotion. Aim for at least 30. Most people don’t use the right amount of sun protection (about a teaspoon for your face)–they usually use only half, so double the level of SPF you desire. If you think you’ll miss that sun kissed glow you achieve on your cheeks and nose, try Neutrogena Summer Glow Daily moisturizer. You’ll still get a healthy glow…emphasis on healthy. Read More »