I have a confession to make now that summer is upon us and the sun is shining every day: When I am really tan, I feel a) skinnier b) more attractive and c) happier.

It’s true. And I’m sure that some of you girls will agree with me.

I have always known that it is not healthy to fake bake or lie out without sunscreen, but it’s just so hard to avoid the desire to be tan at this age.

With new studies coming out regularly on skin cancer risks and stories of girls our age contracting skin cancer (Britney Lietz, Miss Maryland 2006, who was diagnosed with melanoma at 20), I have really been forced to reconsider my tanning habits.

It also caused me to wonder about our parents who grew up in a time when the risks were generally unknown? Well, an article on msnbc.com describes some of the absurd lengths that people went to for a bronzed body that now basically seems like skin suicide. Read More »

You know, the strangest thing happened to me a few years ago. Although it was never perfect, I had always had pretty good skin. My pores are giant, but besides that, it had always been pretty clear. Then, a few years ago, my face flipped out. I mean, flipped out.

I couldn’t figure out the reason. Sure, there was a lot of stress whirling around me at the time, but can stress really give you acne? Because like, I basically had it. Horrified, I began washing my face all the time and drying it out and generally making a mess out of a mess until it became apparent I needed someone to help me. Some with skills.

Almost three years later, my skin is finally back to normal. I still get the awful giant pimple or two, but I’ve finally found skincare that works for me. Plus, I try to drink a lot of water and stay away from fake, over-processed chocolate (which sounds much, much easier than it is).

Because of my long, torrid history with acne, I sat up a little straighter the other night when a commercial for Frutels came on. Never heard of Frutels? Me either. According to the commercial, Frutels is a new “gummy vitamin for acne!” The commercial was full of bright colors and people yelling the name a hundred times, but never really explained what these tasty, sugar free! things actually did. Read More »