Monday, June 30, 2014

Sun Lovin' and Cancer-Free {Part II}

Last year, as my 30th birthday approached, I talked a little bit about skincare and what I was going to do to start taking it more seriously. I created the post, Sun-Lovin' and Cancer-Free {a little play on Fun-Lovin' and Fancy Free, tee hee}. The bulk of the post was about the skin cancer epidemic and what steps I was going to take to {hopefully} prevent it from happening to me.

I definitely feel I've been doing well with my skincare regimen this past year. I've been wearing SPF every day, whether that's with actual sunscreen {for pool/beach days or being active outdoors}, or just my daily moisturizer and foundation.

Between then and now, I've had another baby. And even though the bulk of my pregnancy was in the winter months, I actually managed to get some melasma on my forehead and a tad on my cheeks from it. Melasma is often called "the mask of pregnancy" because it most often appears in pregnant women. The problem is, it doesn't often go away after the pregnancy is over. The darker pigmentation of the skin tends to stick around, and can often worsen with sun exposure. I've seen some of my darker-toned friends struggle with it during and after pregnancy, while I, a fairer-toned person, managed to go two pregnancies with out it. While mine is pretty minor and not that dark, it freaks me out to think it could get any worse. Mine is mostly on the left side of my forehead {the driving side...interesting}. But now I am crazy about sun protection there. Summer is here and I've been doing a lot of walking and running outside to start losing this baby weight, as well as spending time at the pool and beach with my kids. In addition to already having my SPF 20 moisturizer, I've often been spraying SPF 50 on those areas before going outdoors, but I still worry that just being in the sun at all, even with SPF, will cause the color of the melasma to darken and become more noticeable.

So, a hat it is. I thought I would get one of those big fancy beach hats, you know, like this:

http://thumbs3.ebaystatic.com/d/l225/pict/300910824438_2.jpg

And as cute as it is, It's definitely not me.

I love Fedoras a lot, but I didn't think I'd get the coverage I really needed from it {really wanted the nose and cheeks to be protected too}. I've always been told I had a good face for a baseball cap, but couldn't find my good ol' Roxy one from many years ago. So I scoured online for a cute trucker style hat and found one I love:

Photo: #californialove Love my new beach/pool/sun hat...no kidding around with skincare anymore - sun lovin' and cancer-free!

Photo: #motheranddaughter love this #babygirl #farrahmadison

Yes, much more my style...perfect for outdoor workouts and beach/pool outings. May be getting my kids a good hat too, if they will keep it on.

I've been wearing the hat a lot while driving too, since I suspect much of the culprit was the sun from that window! {Always be aware of this and protect your left side, people. Doctors often find skin cancer in the left arm and side of the face, much more than they do in the right.} I am doing what I can with products to hopefully reverse some of the melasma that is already there...if I find something that works, I'll be sure to let you know about it - I know I'm not the only one suffering from this.

Stay protected and have a happy summer, my loves!


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