Skin Cancer? No Thanks. Orange Heels? Not this Mama.
Written by Carrie Pacini on March 28, 2008 – 11:37 am -
Spring has arrived!
Despite the shocking fact that snow is still falling in some places around the country, for most of us spring has arrived in all her pollinated, Claritin-selling glory. These soggy days, mind wanders past the wet and sneezy weather, past those hectic final weeks of school that are still to come, and lands at some point in June where I know I will be expected to be seen in a swimsuit. Now this isn’t some poolside, Mojito-in-hand (thanks anne!), kids-in-college relaxation fantasy – it’s the reality of my pale skin blinding everyone while my kids perform cannonballs and splash innocent bystanders. Despite having a good amount of European and Native American blood in me that would indicate I *might* have the potential for some skin pigmentation, the reality is not!
Liquid sweater to the rescue!
I made it through high school as an avid sun worshiper, blissfully ignorant of the damage I was doing to my skin, just trying to be tan and thin. By my mid 20s, I started realizing that sun exposure was no better than the fat I had been avoiding in my diet. Except it was actually worse: we all know that the sun has permanent effects on your body – in effect the sun is like a cheeseburger that stays on your butt forever. So while I always kept the kids slathered in SPF 70, it took a cancer scare to really wake me up. In 2005 we had a near-miss with Melanoma in my family, and that sealed the deal. Sun was now the enemy, and it was the super-high SPF stuff for me and my husband. He calls it the “liquid sweater.” Whatever, it’ll save your life pal.
Bathing suits! Bottle tans! Spray tans! Help.
So back to my reality check about the number of weeks until bikini season. What’s a busy mom to do who would prefer to…
A) NOT be reflectively white in a bathing suit
B) Age gracefully
C) Avoid skin cancer
The only options are bottle tans, spray tans, etc. So far I am not happy with any of the home spray tans that I have done, and the tan-in-a-bottle deal is usually a nightmare. The blame falls partially on the products, and a lot on the do-it-yourself application. That said, the very best solution I’ve found is the professional spray tan, where you go to a salon or spa and they basically use an airbrush. If you’ve never had it done, just imagine the MTV show Pimp My Ride…but you’re the car.
If you don’t want to spend the cash on a spray tan, which given it’s 7-day max duration is a rare luxury, I’ve found a few things that work ok for home use. Check these out and let me know what you think!
Seriously, I really want to know what works for you! If your an OpMom member I started a SkinCare MomCircle so we can get to the bottom of this…
Tags: bottle tan, melanoma, skin care, spf, spray tan, summer
Posted in OpMom Community | 2 Comments »
