Everyone wants it: that sun-kissed "glow." Pale is ugly, but bronzed is beautiful. But no matter what color your skin turns after being in the sun---red, pink, bronze, or tan--it all means the same thing: your skin is damaged. I'm still not quite sure why damaged skin is sexy.
Now, I'll admit: I fell victim to the tanning craze in my wild, crazy youth. I visited the tanning bed at least three times a week after school and spent my weekends laying out, wanting nothing more than that "sun-kissed" look. I don't know why it never occurred me. I used to judge people for smoking, complaining that I didn't understand why people would do something that has been proven to cause cancer.
Boy, wasn't I the pot calling the kettle black?
But, honestly, it took moving to the desert for me to become a sun-screen addict. In Las Vegas, you can literally feel your skin baking when you walk out the door. I don't leave home with slathering myself and my child with sun-screen (I'm still working on my husband).
And that's this week's challenge: wear sunscreen.
Seems easy enough, right? So why do so few people do it? You got me. But if you still think damaged skin is sexy, consider this:
Over the past 31 years, more people have had skin cancer than ALL OTHER CANCERS COMBINED. In fact, one in five Americans will develop skin cancer during their lifetime.
So . . . . just wear the sunscreen, okay?
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