I became addicted to beauty regime after ‘feeling accepted' but now I'm paying the price – don't make same mistake

The Sun

13 hours ago

A WOMAN has issued a stark warning after a beauty regime she started in her twenties left her needing 19 vital treatments, saying: "I didn't know the damage I was doing".
Karrieann McDonnell, from Co Clare, is urging young people not to make the same mistake, or they may regret it in future years.
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The 54-year-old fitness fanatic told how she first tried sunbeds as she wanted to look the part for her job.
She said: "When I started out on the sunbed when I was in my late twenties, I was a strawberry blonde, fair skinned with freckles.
"When I got into the fitness industry then, we had a sunbed on the premises.
"It became very popular as it would have been back then in those days.
"And being young and impressionable, you want to be part of the team but having fair skin and freckles wasn't the look back then.
"When you're in fitness, it's about looking good, it's about feeling confident. It's all about the image and having that sun-kissed glow.
"I taught a lot of classes, I was on stage we'll say. So like any performer, you have to look good.
"When I started out, I was quieter, I was a mother, I was a parent, you know, a family woman who grew up quiet in herself.
"And then as time kind of went on, I became popular. And I thought, 'Oh, OK, so I have to look this good to be accepted'.
And Karrieann gradually built up the time she was spending under the lamp in a bid to get the best results.
MAINTAIN COLOUR
She added: "When I started out on the sunbed, it would have been like five minutes to start.
"That went on for a couple of weeks and I was going nowhere fast.
"So then I went on to six minutes, eight minutes, ten minutes and again, that was over the time.
"Over the years then, I had built it up to 20 minutes, and that would have been maybe twice a week, once a week, depending on the time of year.
"It would have been weekly because being so fair, I had to keep doing them to maintain some sort of colour.
"But little did I know the damage I was doing because the knowledge wasn't there.
"Everyone's skin is different and if you have dark skin you're going to tan better.
"You're going to take to the sun differently compared to someone who's fair."
SKIN OPS
Karrieann has dealt with the damage caused by sunbeds over the last few years.
She said: "I have had 19 different melanomas removed, be that from surgery, the light treatment, and then nitrogen freeze.
"They're all melanomas, but just different stages of them.
"They're also called BCCs, which is basal cell carcinoma, and skin damage is caused by BCCs from overuse of either UV or too much sun.
"And if they're not treated they grow deeper into your skin hence the growths that you have on your body.
"But when you have women, we're all about our appearance if we're all honest and in particular our face.
NO SPF
"All the money we spend on creams for our face and SPF has only come out in the last how many years.
"When I started wearing makeup when I was 14, what was SPF? There was no such thing.
"That really didn't come out, I suppose, until the 90s and maybe the early 2000s. All because social media has created 'SPF this' and 'SPF that' and 'mind your face and all that'.
"But when you're 18 and impressionable and 20 onwards, you don't know what SPF is.
"You don't know how to mind your skin until you get later in life."
KEY SIGNS OF MELANOMA
THE most common sign of melanoma is the appearance of a new mole or a change in an existing mole.
Most experts recommend using the simple 'ABCDE' rule to look for symptoms of melanoma skin cancer, which can appear anywhere on the body.
Asymmetrical – melanomas usually have two very different halves and are an irregular shape
Border – melanomas usually have a notched or ragged border
Colours – melanomas will usually be a mix of two or more colours
Diameter – most melanomas are usually larger than 6mm in diameter
Enlargement or elevation – a mole that changes size over time is more likely to be a melanoma
And she said if she could turn back time she wouldn't have touched a sunbed.
She added: "I mean, when you're young, you're not going to be told and you're not going to listen. You're going to have to find out the hard way.
"And unfortunately, that's not going to happen until later life, because if I had known then what I know now, I most certainly wouldn't have done the damage that I have done to myself.
"But luckily I have been fortunate that I haven't had cancer, but the skin damage that I have, I won't say that I like it. I have it. I do try to get treatments done with it."
'TAN FADES, DAMAGE DOESN'T'
Karrieann said she now opts for fake tan instead, saying "tan fades, damage doesn't".
She said: "Some days when I put tan on, it looks worse than other days, and because I do try to tone it down as much as I can.
"Because, let's face it, who likes looking at leathery, botched up skin when you'd really rather love to have silky smooth beautiful skin.
"That's where age comes into it, when you're doing all these sunbeds when you're younger and you're not aware of the damage, but if you are aware, all good and well.
"But when you're not aware, a lot of young ladies have approached me over the last few weeks, and thanked me for bringing the awareness.
"Some of them actually have decided not to do any more sunbeds, but I've clearly said to them, 'I'm not telling you to do anything'.
"I said, 'I'm just bringing the awareness, you still have the choice to make yourself.'"
STATS
Health chiefs said that about 11,000 people are diagnosed with skin cancer each year.
And it is the most common cancer in Ireland.
However, a recent report published by the National Cancer Registry Ireland shows that the survival rate for most cases is nearly 100 per cent.
It says that about 9 out of 10 cases are non-melanoma skin cancers, and other types include melanoma.
Men are more likely to die from skin cancer than women, and about 270 people die from skin cancer each year in Ireland.
Director of the National Cancer Registry, Prof. Deirdre Murray, said: "Understanding the trends in skin cancer is vital for public health awareness and prevention strategies.
"Many of these cancers could be prevented with wider adoption of safe sun practices in our population and avoidance of sunbeds."
Skin cancer is more common in people over 50 but you can get melanoma skin cancer at any age.