Latest news with #tanning
The Sun
17 hours ago
- Health
- The Sun
My daughter, 24, died after using nasal tanning sprays…she was brave but my message is simple: avoid them at all costs
UNWINDING on their caravan holiday, Deborah Phillips couldn't help but notice her daughter looked even more bronzed and glowing than usual. Paige Roberts, then 22, a regular sunbed user, let her mum in on her tanning secret. 9 9 9 'I'm using these nasal sprays,' Paige said, showing her a little brown bottle. Deborah, 53, tells The Sun: 'I said, 'Oh my god. What does that do then?' She was this gorgeous colour anyway, but I'd never heard of it before. 'She explained it enhanced her tan when she did sunbeds, if she squirted some up her nostril. The man at her salon, who sold it to her for £47, said it would give her a 'really nice result'. 'I think she was quite attracted to it, wondering just how brown she could go. I warned her to be careful but I didn't think more of it at the time because I didn't know what was in it or how harmful it could be.' Just four months later, Paige, from Trowbridge, Wiltshire, would be diagnosed with cancer after finding a lump in her mouth. She died of the disease in March, aged just 24, after the disease spread to her brain and lungs. It was less than two years since that conversation while on holiday with her mum. Paige was adamant she knew what had caused her cancer. 'She was convinced from the start that it was because of using nasal tanning sprays,' Deborah says. 'It was the first thing she told the consultant when she was diagnosed. 'No one person could ever prove it caused her death, but my message to others is pretty simple: Avoid at all costs. Don't use the sprays. Don't use sunbeds. 'If anyone knew the pain of losing their best friend, and their only daughter, they wouldn't touch them either.' Alarming time-lapse video reveals how tiny 'dark patch' morphs into melanoma Nasal tanning sprays contain an ingredient that is illegal in the UK. But tragically, because the product falls under cosmetics, rather than medicines, it is not regulated. Youngsters are buying them on social media or in Paige's case, at her sunbed shop, to deepen their tan. Only those now facing the consequences of using the 'tan accelerators' are desperately warning others to avoid them. Paige, who worked in Cafe Rouge at Centre Parcs in Longleat Forest, had had an obsession with sunbeds for years. It was only after her boyfriend, Jason, mentioned that Paige had suffered some fainting and sickness episodes that Deborah grew concerned. Deborah, who lives less than ten miles away in Warminster, Wiltshire, says: 'She looked amazing, I'd be lying if I said she didn't. But I said to her, 'well this is a bit extreme isn't it? What's all this about?' And she just kind of passed it off. 'I said, 'just be careful. You don't want to make yourself ill going on these things', but it was her choice. We weren't living together. I had no idea how often and how long she was tanning for. 'I just never thought it was going to get as bad as it got.' In June 2023, Paige visited her mum and pointed to a little swollen lump between her two front teeth. Deborah, who also has sons Vinnie, 25, and Sam, 28, says: 'It just looked a bit inflamed - like she'd just overbrushed her gums a bit. "I told her, 'it'll probably be gone in a few days. Just don't brush too hard around that area'. It didn't worry me because it was very small.' But over the next few weeks, it kept getting bigger. Deborah says: 'It was really sticking out in the little gap between her two front teeth but even then she wasn't scared or suspicious. 9 9 'She sort of made a joke of it. She said that when she was taking orders, if she said the word 'fries' it would pop out even more and feel a bit strange. 'I just said, 'Look, you really need to go to the dentist about that'.' 'So stunned' But when Paige went, she was left shocked by the dentist's alarming verdict. Deborah, who has a long-term partner, says: 'The dentist just looked at Paige and literally told her, 'I'm not touching you. It's melanoma '. 'When she rang to tell me she was just so stunned and upset. Neither of us even realised you could get it in the mouth.' Paige was referred for further tests at Salisbury District Hospital. In July, she was referred for a biopsy and felt reassured when a doctor told her, 'We remove these things all the time, don't worry about it.' But in August 2023, while Deborah was working as an activities co-ordinator at a care home, she got another, even more distressed call from Paige. 'She rang me, crying and said, 'Yes, it's positive. It's melanoma',' Deborah recalls. 'I went out into the garden at work, pacing up and down, crying. I actually thought I was going to stop breathing. I was in such a mess. 'I kept thinking, 'What are we going to do and how are we going to deal with this?'' Melanoma is the most deadly form of skin cancer which in most cases, is caused by UV rays from sunlight and sunbeds. It develops in cells called melanocytes, which are found in areas not exposed to the sun, too. Paige became quite obsessed with photographing the roof of her mouth with her mobile and looking at the pictures. The doctors thought she was a bit of a medical mystery because of the pigmentation moving around Mum Deborah Rarer forms of melanoma affect the inside of the mouth, nose, vagina and rectum. These have varying symptoms, including ulcers, lumps and pigmented lesions. Paige's oncology consultant told her he planned to remove the melanoma with surgery. But within weeks of her diagnosis, Paige started getting new, even more bizarre symptoms - black marks all over her mouth that appeared to move around. Deborah says: 'They looked like little blank ink marks or pigmentation. They weren't lumpy at all but they were very strange because they seemed to move position all the time. 'Paige became quite obsessed with photographing the roof of her mouth with her mobile and looking at the pictures. 'The doctors thought she was a bit of a medical mystery because of the pigmentation moving around. 'They listened to her concerns about it being caused by the nasal tanning spray but they didn't know much about them and couldn't say whether they were the cause.' 9 9 What are nasal tanning sprays and why are they dangerous? Nasal tanning sprays claim to accelerate tanning and are often sniffed prior to sunbed use. They have become a huge hit on social media, where most advertising is targeted towards young people, often women, over TikTok and Instagram. They contain a substance known as melanotan II which, when inhaled, reaches the bloodstream and may stimulate melanin production. According to the Melanoma Fund, activated melanin creates a tan but 'may also encourage abnormal skin cell changes in response to UV exposure'. The process is considered unsafe and melanotan II is illegal in the UK. But due to the product falling under cosmetics, rather than medicines, it is not as tightly regulated. Earlier this year the Chartered Trading Standards Institute [CTSI] urged the public to avoid any tanning product that is 'inhaled or ingested'. It says side effects include high blood pressure, nausea, vomiting and changes in mole shape and size. It can also cause respiratory problems. Visit your GP for any persistent symptoms unusual for you, or changes to your body, such as lumps, pain, or bleeding. Further biopsies led her surgeon to opt for a more radical form of surgery at Southampton Hospital in September 2023. It involved removing her two front teeth and part of the roof of her mouth to remove all traces of melanoma. A fake denture was used as a fake roof and skin grafts were also taken from Paige's leg. Brave Paige remained in hospital for four weeks and was fed through a tube as her mouth healed. 'Incredibly upsetting' Deborah says: 'Even though she had a denture and her real teeth had been replaced, when she was asked to remove them so doctors could examine her mouth, it was incredibly upsetting. 'Paige was in absolute despair when she looked at herself in the mirror. It's not what any young woman wants to have to deal with.' In November, Paige was scheduled for a second surgery to remove more of the roof of her mouth when more black spots appeared. She then began immunotherapy in January 2024 - - but only after Paige had harvested her eggs after doctors warned the cancer treatment could affect her fertility. She only had four treatments before the cancer spread further, to her neck. By June, she was undergoing intensive radiotherapy for six weeks, Monday to Friday. Despite some of the distressing side-effects, which included a blood infection and extreme bowel problems, she made sure she enjoyed her life to the max. Deborah says: 'She'd still go out with the girls, put make-up on and have cocktails. She even continued smoking [which she had done since a teenager]. 'I was like, 'oh my god, I don't want you doing that and making things worse', but now I'm glad, because it gave her time just to live her life.' The radiotherapy shrunk the cancer in Paige's neck. But in November 2024, scan results showed her cancer had progressed to her lungs. Then, in January 2025, ten brain lesions were found following another scan. She was referred to Bristol Royal Infirmary for gamma knife therapy - a computer-guided form of radiation therapy - to remove the tumours there. Deborah says: 'The consultant was again very positive. He said, 'Don't worry, Paige. You won't lose your hair'.' The family had every hope that the treatment at Bristol Royal Infirmary would work - but it was never to go ahead. 'We went in to see Paige's consultant just before her treatment was due to start,' Deborah says. He got down at eye level with her in the chair and said, 'Right, I can't perform this'. 'Paige and I just stared at him. And then he said, 'The trouble is, I could have targeted the ten lesions, but I'm so sorry. We've been looking over and over at your MRI scans. They show you've got about 70 lesions on the brain'. 'Paige instantly broke down and said, 'I don't want to die'. It was awful.' On January 30, another cancer expert made a final call. Deborah says: 'She told Paige, 'You could have whole brain radiotherapy, but it'll make you so, so sick, so for a bit of quality of life I'm stopping all treatment now'. 'Paige broke down. I just kept thinking, 'Any minute now I'm going to wake up. I'm not having it. Someone is winding me up'. 'I felt completely frantic. I kept going: 'Is it money? I'll get the money. There must be something?'' Paige's health declined fast. Her lungs filled with fluid needing up to 1.5L drained daily, and she began having seizures. On February 24, they had one last laugh. Deborah remembers fondly: 'She came over with a friend who'd been staying and helping her and were all giggling about Married At First Sight UK because she knew one of the guys who was on it.' Paige was admitted to Dorothy House Hospice Care in Bradford-Upon-Avon on February 28. She passed away peacefully on March 2 this year, surrounded by 14 of her most loved friends and family. Deborah says: 'I remember leaving her to go home and have a shower but halfway home I got a call telling me to come back. It was the worst journey back ever. I thought I was going to faint. 'But her last moments were surrounded by all of us. We played the song Riptide and her friend sang. She was remarkable and brave throughout everything she went through. 'I joked when she first got her diagnosis: 'You're not going anywhere because you're looking after me when I'm old!' 'We were like peas in a pod. We'd holiday together. We did jazz dancing together. She was everything I suppose anybody could want in a daughter, and I can't stand it because my time's been cut so short.' Not a day goes by when Deborah doesn't think about her daughter. Her lounge is filled with Paige's keepsakes - her favourite teddies, furniture, cushions and ornaments. 'She's all around me,' says Deborah. 'We actually call the room I spend a lot of my time in 'Paige's room' because it has so many of her things.' Now Deborah hopes her loss will be a deterrent to others using sunbeds and nasal spray. She is backing a campaign by Alyson Hogg, founder and CEO of tanning brand Vita Liberta, to ensure all sunbeds come with public health warnings, like the ones found on cigarette packets. She says: 'More needs to be done to make people realise the dangers. My gut feeling is the excessive tanning caused Paige's cancer. 'I also believe that the spray could be linked because, of course, the nose and mouth are connected. But I'll never know. I still don't believe I won't get to see her again. 'I've lost my best friend and I wouldn't wish that on any parent.' 9 What is melanoma, what are the symptoms and how can you prevent it? Melanoma is the most serious type of skin cancer that has a tendency to spread around the body. It is diagnosed 16,000 times per year, and tragically takes the lives of 2,340 people per year. The number of people being diagnosed with melanoma is increasing, and it is the 5th most common cancer in the UK. But it is also one of the most preventable cancers, with 86 per cent of cases in the UK avoidable. The best way to protect yourself from melanoma is to be sun safe - wear SPF every day, wear a hat and sunglasses and keep out of the sun in the hottest hours. It is also advised to avoid sunbeds. People who are fair-skinned, have blue or green eyes, blonde or red hair and a large number of freckles or moles are more likely to get skin cancer. Surgery is the main treatment for melanoma, particularly if it is found early. This will involve removing the affected tissue in the skin. Radiotherapy, medicines and chemotherapy are also sometimes used to try and stop the cancer from growing. Treatment depends on the severity of the disease. What are the symptoms? The key thing to look out for are changes to an existing mole, or a new mole on your skin. Most experts recommend using the simple 'ABCDE' rule to look for symptoms of melanoma skin cancer, which can appear anywhere on the body. There are five letters/words to remember: A symmetrical – melanomas usually have two very different halves and are an irregular shape B order – melanomas usually have a notched or ragged border C olours – melanomas will usually be a mix of two or more colours D iameter – most melanomas are usually larger than 6mm in diameter E nlargement or elevation – a mole that changes size over time is more likely to be a melanoma A mole that changes size, shape or colour may be a melanoma. But other signs to look out for include moles that are: Swollen and sore Bleeding Itchy Crusty How deadly is it? Melanoma is a deadly form of skin cancer. The outlook of a person's disease depends on the stage of the cancer when it was diagnosed. Survival is better for women than it is for men. 'We don't know exactly why this is. It may be because women are more likely to see a doctor about their melanoma at an earlier stage,' says Cancer Research UK. The charity says that generally, statistics show that in England, more than 85 out of every 100 people (more than 85 per cent) will survive their melanoma for 10 years or more after they are diagnosed. Around 100 per cent in England diagnosed with melanoma at stage 1 - when the cancer cells are only in the top layer of skin - will survive for five years or more after drops to 80 per cent for stage 2. Some 70 per cent live for a further five years when they are diagnosed in stage 3, which is when the cancer has started to spread to nearby lymph nodes. At stage 4, when the melanoma has spread elsewhere in the body, almost 30 per cent survive their cancer for 5 years or more. Cancer Research says the stage 4 data does not account for age differences. Age can affect outlook and younger people have a better prognosis than older people. Age can affect outlook and younger people have a better prognosis than older people. What is melanoma? Melanocytes are cells in the skin that give us the colour of our skin because they produce a pigment, known as melanin. When you sit in the sun, melanocytes produce more pigment (a sun tan), which spreads to other skin cells to protect them from the sun's rays. But melanocytes are also where cancer starts. Too much UV causes sunburn, and this is a sign of damage to the skin's DNA. The UV triggers changes in the melanocytes, which makes the genetic material become faulty and cause abnormal cell growth. People who burn easily are more at risk of skin cancer because their cells do not produce as much pigment to protect their skin. Those with albinism are at the most risk because their skin produces no pigment at all.
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Lisa Rinna's nepo baby Amelia Gray Hamlin, 24, shocks fans by posting fully NUDE photos
Lisa Rinna 's nepo daughter Amelia Gray Hamlin shocked fans on Friday as she shared a photo of herself tanning fully nude. The model, 24, has been making the most of her European holiday and posted a new image of herself laying out topless and without bikini bottoms. The cheeky photo showed the fashionista and a friend lying by the pool of their villa, wearing nothing but some sunscreen, with their pert behinds fully on display. Amelia also shared a photo to her Instagram stories, showing the star with her friends as they enjoyed another nude sunbathing session by the ocean, though she cropped this image to only reveal her sideboob. The runway star sat on a towel with a book in her hand, sporting a white baseball hat with patches and a pair of black sunglasses. She also posted a snap showing off her incredible six-pack abs in a pair of skimpy pink string bikini bottoms, with seashell emojis strategically placed over her chest. The star went on to post another magazine cover worthy snap, this time with her pink bikini top on, while on vacation in what appeared to be the Mediterranean. Her triangle top barely covered her chest, and the bottom offered little coverage for her nether regions. The runway veteran's long, dark hair was wet and brushed away from her seemingly makeup free face which was lifted to the sky in order to get some sun on a pale patch of skin on her neck. She accessorized with dark framed sunglasses and wore a silver or white gold bracelet. It comes just a day after Amelia laid her naked ambition bare in a steamy bikini shoot — stripping down topless in a series of jaw-dropping snaps. She flaunted her figure on Instagram Thursday with a sultry photo carousel from a sun-soaked getaway. In one eye-popping shot, the brunette beauty stretched out on a rocky coastline in nothing but a tiny bikini bottom, her long locks draped across her bare chest as the ocean sparkled behind her. Two other shots kept with the topless theme, with Amelia posing like a seasoned pro — while covering her chest. 'I love being a mermaid so much,' she cheekily captioned the sizzling pics. Amelia seems to be taking some time for herself after a busy year. In February, left little to the imagination as she stormed the DSquared2 runway during Milan Fashion Week. The model went braless as she took to the catwalk in a sheer Cher-inspired champagne-nude jumpsuit. It's a brand with which she has a strong relationship. In 2023 she was also one of the stars for the DSquared2's fall 2023 show. The model is the the youngest daughter of soap legend Lisa, 62, and Hollywood heartthrob Harry Hamlin, 73, one of Tinseltown's most enduring couples. Her celebrity parents allowed her to pursue her life's ambition at a young age. In an interview with Vogue's The Run-Through podcast, she opened up about how she achieved her goal. 'Almost every girl's story is, "I was walking on the street and someone scouted me,"' she explained, adding. 'but that's completely opposite to my story.' 'I scouted everyone else. I had already known that this is what I wanted to do since I was 5 years old. I have no idea why.' She also admitted she was aware of being a 'nepo baby' and was 'extremely grateful for that.' 'Yeah, I have parents that are actors… and?' she told Vogue Arabia for it's May issue. 'No matter what I do, I can never please everyone. All that matters is that I please myself, and lead with my heart.' Her next goal is to follow in her parents' footsteps. 'I want to be in films. I want to find passion in new things, and constantly evolve,' she explained. As a child, Hamlin was a member of the cast of the children's show Rachel & the Tree Schoolers and made appearances on the reality shows Harry Love Lisa and The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Lifestyle
- Daily Mail
'Obsessed' shoppers can't get enough of this under-£21 face tanning mist - it's already sold out twice (and it's now on sale)
Daily Mail journalists select and curate the products that feature on our site. If you make a purchase via links on this page we will earn commission - learn more Summer shoppers looking to avoid common face tanning mistakes have found a solution with one face tanning micromist that gives a 'perfect tan without streaking'. The Coco & Eve Antioxidant Face Tanning Micromist is set to end the endless problems associated with tanning your face (hello streaks, orange stains and missed patches). Selling out twice, it's now back in stock and on sale for 20 per cent off. But hurry, this sale ends soon. Antioxidant Face Tanning Micromist, 75ml If you struggle to fake tan your face or want to keep that healthy summer glow for longer, the bestselling Antioxidant Face Tanning Micromist from Coco & Eve could be your hero product. The micromist technology allows for fast-absorbing, lightweight application for a streak-free glow. Plus, it's loaded with antioxidants, which leave skin hydrated and happy. £20.50 (save £5.50) Shop The Sunny Honey Bali Bronzing Foam from Coco & Eve is so popular that one is sold every 20 seconds, with users claiming it's a 'holiday in a bottle'. Masters of self-tan, the brand has also come up with a game-changing solution to the tricky task of fake tanning your face. Enter the Antioxidant Face Tanning Micromist. Promising to make tanning your face effortless with flawless micromist technology for even application - it's so popular that it's sold out twice already, with 'obsessed' shoppers taking about its 'holy grail' status. And it's not on sale for £20.80 - a saving of over £5. Fake tanning your face is a daunting process, but the secret to a natural-looking bronze face has been discovered by 'obsessed' shoppers - and it's under £21. Using micromist technology, the easy-to-use Antioxidant Face Tanning Micromist allows for fast absorbing, lightweight application for a streak-free glow. Unlike oils and creams, which can be tricky to apply without streaks or patches, this is an ultra-fine mist that evenly disperses over your skin, eliminating the risk and maximising the rewards. And it's even been given the seal of approval from 'serious beginners'. 'I am a serious beginner,' wrote one shopper. 'I was skeptical that I could apply a mist evenly and not look like a bruised fruit - and after trying I want to buy in bulk. Such a beautiful natural glow, evens out your skin tone - would probably use in place of a concealer!'. Hailed a face tanning 'game-changer', the Coco & Eve mist is loaded with Balinese botanicals, passionfruit and HyalurosmoothTM, a hyaluronic acid-like active, which boosts skin's hydration by 40 per cent in only 30 minutes. Whether you're a beginner to fake tan or have tried and tested plenty of brands, the Coco & Eve Antioxidant Face Tanning Micromist sets itself apart from the crowd thanks to its flawless results. Users have reported waking to a 'gorgeous glow', reporting how it's 'super natural' and quickly revives 'lifeless' skin. 'I have found the holy grail' raved one thrilled shopper. 'This is the only face tanner that doesn't leave my skin blotchy and blends so evenly into my neck/chest. I can spray this on my face just for a pick me up - no other fake tanner on my body - and have a makeup free natural looking glow.' Another agreed, adding: 'Tried so many face tanners in the past and they're uneven and patchy and orange, this one is NOT. It's so even and natural I am obsessed. I will be reordering!.' 'It is so light weight and smells amazing. It is so natural and gives off such a nice warm bronze. For the price, it is perfect.'
Times
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Times
Feel the burn: Ulrika Jonsson's tan has become a hot topic
It was when I saw on my daughter's Instagram feed a video that suggested changing the name of toasters to 'sunbeds for bread', in which young women admired golden slices of toast as an ideal facial aesthetic, that I knew something very strange had happened in the world of tanning. This isn't just a fad, it's a burning issue. Ulrika Jonsson, the TV presenter, has posted on her Instagram account to address unkind comments about her recent appearance. Jonsson was seen on YouTube with a deep tan, around Yorkshire Tea on the Trump tan tint colour swatch. To achieve this with her fair Scandinavian genotype she has to put in the hours. Not only does Jonsson use sunbeds in winter, she wrote, but she likes the sun on her skin in summer. 'I'm not ashamed to say that I am a sun worshipper,' Jonsson wrote. 'And will no doubt pay the price for that.' Jonsson, 57, was receiving flak for the ageing effect this has on her face. 'I understand that an over-tanned, imperfect and AGEING face offends you,' she wrote. But in terms of her joyful dedication to solar radiation, she was in fact ageing in reverse. Generation Z girls have ditched the safe fake tan of their mothers and joined an ancient and dangerous sun cult whose last-known practitioners died out in the 1980s, embalmed in Hawaiian Tropic. Ulrika Jonsson Sunbed use is on the rise, sunbathing is on the rise, melanomas are on the rise, the whole package holiday. If you need any convincing, ask a teenage or early twentysomething girl what the UV index is. I'll wait. My life had been utterly untroubled by the UV index. In fact I hadn't even noticed when it appeared on the weather forecast in the early 2000s. It was put there to warn the public of the days when the sun's rays were at their most carcinogenic. Now the British UV index is as old as the only people who obsess on it: young women. But in a development that is in some respects quite funny, they have weaponised it for evil. For Gen Z girls, the UV index is an unholy tool in which good is bad and bad is good. TikTok is now full of videos — some deadly serious, some satirical — about the need to intently track the UV index 'like it is the stock market and you are a day trader'. When the UV index reaches a ten, meaning there is a high risk of burning for white skin, the videos show girls cheering and running outdoors in their bikinis. Fake tan is deemed such an inferior substitute that girls apply it while wearing swimwear, carefully taping off the lines of their bikinis to make sure no one would guess they are doing anything the safe way. What does it mean? In the 1960s young people innocently sacrificed their health to big tobacco because smoking was cool. Same as in the 1980s, when I tanned to burn, rotating on my beach towel like a doner kebab. Yet now we know the risks, doing it anyway becomes more interesting. Sunburn is more carcinogenic the younger it hits. Skin cancer is now the third most common cancer among British women aged 15 to 44, according to Cancer Research UK. Melanoma is 2.6 times higher in women aged 20 to 24 than in men in the same age range. A long-term study on nurses published in Cancer Epidemiology in 2014 found that five bad sunburns between the age of 15 and 20 increased risk of melanoma by 80 per cent. Yet the UK's biggest tanning chain, the Tanning Shop, has increased its number of premises by almost 40 per cent since 2018. • The best self-tanners for summer 2025 — and how to apply them You don't need me to tell you all this. The evidence is clear and I'm not your mother. I am, however, a mother to a teenage girl. I am a regretful and reformed factor 50 zealot who creeps around in the shadows. Her friends, meanwhile, live in the light. I remind her that I am the wrinkled ghost — complete with a spooky white sunblock mask — of Christmas future. Her generation remind me of many things. Teenagers are designed to rebel: see the TikTok video of a teenage girl with a huge smile, captioned 'how it feels to tan when there's no rat in my ear telling me I'm going to get skin cancer' (to be clear, I'm the rat). Smoking remained cool for young people in the 1980s even when we had full knowledge of the risks. All the warnings targeted at young people missed the point. It wasn't cool despite the risks, it was cool because of the risks. Telling teens that smoking was dangerous was its best advert. And in a similar vein to big tobacco, we now have big sun: smoking's wizened brown lungs have been swapped out for wizened brown skin. Same for lectures from tan-phobic parents like me: they are all part of tanning's appeal. Tanning, like smoking before it, provides an addictive hit of youthful invincibility, like drugs or fast motorbikes. If you're neither going to die nor get old, why worry about wrinkles? Gen Z's tanning and ever-younger use of anti-ageing treatments such as Botox seems strangely contradictory. Yet in practice it is consistent. It's about looking good now. Those tanorexic elderly nudists with bits like beef jerky are of no relevance to them. • A 2022 study in the journal Genes asked nearly 4,000 white British 25-year-olds about tanning. More than half said they 'liked to tan', with 90 per cent saying their favourite way was outdoors in the sun. Their top three reasons were in descending order 'it makes you happier', 'it gives you more confidence' and 'it makes you look better in photos'. Looking 'thinner with a tan' came in at number five. Only a fifth said they had not had a painful sunburn lasting a day or more in the last two years. In the US mainstream politics is more into sunning itself. Donald Trump has so far remained silent on how he achieves his trademark skin tone. A White House official said in 2019 that it was the result of 'good genes'. But Unhinged, a memoir by the former White House aide Omarosa Manigault Newman, claimed that Trump had a tanning bed in the White House. Robert F Kennedy Jr, America's mahogany health secretary, believes in tanning. He was photographed leaving a Washington DC tanning salon last month. His plan to 'Make America Healthy Again', released in May, is unusual in not mentioning sunburn, one of the major lifestyle factors causing the rise in young people's cancer. Instead, in October Kennedy tweeted that the US Food and Drug Administration's 'aggressive suppression' of 'sunshine' would end under his reign. I'm joking about big sun but, in a way, we do all live in the shadow of big sun — or rather, what feels like an ever hotter sun in our warming planet. 'I'm a solar panel,' one sunbathing young woman joked on social media. This generation of young people are perhaps unique in their gloominess about the long-term future. If measures to cool the planet aren't being taken, why bother taking measures to stop your skin burning? We may all burn one way or another. The Kennedy rhetoric here is appealing: maybe, hopefully, the scientists have it wrong about the dangers of the sun in every way. Or if they don't, if we are all going to fry, why not go down with a beautiful tan that will look great in the photos? 'My name is Christa and I admit it — I'm a lifelong tanorexic' By Christa D'Souza Christa D'Souza CHRISTA D'SOUZA/INSTAGRAM Poor Ulrika. Folks do like to have a go, don't they? It takes a tanorexic to know one and yes, as someone born in 1960, that is what I am. If you were a teen in the Seventies you probably were too. What exacerbated the addiction — because that is probably what it is — is that I was so terribly good at it. Being of mixed heritage (my dad was Indian) I can almost, as it were, get brown under fluorescent light. When I was a teen it was perfectly normal to want one's face to be the same shade of mahogany as one's body. (Hence putting tin foil up one's nostrils and facing the sun on a deckchair for hours.) It could be raining on holiday and I'd be out there by the pool wanting to be darker. You can never be too rich, too thin or too brown; that was the mantra of the Seventies and though I'm not saying I still hold by that, I'm also saying that I suppose it doesn't sound completely nuts. In one way I wish I'd listened to my mother, who told me summer after summer I was ruining my skin (she herself at 82 has peachy skin. In fact a friendly immigration officer in Pakistan once told her she thought I was the mother, rather than the other way round). But in another it's a price I've always been willing to pay. They say you choose your face or your body. Well, it's crystal clear to any observer which way I swing. Absent of a face transplant or some very, very, very expensive surgery I'm always going to look my age (65). Like Ulrika, I was always destined to be the peach kernel rather than the peach, for which I take full responsibility. My children, who both tend to dress like Shackleton on the beach, are always on at me about it. And I've got the whole season to toast slowly: we live part of the year in Greece, which means there's no rush. Soz, but I love the feeling of the sun on my face too much. And though I'll make some token efforts at the beginning of summer to cream up and wear a hat, ten days in I'll be out there bare-backed, just as I was in my teens and twenties. As for the damage I've wreaked over the years from other bad habits … Like I said, poor Ulrika — and she's only 57, miles younger than me! My advice to her is that she does as I do: keep teetotal, attempt to stay in shape and style it out.
Globe and Mail
6 days ago
- Health
- Globe and Mail
Morning Update: Sunscreen skepticism goes viral
Good morning. The TikTok generation is trading sunblock for sunburns, using apps to optimize their summer glow — more on that below, along with the one-year anniversary of Jasper's wildfire and Ozzy Osbourne's musical legacy. But first: The kids are tanning again. They're frying themselves to a Paris Hilton Y2K crisp. They're speeding along the entire process with gels that are basically Vaseline and lotions that are literally beer. (The Cleveland Clinic actually stepped in to warn about the perils of 'beer tanning.') They're using apps with names like Rayz and Beam to track peak UV hours, so they can hustle outside and sharpen their tan lines by laying in the sun. Then they're showing off their handiwork on social media, where the hashtag 'tanlines' has appeared in more than 236 million TikTok posts. According to the American Academy of Dermatology, 70 per cent of Gen Z report actively tanning. Half of them say they returned with a burn, a number that ticks up to 57 per cent in Canada. And while the pursuit of a sun-baked complexion is at least a century old – back when Josephine Baker launched her own tanning oil and Coco Chanel said 'a golden tan is the index of chic' – this generation appears to be worryingly unaware of the risks. Maybe the beer tanning tipped you off: 28 per cent of 18- to 26-year-olds say they don't believe suntans cause skin cancer. And 68 per cent admit they often forgo sunscreen. Real quick: Scientists estimate that exposure to UV radiation is associated with 80 to 90 per cent of all skin cancers. That includes melanoma, which is its most fatal form. Sunscreen isn't a silver bullet – flat-out sun avoidance and sun-protective clothing are the best ways to keep your skin safe. Still, study after study after study have shown that regular sunscreen use reduces your risk of developing skin cancer. But that message doesn't tend to accompany those #tanlines Tiktoks. Timothy Caulfield, a professor of health law and science policy at the University of Alberta, told The Globe that what's playing out on social media instead is nothing short of an 'anti-sunscreen movement.' He chalks that up to the power of online influencers such as American podcaster Joe Rogan, who has floated the idea that sunscreen can damage the brain. (It can't.) Wellness bro Andrew Huberman said on his show that the chemicals in sunscreen may be endocrine disruptors. (They're not.) Trad-couple influencers Nara and Lucky Blue Smith whipped up their own sunscreen from coconut oil and shea butter. The process – which you really should not try at home – has been viewed on TikTok nearly 22 million times. To the most bullish sunscreen truthers, the sun is all-natural and SPF is synthetic, peddled by Big Pharma to keep you sick. It's an easy theory that fits tidily into the whole Make America Healthy Again movement, where measles are treated with cod liver oil, not vaccines, and milk is best when it's raw, not pasteurized, and bone marrow is a daily menu staple. Sometimes, MAHA worlds collide: A brand called Primally Pure is now hawking a sunscreen alternative made from beef tallow. U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. – who sports a serious bronze himself – posted last year that the war on sunshine (and anything else that 'can't be patented by Pharma') was about to end. It's all having an impact on young adults. The Orlando Health Cancer Institute found that 14 per cent of them felt it was more harmful to wear sunscreen every day than to go without. Nearly 30 per cent of Gen Z said getting a tan was more important than preventing skin cancer anyway. In his inaugural address last January, U.S. President Donald Trump – another tanning enthusiast – promised to usher in a new golden age. This might not exactly be the hue he was aiming for, but it's looking increasingly like the one he'll get. One year ago, a 50-metre-high wildfire overtook Jasper, displacing the entire town and destroying at least a third of its buildings. Read more here about the long road to recovery – and how residents are working to rebuild their community. At home: A cybersecurity breach at the $4-billion hedge fund manager Waratah, which handles money for wealthy Canadians, may have exposed names, social insurance numbers and account sizes. Abroad: U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson sent lawmakers home early for the summer to avoid a vote on releasing the Jeffrey Epstein files. Music: Just weeks after playing the final Black Sabbath concert, heavy metal icon Ozzy Osbourne has died at the age of 76. Sports: Canadian soccer phenom Olivia Smith is the first female player to fetch a £1-million transfer fee after signing with Arsenal of England's Women's Super League. Pop: It was a banner second quarter for Coca-Cola, which beat profit estimates and is about to put cane sugar back in its drinks.
