The Wellness Industry’s Newest Lie Could Give You Cancer with Dr. Mary Alice Mina

In today’s episode of Bite Back with Abbey Sharp, we separate sunscreen fact from fiction and unpack the growing resurgence of tanning culture. Joined by board-certified dermatologist and The Skin Real host Dr. Mary Alice Mina, we explore the truth about sunscreen safety, SPF myths, tanning trends, melanoma risk, and the science of protecting your skin. If you've ever questioned sunscreen, chased a tan, or wondered how to reduce your skin cancer risk, this episode is for you. Here’s a run down of what we discussed in today’s episode: Are Chemical Sunscreens Actually Safe? Can Food Really Replace Sunscreen? The Dangerous Return of Tanmaxxing Is There Such a Thing as a Safe Tan? Why Gen Z Is Tanning Again Wrinkles vs. Skin Cancer: What Motivates Prevention? The Best Sunscreens & Self-Tanners The ABCDEs of Melanoma How to Spot Skin Cancer Early The Biggest Myths About Sun Protection Check in with today’s amazing guest: Dr. Mary Alice Mina www.theskinreal.com instagram.com/drminaskin theskinreal.podbean.com tiktok.com/drminaskin facebook.com/drminaskin Disclaimer: The content in this episode is for educational and entertainment purposes only and is never a substitute for medical advice. If you’re struggling with with your mental or physical health, please work one on one with a health care provider. If you have heard yourself in our discussion today, and are looking for support, contact the free NEDIC helpline at 1-866-NEDIC-20 or go to eatingdisorderhope.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:01Speaker 00

  Ultra running shoes are all about space, the space to go further, to feel better, to do something you never thought possible. And this space starts with Ultra Fit. Unlike traditional running shoes, Ultra Fit gives toes more room to move naturally. So every step is strong, balanced, and comfortable. Whatever you're lacing up for, stay out there with Ultra. Shop now at ultrarunning.com. That's A-L-T-R-A running.com.

• 0:30Speaker 01

  Your heart can tell you a lot about your health. Apple Watch Series 12 measures your heart rate every five seconds with the most accurate heart rate sensing and wearable. So your vitals app, now with heart rate variability, can tell you when something is off. And your readiness score can let you know when to rest and when to push. Hear the story in every heartbeat with Apple Watch Series 12. The features described are for wellness purposes only and not for medical use. iPhone 11 or later required. Based on Apple conducted study of heart rate accuracy, August 2026. Visit apple.com slash Apple Watch Series 12. Your credit card company is hoping you don't hear this. They're charging you 21% APR interest, making it hard to pay down your balance. A home equity loan from Rocket Mortgage could cut your interest rate by more than half. So you could wipe out your high interest

• 1:15Speaker 01

  credit card debt with the equity you've built in your home without touching your current mortgage rate. See how much you could save at rocketmortgage.com. Rocket Mortgage LLC, licensed in 50 states. MLS consumeraccess.org number 3030. Call 800 for Rocket for full program details.

• 1:30Speaker 02

  A tan is actually changing the DNA in your cells. Like, if I told you, like, "Hey, I'm gonna have you go do this test and it's gonna change the DNA in your, the nucleus of your cells," you would never do that. But that's essentially what's happening in the sun.

• 1:50Abbey Sharp?

  Welcome to another episode of Bite Back with Abbey Sharp, where I dismantle diet culture rules, call it the charlatans spinning the pseudoscience, and help you achieve food freedom for good. Today's episode is one that really, really does hit home. Last year, my husband noticed a mole on my back that seemed a little bit off. Within the week, I had it biopsied, and just a few days later, I was given the diagnosis that no young woman wants: skin cancer. Despite being only 37 at the time, I'm not just an unlucky anomaly. Melanoma is one of the most common cancers in young people, and by age 70, about 20%

• 2:34Abbey Sharp?

  of people will be diagnosed. When missed, it can be devastatingly deadly. But when caught early, as I did, it has a 99% survival rate. Hence, the importance of today's discussion. Adding to the urgency here, dermatology experts have been sounding the alarm on the return of tanning culture among Gen Z, with trends circulating on TikTok like checking the UV for tan maxing and using diet in place of SPF. A lot of these trends are grounded in something that we talk about quite frequently here on Bite Back, which is the appeal to nature's fallacy, or the idea that anything natural is inherently superior or safer than

• 3:16Abbey Sharp?

  anything man-made. And considering that the sun is at the center of our natural universe, and sun protectants like sunscreen are made in a lab, it makes sense that conversations around sun safety are riddled in this fallacy. Joining me today to dive into the truth about sunscreen safety, SPF diets, skin cancer, tanning, and more, is Dr. Mary Alice Mina, a board-certified dermatologist and the host of the top podcast, The Skin Real. Now, before we dive in, if you haven't already, I would love if you would subscribe to Bite Back for more long-form wellness culture debunking. Check out my YouTube channel, Abby's Kitchen,

• 3:59Abbey Sharp?

  for longer-form reactions, and TikTok and Instagram for hot takes and short-form reactions and myth-busting. Subscribing makes a huge difference and really does help me continue to create great content for you. All right, friends, let's dive in. Thank you so much, Dr. Mina. I'm so excited to chat about this. Really looking forward to this conversation, both selfishly for myself, but also I think this is a very important conversation. You know, sun safety is very important, so especially in an age of misinformation. So thank you so much for joining us.

• 4:31Speaker 02

  Yeah, thank, understandable. Thank you so much for having me, Abby. Love your podcast.

• 4:35Abbey Sharp?

  Thank you, thank you. I want to kind of jump in talking about sunscreen for a minute, because I think that there's, you know, so many influencers right now claiming that, you know, sunscreen is toxic, it's an endocrine disruptor, that it's more dangerous than the sun itself. And, and this is not even just like fringe communities anymore. It just feels a bit like the entire kind of quote-unquote "clean beauty" movement has also reinforced a lot of fear around sunscreen, specifically chemical sunscreens. Just to kind of set the record straight out the gate, is it safe to use chemical sunscreen if that is your preference?

• 5:14Speaker 02

  100%. I do not want anyone listening to be fearful about using them as they are intended. Now, if you are a rat and you are eating copious amounts of them for years, maybe there's a problem. But there have been zero human studies showing problems using these sunscreens when applied topically. We, we just don't use enough of it. We're not ingesting it. So I don't want anyone to be fearful about using them.

• 5:43Abbey Sharp?

  Yeah, okay. I'm so happy that you said that. And because, I mean, obviously, I'm not a dermatologist, but, you know, I've looked into the research, and the way I see it is very, really no different than, than the food in that, you know, the presence of a chemical, I know chemical sounds always scary to people, presence of a chemical does not make it toxic. And the dose makes the poison. And like you said, we're not eating it, hopefully, unless you're like a toddler who got his hands on it. But, you know, and there's a lot of innovative mineral sunscreen options now that have, of course, drastically improved that thick, from the thick zinc creams and stuff. But, yeah, for some, you know, they're expensive, they can stain clothes and furniture, harder to apply.

• 6:24Speaker 02

  Yeah, harder to get off.

• 6:25Abbey Sharp?

  Harder to get off, I know. And so, you know, the way I see it is kind of like, if people are less likely to use or reapply a mineral sunscreen because they don't like the feel or the look or whatever, from my perspective, it seems unquestionably better to use a chemical sunscreen.

• 6:41Speaker 02

  Absolutely. You're, you hit the nail on the head. And the other thing is, it's really doing a disservice to people of color who oftentimes have a much harder time getting a mineral sunscreen to be applied and to look nice on their skin. And we're, you know, I don't want them thinking, "I can't wear sunscreen then because I don't want to hurt myself with a chemical sunscreen." So that's why I think this misinformation is so dangerous. And if, if I wear, I use chemical sunscreens, I have no problem with them. If your personal preference is to use a mineral one, then by all means, do it. But it's totally, I think, inappropriate to tell people that chemical sunscreens are dangerous or going to hurt them.

• 7:23Abbey Sharp?

  Yeah, okay. I'm so happy we cleared the air on that.

• 7:26Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 7:28Abbey Sharp?

  Now, I want to take it a step further now, because, you know, now it's not enough to avoid like a chemical-sounding sunscreen. There's this like huge trend I'm seeing towards foregoing sunscreen altogether, instead just kind of quote-unquote "eating your sun protection" through foods rich in antioxidants. And, you know, I'm a dietitian. Obviously, I believe that food is powerful. But that feels like a massive reach. What is your response to that trend?

• 7:57Speaker 02

  Well, trust your gut, Abby. Yes, it is. And yes, I think food is so important for our health. I don't need to tell you that, right? And what we eat shows up on our skin. So by all means, eat a healthy diet. Eat a lot of antioxidant-rich foods, of course, right? But don't think that by eating that, it's the same thing as applying it topically to your skin. You can't eat enough oranges to get the benefit of a vitamin C serum. Same thing with eating carrots for a retinol. It just doesn't work that way, right? So eat those, those items because they're good for your body in general. But

• 8:38Speaker 02

  we need to apply them to our skin for the protection from UV damage or for the antioxidant benefits in our skin directly.

• 8:47Abbey Sharp?

  Yeah. And I feel like, you know, I talk about these kinds of bits of misinformation that we see online. And often, they're kind of, they're, they're based on like a nugget of truth that becomes wildly overstated because of course, like antioxidants, carotenoids help to reduce oxidative stress and inflammation after UV exposure. But it's not like applying, you know, a thick layer of SPF, you know, if it offers any actual barrier to stop UV from entering the skin, it is basically insignificant. It's, it's really more like, it's really more in helping the cells cope with some of the oxidative stress after the UV penetration. It's, it's almost like if we likened this to the difference between wearing a seatbelt

• 9:30Abbey Sharp?

  and then taking an Advil after the car crash to help with the pain. Like, you know, we, hopefully, we wear the seatbelt, right? We want to avoid the injury in the first place. So yeah, there's a lot of these wellness culture trends that are, that are obviously a waste of money. But when it's displacing something or replacing a cancer preventative behavior, that is when we see, you know, actual harm, and it's more damaging.

• 9:54Speaker 02

  Absolutely. And like, you know, like misinformation unfortunately spreads so much. Faster than real information, right? Like, it's not sexy to sit here and say, like, sun protect and eat a balanced diet, high in fiber and antioxidants, right? It's it's much sexier to say, like, this is going to kill you and buy my supplement that's going to cure all that.

• 10:15Abbey Sharp?

  Yeah, 100%. We talk a lot about algorithmic escalation and how that works. And it is becoming just harder and harder for folks to understand what's what's real and what's not.

• 10:26Speaker 02

  Right.

• 10:27Abbey Sharp?

  Now, I want to talk about another trend that maybe might even be more dangerous than sunscreen skepticism. And that is this revived tan maxing trend we're seeing. Uh, what the hell? I I'm a millennial, so like, I grew up in the 90s and 2000s. And I shudder to remember that it was basically like our after school activity to go to the tan in bed. Put on your like Playboy bunny little like sticker, get your tanning oil. And it was like a flex to see like, oh, this week I'm going up in minutes. And we didn't know any better, like, we, we knew teens then didn't didn't know anything about skincare or retinol or eye creams.

• 11:10Speaker 02

  Right.

• 11:10Abbey Sharp?

  And what's interesting to me today is that not only do we have loads of public health messaging against tanning and tanning beds, but kids are also deeply engrossed in all that anti aging beauty messaging from a very young age. So I'm curious, this seems like a bit of a dichotomy. Like, how do you make sense of the fact that despite all that, tanning is kind of reentering the chat for Gen Z?

• 11:36Speaker 02

  I know. I it's crazy. I remember growing up and one of my, like, the Barbie doll you could get for her Barbie's Barbie's dream house was a tanning bed, right? And and look, I've been to tanning beds, right? A lot of times people are like shocked, but yeah, I mean, I I think there's a little bit of like doing something bad, right? And like, yeah, I was told I shouldn't do it, so I'm going to do it. I I've heard that smoking is kind of making a comeback, right? Because people are like, oh, it's kind of bad, so I want to do it. So I think there's a little bit of that for young people. I know for me, there was, you know, I I can't say I didn't think it was healthy to tan, but I I was like 18, 19, 20. I didn't really care. I thought my skin would look better.

• 12:21Speaker 02

  So I I will say a funny story, though. I was going to tanning beds and I was in my early 20s and someone, and and again, I I am really, really pale. Like, I really didn't get that tan. But someone asked me how old I was. And I told him, I said, I'm like 21 or 22. And they said, oh, I thought you were a lot older. And it's because I was getting little lines around my eyes. And that was a wake up call for me to say, okay, wait a minute. Like, maybe this tanning isn't doing me any favors. Because to be told you look in your late 20s when you're in your early 20s, you know, that's a big insult, right? But yeah, it is, it is disheartening to see this because a big portion of what I do day to day is I remove skin cancer on people.

• 13:04Speaker 02

  And it may sound like, oh, skin cancer, there's, you know, it's, there are millions of people getting it. You don't die from it, you know? And and that's, you know, while the majority may not, you're still having surgery, you're getting scars. You know, I have one lady who says, like, I'm I'm like a patchwork, you know, doll right now. I'm I'm constantly having to have things cut out for me. Because if we don't, then they will get bigger and grow. And so I think sometimes we minimize the impact of what skin cancer can do for you. And unfortunately, you may not realize that till you're in your 60s, 70s, 80s. And it's, it's kind of too late to undo that. So it is frustrating to see that. It does make me sad.

• 13:47Speaker 02

  I would say if you want to have a more of a glow on your skin, use a self tanner, right? Like, they make some really nice ones nowadays. But I, for young people listening, if you truly want gorgeous skin in 20 years, 30 years, 40 years, you have got to stop frying your skin. Like, that is, that and smoking are probably the two biggest culprits that you actually have control over. You don't have control over your genetics, but you can control that. And it's so damaging to your skin. And unfortunately, you won't notice it until it's almost like too late.

• 14:24Abbey Sharp?

  Mm hmm. Yep, I know. I I'm, you brought up so many points I want to talk about. You know, I I think about this often, like, how, how are we back here? When, when I look back on my years in the tanning bed, I'm mortified, I really am. And and I I mentioned this at the top of the of the show, but, you know, I was recently diagnosed with skin cancer. That's why this is such an important conversation to have. And and like you mentioned, like, it's being removed and I, you know, everything's good. The borders are gone and and clear and, you know, but I've got a big scar on my back. I have to get checked every three months. I'm constantly worried about, like, well, what if the next one's on my face? And, you know, like, that's my big fear, like, what if I have to shave my head because there's one on my head?

• 15:08Abbey Sharp?

  And so these are, you know, and it's, it's interesting. So you you kind of brought this up a moment ago about, um, you know, you're only, you know, young people might be more motivated by this idea of like emphasizing like the wrinkles or the premature aging than the risk of skin cancer. Because skin cancer seems like, oh, yeah, you don't get that till you're old. I'm, I'm not even 40. And, you know, and I'm, I'm very prudent about skin, skin safety, sun's safety. But I went to the tanning beds when I was a kid. And so, you know, I might be genetically, you know, predisposed. It might have been the tanning beds, it might have been both. But whatever is, it's, um, when you're talking to younger audiences about sun safety,

• 15:52Abbey Sharp?

  do you find that really kind of zoning in on like the wrinkle story is the key to getting the message across? As opposed to like, hey, you might die from this one day?

• 16:02Speaker 02

  Yes, 100%, right? And they've actually done studies to prove this, that younger people, they're not really worried about skin cancer. That seems so far in the distance, you know, in the future for them, that they can't even comprehend that. But if you tell them you're going to get wrinkles, you're going to age your skin, then that, that does make a difference, like it did for me. And I'll even tell my, I mean, it's kind of crazy how young kids are now thinking about their skin. It's, in my opinion, it's a little too young. But that, that's how I get my children to wear sunscreen. I'll say, okay, well, you know, you want to have wrinkled skin? Okay, don't wear it, you know? And then they go and they put it on. But yeah, there, there have been studies showing that they, they, and you can actually see those changes.

• 16:47Speaker 02

  I mean, again, I could see the changes in my skin in my early 20s from tanning. And so that was just from, and I, again, I wasn't even doing it nearly as much as a lot of people. So it it happens faster than you realize. And prevention is worth a pound of cure, right? I see these people come to my office in their 50s or 60s and they've never done any sort of aesthetic thing and they want to improve their appearance or their skin. And we, you know, we really have to like, kind of do, sometimes do some pretty heavy duty things versus if you had just been taking care of your body and your skin along the way, it's much simpler.

• 17:28Abbey Sharp?

  Yes.

• 17:32Speaker 00

  Ultra running shoes are all about space, the space to go further, to feel better, to do something you never thought possible. And this space starts with Ultra Fit. Unlike traditional running shoes, Ultra Fit gives toes more room to move naturally. So every step is strong, balanced and comfortable. Whatever you're lacing up for, stay out there with Ultra. Shop now at ultrarunning.com. That's A L T R A running.com.

• 18:02Speaker 01

  Your heart can tell you a lot about your health. Apple Watch Series 12 measures your heart rate every five seconds with the most accurate heart rate sensing in a wearable. So your vitals app, now with heart rate variability, can tell you when something is off. And your readiness score can let you know when to rest and when to push. Hear the story in every heartbeat with Apple Watch Series 12. The features described are for wellness purposes only and not for medical use. iPhone 11 or later required. Based on Apple conducted study of heart rate accuracy, August 2026. Visit apple.com slash apple watch series 12.

• 18:32Speaker 04

  Finding a doctor is hard enough. Finding the right doctor, even harder. Someone who takes your insurance, has an available appointment when you need one, and feels like someone you can actually open up to. That's where Zocdoc comes in. Download the Zocdoc app to search and compare doctors by specialty, insurance and availability. Read real patient reviews, find the right fit for you and book instantly. Because getting seen by the right doctor matters. Zocdoc, ready to be seen? Download the Zocdoc app today.

• 19:04Abbey Sharp?

  I do think that this trend towards tan maxing again is in part at least related to the kind of Y2K ultra thin body, you know, super skinny trend that we're seeing. As you know, women have historically used a dark tan to make them look thinner. And so, you know, these, these trends historically went hand in hand. They did in my teen years, the ultra thin aesthetic and the ultra tanned body. And these things do have a tendency to come full circle. So I think that's, that, that is part of it. And at least, you know, for me, you, you had mentioned like when you were a teen or in your twenties, you maybe understood that tanning wasn't great for you.

• 19:44Abbey Sharp?

  But when I was a teenager, there seemed to be this longstanding belief that getting a base tan, quote unquote, trains your skin against burning. And that is then seen as kind of a healthier protective thing to do because we know that burns are bad. And there's evidence to suggest that even a single blistering burn or five normal burns can, you know, double your risk of skin cancer. So is there actually such thing as a quote unquote, safe tan or a quote unquote, healthy tan?

• 20:14Speaker 02

  Yeah, actually, I mean, I, I can kind of see the logic people are trying to go with, but, but no. Really a tan period is a sign of your body reacting to UV damage and radiation. And what happens is the, the melanin, the pigment in your skin kind of makes a little umbrella around the nucleus of the cell to protect it because UV damage is actually changing the DNA in your cells. Like you would, if I told you like, hey, I'm gonna have you go do this test and it's going to change the DNA in your, the nucleus of your cells, you would never do that. But that's essentially what's happening in the sun. So a tan is your body trying to protect itself.

• 20:56Speaker 02

  So that in and of itself is a sign of, of, of damage, of too much UV radiation. And, um, and so exposure, so having that base tan, you know, it's really going to give you a nominal amount of sun protection. So people with darker skin, even the darkest skin you can imagine, the SPF is still way under 15. It might be SPF like 14 or to seven. You know, it's not high, it's not high enough. And so that's, it's just not, it's not gonna be safe. So there's no such thing as a safe tan unless it's self tanner.

• 21:34Abbey Sharp?

  Okay, that is, that is really helpful. I'm glad we, we cleared that up. And you just kind of threw out some SPF numbers and I think there's a lot of, I guess, confusion what SPF even means. Can you kind of walk us through like, obviously we want to protect ourselves from skin cancer. I want to protect myself against aging prematurely and, and wrinkles and things like that. If we're trying to, you know, keep our skin in, in the best shape it can be, both aesthetically and from a health perspective, what are our best practices in terms of like, what strength of SPF do we need? How often do we need to reapply?

• 22:14Abbey Sharp?

  Winter versus summer, like are there differences in terms of what we should be aiming for? Give us all the, give us all the tips. I need a play by play. Yeah.

• 22:24Speaker 02

  Yeah, exactly. So really sunscreen every day, like put it by your toothbrush. I don't think, you know, I live in Atlanta, it does tend to be sunny here. It may factor in if you live in Alaska and it's truly dark, you know, okay, like maybe a little different. But you know, say you live in a place where, you know, most of the time during the day it's light and then at night it's dark. But I wear sunscreen every day because I, even though I go into an office, I still have about a 15 to 30 minute commute. There's sun coming through the car window. I'm actually sitting next to my window here getting, I can sort of feel the, the afternoon sun coming in. And, and those UV rays, the UVA rays actually do come through the window. So even if you're like, hey, I'm in an office, I'm not outside, I get it.

• 23:08Speaker 02

  But I would, I still recommend sunscreen over the parts of your skin that are exposed. And SPF 30 or higher is ideal. SPF really only looks at UVB protection. So it doesn't really cover the UVA. So you also want to look for a sunscreen that says broad spectrum, where it covers A and B. And, you know, most of the sunscreens you'll find at the drugstore like Neutrogena, Avino, La Roche Posay, like those, those cover both in general. But if you're picking up some sort of very niche sunscreen, you may just want to make sure it covers both. SPF 30 or higher, um, you know, going to 100, the amount of extra protection is not a huge amount.

• 23:53Speaker 02

  But that being said, we never apply it as thickly as we should. So your, your 30 is probably a little bit less, your 50 might be more like a 30. So, you know, if I had two choices and I liked the 100 and I liked the 30 just as much, I'd probably go with the 100. But you should put it, you know, I, the way I do it is I put it on every morning, any skin that is exposed. So typically I'm wearing like long sleeves and so I'll put it on my face and my neck. But if you're wearing t-shirts, probably include your upper chest, include your forearms, include your legs. And there's no magic sunscreen that everyone should use. You have to like how it feels on your skin. And that may change between hotter summer months and maybe drier winter months.

• 24:37Speaker 02

  You may play around with switching that up a little bit. I have to admit, I don't love putting stuff on my skin. So I'm a big proponent of also just protecting, like again, I, I, I wear like gloves in my car. I have noticed that like I've done a really good job taking care of the skin on my face and neck, but my hands were showing more sun damage. And, and, and I felt like they were aging me more than, than here. So I actually did buy some, some gloves and I drive with them and, you know, I just leave them in the car. I keep a hat in my car because who knows, maybe I'm gonna go for a walk or maybe I'm gonna go to the playground or whatever it's gonna be.

• 25:17Speaker 02

  So I always have that in my car. And then I also have just like a little shrug that I can throw over my shoulders. Again, if I'm wearing, you know, it's hot, I'm wearing a tank top and I'm going to be outdoors. To me personally, rather than lathering up more sunscreen, I'd rather just throw that little shrug on. It's really lightweight and breathable. So there are other things you can do to sun protect other than just sunscreen, but certainly if I'm at the beach, I am religiously reapplying after I'm swimming or sweating or every two hours.

• 25:49Abbey Sharp?

  Two hours. Okay. Are there areas of the body that maybe we are missing? That you see a lot of, you know, cancerous moles pop out because perhaps we're just forgetting to apply SPF there, we're just unable to, like, anything that we should be maybe thinking more about that we maybe haven't before?

• 26:08Speaker 02

  Sure. So for men, commonly, I call it jokingly, this, one of my patients called it this and I, I'm taking it. The solar patch in the back of the head, uh, you may not realize, maybe you have some hair there, but it's thinning and you're, and, and actually women too, as we get older, our, our hair starts to thin. So you, what I find is that frequently people's scalps are getting more sun than they realize. And when a woman gets a, or when anyone gets a spot on the scalp, if you have hair, it's a lot, a lot of times we only notice it when it's a little more progressed. You know, if you had a concerning spot on the tip of your nose or your eyelid, you're going to notice that pretty quickly. But if it's like buried back here in your scalp,

• 26:50Speaker 02

  you may not notice it for a year, two years, et cetera. So it can allow them to get bigger. I know I had some pretty bad sunburns from, I think we were watching like the Blue Angels in, in elementary school in my part. And so I have to be honest, I'm not putting sunscreen on my hair. So again, wearing a hat, I prefer a hat to a visor because a visor will cover your face, but you're not getting that sun protection back here. So if you are someone who always wears your hair and, you know, the same part, maybe wear sunscreen on it, but ideally also just put a hat on. So those are common areas. Ears are common areas for guys.

• 27:32Speaker 02

  We can get them around the eyes and so sunglasses can be helpful.

• 27:38Speaker 02

  Melanoma is most common on the back for men and on the legs for women. So I think a lot of times, and I have to admit, I'm not as good with my lower body as I am with like my face. But again, don't forget your lower legs or you know, your legs, if you're wearing shorts and things like that, they can get sunburned. I, I think we, most people, right? You go to the beach, you put sunscreen all over, but you kind of forget the tops of your feet and those can get burned too.

• 28:05Abbey Sharp?

  Oh, I've had a bad burn on the feet and it is so painful because then you have to put shoes on and no shoe is going to be comfortable when you've got like a really bad burn on your feet. So that's, that's a really great reminder. Yeah. My, mine is like right at my back and it happens to be at the spot where I can't really reach it with this hand and I can't really reach it with this hand. And my dermatologist was like, yeah, that makes sense because you can't reach it either way to get a good amount of sunscreen there. Nor could I see it. So yeah, so that's, that's all really good reminders. Now, you mentioned earlier that of course, the safest alternative is a, you know, is a, is a great self tanner.

• 28:46Abbey Sharp?

  And there's so many fake tanners out there. There have been for many years and they just keep evolving. And I've tried so many of them, you know, and I all make me, I've got very sensitive reactive skin and I find that they make me break out or I caught, you get a little bumps, especially on my chest. Do you have any favorites that are like foolproof, but look natural and also good for sensitive or reactive skin?

• 29:10Speaker 02

  Gosh, so I, I'm definitely not an expert. I kind of base it off my, my, my patients might say, oh, like, don't worry, doc, this is a, this is some tanner, you know, they tell me. So one, I, and I don't use it. I really just put it on my legs, I have to say, because I actually don't really mind my, the rest of my body, I guess, looking a little bit lighter, but I do feel like my legs look better when they're not translucent. So I have been using, let's see, right now I've been using, I think it's called Tan Luxe, L-U-X-E, and it's like droppers. And so don't do what I did. Like I do recommend wearing gloves because I did not sufficiently wash my hands afterwards and I did have some stains. But you put a couple of drops in your palm and then you mix it with whatever moisturizer

• 29:55Speaker 02

  you like. And I will just apply that on my legs. And, and I think you could also apply it really nicely on your arms, your chest, your face. And again, you're mixing it with your own moisturizer. So that might be something to try. Use a moisturizer that you know, doesn't break you out, doesn't irritate your skin and, and maybe give that a try. I know other popular brands are like Jergens makes one. And I think the ones where you build up gradually always give better results. So you can kind of stop when you like the look and you feel like it looks good. But you know, every, I think if you only have to do it once the wrong way to, to know like your hands, your elbows, your knees, your, the bottoms of your

• 30:40Speaker 02

  feet, those areas are going to pick up on that, the product more. And so that they can stain. And so I try to put moisturizer on those first so that they don't get that streaky or get sort of that extra pigment in them.

• 30:59Abbey Sharp?

  Yeah. Okay. That's very, very helpful. I'm, I'm gonna, I'm gonna look that up right away. And for anyone who is, I know you've got a podcast. Can you kind of let us know what, what you've got going on? And if anyone wants to kind of find you, where they can find you?

• 31:16Speaker 02

  Yeah, absolutely. So I started a podcast, gosh, probably about four years ago called The Skin Real. And nowadays I have to spell that for people, R-E-A-L, like real information. But I just felt like there weren't enough dermatologists out there giving, especially like long form content, you know, there nowadays are a lot on like social media and quick 60 second bites. But for someone who actually wants to really delve into like what's really happening in perimenopause or what's going on, you know, with whatever eczema, skin cancer, things like that. So it's on YouTube and all the places you can listen to podcasts. And yeah, check that out if you want to, you know, because I know it's at least here

• 31:58Speaker 02

  in the US, it's hard to, to see a dermatologist and really have lengthy discussions. So hopefully this is a, a free resource for people who actually want to move beyond the hype and the noise and actually really know what they need to do to take care of their skin.

• 32:13Abbey Sharp?

  Oh, I'm so happy. I love, I love when other healthcare professionals have amazing resources like this. So thank you so much for joining us. And I'm absolutely, I'll be leaving links in the show notes to where folks can find you. So thank you again.

• 32:28Speaker 02

  Amazing. Thanks so much, Abby.

• 32:30Abbey Sharp?

  You know, I really truly thought that over the past 20 years of public health campaigns around skin cancer and sun safety, that tanning culture had really gone the way of cigarette smoking. We all accepted that it was undeniably bad for us and we all kind of collectively agreed that it was cringe. But watching it come back in vogue, knowing I'll now spend the rest of my life biopsy-ing dozens more freckles and moles, not knowing when I'll get another devastating call. I feel uniquely compelled to get loud about these risks

• 33:10Abbey Sharp?

  because we can no longer claim ignorance. Like we have the data now that any sun exposure, whether outdoors or in a tanning bed, increases the risk of cancer. And one of the biggest questions that I got after sharing my diagnosis was, how did you know to get it checked? And the truth is, I've had my moles mapped since I was 20 because I'm just kind of a mole-y, freckly gal. But I regularly look out for the ABCDs of melanoma every single time I'm in the shower. And starting today, I really want you to do the same. So here are the flags you want to look out for. A is for symmetry. So any kind of mole where

• 33:51Abbey Sharp?

  one side doesn't match the other in shape, color, or thickness, that is worth paying attention to. B is for border. So looking out for edges that are irregular, ragged, blurred, or uneven. Then C is for color. So keeping tabs on moles that contain multiple shades of brown, black, red, white, blue, or uneven pigmentation. D is for diameter, with anything larger than about six millimeters being an immediate red flag, but knowing not to rule out smaller moles that also meet other criteria. My melanoma was actually smaller than six millimeters because it was caught very early on. And then finally, E

• 34:32Abbey Sharp?

  is for evolving, which is arguably one of the most important ones. So any mole that's changing in size, shape, color, elevation, or starts itching, bleeding, crusting, or behaving differently than before should absolutely be assessed. But I really hope this conversation has inspired you to rethink your sun care regimen, question the clean beauty or anti-sun protection community, and spend some time getting comfy, looking closely at your skin. If one person listening today ends up catching a melanoma before it has had the chance to spread, that is a ripple effect worth having. So wear your

• 35:14Abbey Sharp?

  sunscreen, wear the hat, check your skin. And if something doesn't look or feel right, do not wait. Please go get it checked. And thank you again to Dr. Mary Alice Mina for the rich conversation. If you enjoyed this episode, I would love if you would leave me a five star review and a comment. Please share, bite back with friends and subscribe to the podcast. But signing off with Science and SaaS, I'm Abbey Sharp. Thanks for listening.

• 35:50Speaker 05

  When fall comes back around, there's a sense of a reset. And new pieces from Lululemon's Fall Drop are an inspiration to push your goals and elevate your routines. As your calendar fills, easy to layer styles meet the demands of your day. And as you challenge yourself to try even more, versatile sets transition with you. The Lululemon Fall Lineup brings new levels of comfort and confidence, whether you're starting something fresh or starting something over. Check out the latest arrivals in store and on lululemon.com now.