What is your name?
My name is Renee.
Describe yourself.
I am a 38 year old red-headed stay at home mother.
What is your attitude towards sun protection today?
Living in Queensland, being a mother of three fair-skinned, freckly red-headed children (all currently under the age of five) and having had a sun spot recently removed from my face, I take sun protection much more seriously than ever before.
We are an active family, we love the outdoors and live at the beach so we are out in the sunshine every day. The sun feels hotter now than it did when I was younger and I am always terrified of my children getting sunburnt. I now know how precious their skin is and how dangerous the sun has become.
As a result, we never leave the house without 50+ sunscreen, sunglasses and hats. We never stay out in the sun during the hottest part of the day and we always wear long sleeve swimwear, hats and zinc at the beach.
It is difficult to get the children to wear sunscreen and hats in particular but we always reinforce the importance of these things and tell them "no hat, no play!"
What would you tell your 16-year-old self about sun protection?
I would warn my 16 year old self that sun protection is imperative and that if she doesn't protect her skin properly she will end up with lots of sun spots by the age of 35 (including one which will be removed from her face and leave a significant and noticeable scar) and lots of wrinkles!
I would tell her that hats and sunglasses are cool, to always wear them and to invest in the best quality ones such as the Solbari products! Likewise, I would tell her to invest in good quality high protection sunscreen.
I would warn her about incidental sunburn and how imperative it is to apply sunscreen before leaving the house each morning and to make it a habit like brushing her teeth. I would tell her to be particularly careful when exercising and swimming and always re-apply the sunscreen.
Thank you Renee for helping raise awareness for skin cancer, melanoma and skin conditions, and sharing your story with us and our Solbari Community.
