Kelly Bonanno

Your soulful coach for eco friendly living, organic beauty & wellness Savvy | Sexy | Beautiful | Healthy | You

skin cancer

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The #1 Reason You Shouldn’t Skip A Trip To The Dermatologist

One of the questions I am most often asked is, “what sunscreen should I use?!” Using quality sunscreen that is free of toxic chemicals is important but equally important is keeping an eye out for changes in your skin.

Do you go to the dermatologist for yearly skin checks? Do you take you kids for yearly skin checks? It’s not just adults that are at risk of skin cancer.

May is skin cancer prevention month and quite coincidentally, my son’s skin check potentially saved his life. In this recent live stream I did in my Facebook group, I tell the whole story, share some of my favorite sunscreen brands & clear up confusion surrounding a controversial ingredient found in many skin care products, titanium dioxide.

At 4:30 minutes in, I discuss the importance of skin checks & exactly how my son’s saved him from an unfavorable diagnosis down the line.

I don’t want to sound dramatic but the dermatologist said that this would have turned into melanoma. I feel very blessed that we caught it so early. I’m proud of him, he noticed it on his back & brought it to my attention.

I have had 2 basal cell carcinomas removed.Tanning with baby oil back in the 80s? Guilty. They were very small, I found both myself. It’s important to check yourself frequently & when something new pops up, have it checked out.

It’s so important to know your skin and your entire body and be aware of any changes whether they seem abnormal or not.

I also have a very special & might I add, extremely cute guest joining me in this video!

Protect yourself and your loved ones and schedule those skin checks!

Feel free to join my private Facebook group where we share all things wellness, eco friendly living & organic beauty & I’ll be doing informative live streams, Q & As & more!

It can be overwhelming to know what products are safe and which to avoid. To help people figure it out and minimize their body’s toxic burden, I’m running a fun, FREE green your beauty routine challenge in July:

5 Days To A Clean, Green Beauty Routine ?

In this challenge, you’ll learn simple tips that you can start right away to look better, feel great & improve your health by detoxing your beauty & personal care routine without giving up glamour ? It will be fun, sign up here!

It runs this week but you can still participate & reap the benefits. I’ll send the videos & info to everyone who signs up so you can access & peruse at your leisure 🙂 

 

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How To Find Safer Sunscreen Protection

I love the smell of Coppertone… brings back fond memories of my childhood. Oooh and baby oil… I’d slather that stuff all over my body in hopes of achieving that deep dark tan. If we only knew! Not only were we damaging our skin but that pleasant smell of Coppertone is a highly toxic synthetic fragrance.

file9151265810349In my post, You Know The Sunscreen You’re Using Is Toxic, Isn’t Time To Make A Healthier Choice? I detailed the harmful chemicals that most sunscreen brands contain. Because the FDA does not conduct any safety testing on sunscreen, we consumers have to be savvy about what we use. It’s infuriating, we’re trying to protect ourselves from skin cancer but the damn sunscreen itself contains carcinogens. So what the hell are we supposed to do?!

Don’t worry, there are alternatives. There are brands that offer quality sunscreen without the harmful chemicals that get a good rating on the Environmental Working Group sunscreen report. Look for products that have zinc oxide made without nanotechnology. Zinc is a physical barrier against the sun’s rays that does not get absorbed by the skin. The sun’s rays break down chemical sunscreens and you have to reapply them frequently. The physical sunscreens do not break down so they protect your skin from the sun longer.

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SPF 15 & 30, sunscreen stick and lip balm with SPF 15

California Baby and Badger are good but they do leave a white film on the skin (which my 11 year old won’t tolerate!) , UV Natural is good but a bit greasy.

I like Solar Protective MoisturizerSPF 30 by Devita Skin Care. It’s good for us gals because it contains hyaluronic acid which gives a little anti-aging boost.

I know sunscreen sprays are convenient and easy to use but they are especially harmful because we inhale the ingredients as well as absorb them.

Protect Your Health, Protect The Environment

Lake Arrowhead 009Avoiding sunscreen with toxic ingredients is not only important for our health, it’s important for the environment. After we slather ourselves with it, it washes off into the ocean harming sea life. According to a study conducted by Environmental Health Perspectives in 2008, these chemicals are killing the coral reef.

Research shows that octinoxate, oxybenzone, parabens and camphor derivatives kill hard corals which could have a negative impact on biodiversity and reef ecosystems. Help inform your friends – tweet this, share it on Facebook & send it to friends, especially those with kids. No one should use sunscreen with harmful chemicals and with all the safe alternatives, they don’t have to.