I used to be obsessed with tanning – then skin cancer made me stop

The incidence of melanoma has risen faster than any other cancer in Britain. One in 36 men and one in 47 women will be diagnosed with melanoma during their lifetime and it is one of the biggest killing cancers in the 15-34-year-old age group. Wearing SPF daily (even during the winter months, as UVA rays are present even on a cloudy day) and especially during the summer months, when there are more UVB rays, can help. Currently only 22 per cent of the UK apply SPF daily, rising to 55 per cent when it’s sunny.

Amy Ford, founder of Hello Sunday SPF, is petitioning to the UK government to remove the VAT on SPF products to make them cheaper and more widely available to all, like in Australia. ‘There is an imminent need for accessible, quality sun protection for all.’ says Ford

Who is at risk of developing skin cancer? I definitely ticked many of the boxes. Fair skin, blue or green eyes, previous use of sunbeds. But I think the scariest warning is that one blistering sunburn as a child or teen can double your risk for developing melanoma in later life.

I was lucky that early detection and diagnosis meant I simply had to visit a plastic surgeon and have more of the surrounding skin removed to check the cancer had not spread, which it had not. I was then monitored every three months by my dermatologist, who would also feel and check my lymph glands. This then extended to checks every six months, then nine months, and finally annual check-ups, which I now do and make sure my teenage children and husband have annual check-ups also.

We still have long summers in Italy, and are very outdoorsy as a family, so I’m grateful for the brilliant SPF formulations we have now (one of my favourite brands, Heliocare, does a SPF 100, but usually I stick to SPF 50).

I wear it every day in London, too. We still go on beach holidays, but, thankfully, in Italy lots come with a private shaded area, which I’m thrilled to be under, with a kaftan, a good book and, depending on the time of day, a cappuccino or a Campari spritz. I never lie in the sun anymore.

I try to be as vigilant as I can about checking my moles and I often find myself back in my dermatologist’s office if I spot anything that looks a bit different.

I still love the look of tanned skin and try many new formulations of self-tan (I love the new Self Glow by James Read, and Tan Luxe, both available from SpaceNK) that give realistic golden glows, not the nutty brown Seventies look I craved. And I love quick spritzes such as By Terry’s Tea to Tan spray, which makes pasty white legs or arms instantly glowing. 

I recently had breakfast with my previous magazine editor, and we laughed how our current “tans” are much more sophisticated and flattering now than they were in the Nineties, when we worked together. And safer too. The only “safe” tan is from a bottle.