SPF Blog

My name is Jennifer and I am 28 years old.

I grew up in Canada and moved to California eight years ago with my friend Kaitlin. From the day we moved here, all we wanted was to be tan, be near the ocean and live the California dream, everything else we would figure out as we went along. However, the idea of being a tan California girl came to a screeching halt when I got a rude awaking January of last year.

I was diagnosed with Melanoma skin cancer.

I had noticed a freckle on my right arm that seemed a little bigger (about the size of the top of a pencil eraser), a little darker and slightly misshapen.

I did some research on the Internet that said it could possibly be skin cancer. So I decided to have it looked at by a doctor. I think I got the runaround from doctors for over six months. They all kept telling me they thought it was nothing, and that if it changes they would look into it. When I told them it had, they still did nothing. Finally I forced my doctor to get me a referral to a dermatologist and note possible skin cancer. I got approved and still even the dermatologist looked at it and said they didn’t think it was skin cancer, but that they would take it off anyway and get a biopsy.

One week later the dermatologist called me and said, “I’m sorry to tell you this, but it’s Melanoma. You know what that is right?” I said, “Yeah it’s skin cancer.”

I had it removed right away. At the time I thought there was only one type. It was scary at first, but the more I told people I had skin cancer, the less I was scared because so many of them were saying they had it and it was no big deal and they just got it removed.

I wasn’t so scared anymore, until I finally did some more research and realized that I didn’t have what everyone else I talked to had and there is more than one skin cancer and mine was the kind people die from every hour in the U.S. Learn more

It was scary, but also eye opening, how little I and other people knew about skin cancer, especially melanoma. It is different and it is a big deal. From that day forward I did a lot of research so I could be well informed and be able to educate other people of this really scary but preventable cancer.

It has been a huge life change and I have had to make so many adjustments, like making sure I wear 30 and above sunscreen everyday and reapply every two hours if I am outside. Also I’ve learned to stay out of the sun in peak hours and if I was going to be outside I needed to wear sun protective clothing (an average t-shirt only has a protection factor of about 5 UPF, it will block from the UVB rays that burn, but not the UVA rays that cause skin cancer).

I was hoping to find a silver lining in this scary life-altering thing that happened to me. I was determined to make some damn good lemonade out of these lemons life had dealt me and I did. I started by holding my first ever charity event called Martinis for Melanoma with the help of my boyfriend Ivan and my two best friends Kaitlin and Kelly. It was held at an amazing restaurant in Laguna Niguel called Bistro K, and helped me raise over $2000 for the Melanoma International Foundation - here’s my silver lining.

I got the inspiration for holding the charity event after I met this amazing woman. Her name is Marina Arnold and she is a dermatology nurse and the owner of SPF ADDICT.

I came across her company in my search for more fashionable sun protective clothing. Everything I saw out there was either geared towards sports related clothing or kids and older ladies.

I decided to look if there were any local companies. This is when I found my gem. I loved the look of the site and I loved the clothes. They were definitely more along the lines of what I was looking for.  I decided I wanted to learn more about this company and more about sun protective clothing in general.

So I sent an email, just asking to learn about them and maybe even a possibility to intern. I was open for anything even if it meant just an email back. I did get and email back with a chance to meet up and talk more. It was Marina who I got to meet with.

She said she liked that I had a story to tell and she saw a passion in me towards wanting more fashion forward sun protective clothing. This is a huge part of what SPF ADDICT is about – where healthy skin and fashion meet.

So now I get to intern and learn so much about something I am so passionate about from two great women, Marina and her design manager Jonna Jurkovich. I also get to help out with sales for the west coast.

I can only see things going up from here and I am so happy and proud to be part of such an amazing company, as well as being around amazing people. One thing Marina said when I first met her was, she believes everything happens for a reason and I couldn’t agree more. This is something I am going to have to deal with for the rest of my life, but with the support of my friends and family and now a future that looks filled with new and exciting adventures, something so scary doesn’t seem as scary anymore.

About 10 years ago, I asked my doctor to check a mole that didn’t seem right to me. He glanced at it, and dismissed it as nothing. He seemed to be treating me like a hypochondriac female. I just didn’t feel right about the diagnosis, or lack thereof. Fortunately, I happened to be dating a physician’s assistant at the time, so I asked him to look at it. He told me to have it removed and biopsied right away. I went back to my doctor and demanded he do that. I listened to his apology shortly thereafter over the phone, as he gave me my new, more accurate diagnosis, Melanoma, Clark’s level 2. I fired that doctor after the surgery, and started trusting myself more when it came to my health concerns. I now have my moles checked twice a year, not just the once a year my insurance recommends, and I make them remove anything that I don’t feel right about. It’s paid off too. I’ve had Basal Cell Carcinomas, as well as Squamous Cell ones, and some in places that never saw the sun. I know the years of basking in the sun caused some of them, but others were just random, unexplainable occurrences. So two lessons here:

1. Take charge of your own health- trust your own instincts.
2. Stay out of the sun! It can literally save your life…

Did you know that even after summer is over, you’ve put away your wet suit, surf board, and all the rest of your outdoor gear. There is one thing to keep in mind, and that is your skin. The largest organ of your body will still be exposed while your outdoor equipment is long put away until next year!

Good skin cancer prevention and the best anti-aging solution all year round is your sunscreen to all exposed skin and your sun protective clothing. It’s easy to become
complacent while your not as active outdoors, but the UV rays doesn’t pause in the fall and winter season.

Quick reminder the strongest UV exposure is between the hours of 10 and 4pm.

If your out all day reapply every 2 hours, good practice if your in the office all day, reapply it 20 min. before you go out on your lunch break.

Your skin will treat you well, if you treat it well!

In May, SPF Addict had their first educational event in Dana Point, California at the Ocean Institute. Here’s a quick re-cap of the fashion show and response to the event!

Dawn McCarthy from ItsAGlamThing.com was on the show talking about all the essentials that should be in your Summer bag! Tweezers, sunscreen and sun protective clothing are all important in keeping your Summer enjoyable.

Watch the video explain SPF Addict’s sun protective scarves here >

Check out this generous article by Lisa Cocuzza about SPF Addict about sun protective clothing.

When outdoors, especially in the summer, remember to dress to limit UV exposure. Skincancer.org gives us some great tips: “Wear special sun-protective clothes with UPF (ultraviolet protection factor). The higher the UPF, the better. Bright or dark colored, lustrous clothes reflect more UV radiation than do pastels and bleached cottons and tightly woven, loose-fitting clothes provide more of a barrier between your skin and the sun. spfaddict Sun Protective Gear makes it easy…

Read the rest of the article at www.itsaglamthing.com

Debbie Sklar wrote a great article about SPF Addict in the Laguna Niguel Dispatch. Check it out here!

Local Nurse Creates Sun Protection Clothing Line, Portion of Profits Go to Charity

The most common thought if your out in direct sun is “I thought my own clothes were protecting me”
If your wearing dark colors with a very tight weave you can be protected with your clothes to a degree.
Now we can offer light airy fabrics with fiber technology that not only protects you from the sun’s harmful rays, but also offers a sweat absorption factor which allows your skin to breath without the perspiration dampness visible to all. A quick drying factor with a bacterialcidal component will allow comfort all day.

For those with sensitive skin, history of skin cancer and for those who wish to prevent against photoaging and the harmful rays will benefit from this technology.
We now know you can burn right through your regular clothes, unless you have high tech fibers.

SPF Addict uses fabric developed with cutting edge technology utilizing organic green fibers that carry a high level of sun protection factors. These fabrics are among the first of their kind to be manufactured in the U.S.A.

Meticulous fabric development has taken years of research in order to create the highest quality of sun protection.

TENCEL SUN® is made of eucalyptus wood. The production process of TENCEL SUN® was designed with the environment in mind by using the revolutionary lyocell technology. Optimum moisture management supports natural bacteriostatic properties without the need for chemical additives. TENCEL SUN® is the purest cellulosic fiber and is the ideal fiber for sensitive skin. TENCEL SUN® is fully biodegradable.

It is with this in mind SPF Addict offers you optimum sun protection of 50+ with the highest degree of quality.

Our goal is that your skin is well protected while in the sun with soft breathable light weight fabric, yet looking stylish every day. That not even your friends will know you are wearing sun protective clothing.

According to the Skin Cancer Foundation, one in five Americans will develop skin cancer in the course of a lifetime.

Over the past 31 years, more people have had skin cancer than all other cancers combined.

Nearly 800,000 Americans are living with a history of melanoma and 13 million are living with a history of non-melanoma skin cancer, typically diagnosed as basal cell carcinoma or squamous cell carcinoma.

Between 40 and 50 percent of Americans who live to age 65 will have either skin cancer at least once.