
Summer was a year older than me when she became a melanoma survivor (the most serious form of skin cancer). As a young twenty something year old, I understand the needs of looking beautifully tanned on your beach vacations. I tan in the sun sometimes by the poolside, I “forget” to wear sun screen occasionally (by forget, I mean I’m too lazy to put it on). Summer’s story wakes me up because as she was having these bad skin habits that most of us including myself overlook, even in Western Oregon – a region known for cloudy weather most of the time, she was diagnosed with melanoma. You don’t have to be old, you don’t have to live in the sunniest state (for crying out loud, my state Colorado boasts 300s of sunny days annually), skin cancer could happen to me, and to you.
Luckily, Summer survived melanoma as the cancer was diagnosed at an early stage. She now views her skin cancer as a gift because she has the incredible opportunity to change the course of someone’s life by sharing facts about sun protection. SUMMERSKIN was created with a mission to spread the awareness of how important it is to protect yourself from the harmful sun. At the same time, Summer wanted to create UPF clothing that is not only stylish but will give you sun protection as well. Previously, there were a lot of sport-centric UPF (ultraviolet protective factor) clothes out there for athletes, but nothing stylish enough for us fashionistas. That was when Summer started with her designs, dresses, blouses, skirts, things she herself, you and I would wear.
I took this UPF 50+ dress and UPF 50+ hat from her collection to Utah on our camping trip over Memorial Day weekend. The sun was hot, we were in the middle of a desert. So I put on sunscreen, threw on this comfy dress and this cute hat, packed several bottles of water for ourselves and the dogs and there we went. We took a 1 mile hike to this arch, such a beautiful work of nature. Even though it was hot and I was sweating, I felt like I did something right to protect myself against the harmful sun.
In this post:
Dress: UPF 50+ Knee Dress || Hat: UPF 50+ Milan Hat || Earrings: yellow or pink || Lipstick: color Vegas Volt
Check out SUMMERSKIN’s story and mission here. Even if you don’t want to purchase anything today, promise me one thing. This summer season when you go on a beach trip or lay out by the pool, when you’re at a July 4th BBQ, love your skin and remember to protect it: apply and reapply sunscreen every hour or so, wear UPF clothing if you have any, limit the hours you’re outside, especially during the hours the sun is the most harsh. Not only you protect yourself from skin cancer, it slows down the process of aging as well.
Shop this post:
Dress: UPF 50+ Knee Dress || Hat: UPF 50+ Milan Hat || Earrings: yellow or pink || Lipstick: color Vegas Volt
*Brought to you by SUMMERSKIN. All opinions are my own.*
Dress Hat summer style SummerSkin
Beautiful pictures & a great summer-skin reminder!!
Have a great day, Lily.
Katelyn
http://www.theyellowspectacles.com
You look so stinking cute, Lily! I’m currently loving t-shirt dresses!! I just bought a few. And that sun hat is perfect for summer. Love the message of this.
You look great and amazing pictures. I know cancer is no joke. I gotta see my doctor to show her one of my moles who kept on growing big.
Xo, Christianne
http://simplychristianne.com
I have been wanting to try clothing that provides sun protection but haven’t found anything cute enough…until today that is! The dress and hat are 100% stylish!
I’m so sorry to hear that, I’m so happy for you’re good now! The sun protections are so important! You look so cute and your skin is flawless!
http://violettedaily.com
wow Lily i never knew there is actually an SPF clothes. This is genius x
Yukova by Yuliya Oleynykova
SPF is SO important. I slather it on myself! You look absolutely stunning as always. So simple and chic!
xo
Siffat
http://icingandglitter.com
Thank you Siffat, and yes sun protection is so important! Thanks for reading and stopping by <3
Wow!! Stunning shots!!
Adi xx
http://www.fancycorrectitude.com
Fantastic shooting!
Have a nice week-end!
Gil Zetbase
http://gilzetbase.com/
I’m in Colorado too! Moved here a couple years ago from Florida and even coming from “the Sunshine State” – Colorado sun is SO intense! I feel like I have re-apply all day long here. Beautiful photos <3
Yes, I know what you mean. We went on a hike on Saturday, and the sun was sooo brutal. I feel like being on an elevation means we’re closer up to the sun hehe, either way sun protection is so important. Thanks for stopping by! <3
Oh wow, what an amazing story. SPF is everything…. I will be sure to cover myself in it
Filipa xxx
PlayingWithApparel.com | Instagram
♥
Fantastic look and pics!
Have a nice week-end!
Gil Zetbase
http://gilzetbase.com/
Love this look and hat! I need to start using more sun protection. Though Im not outdoors that much, I’m kinda lazy applying it on !
xoxo
Ileana
Novelstyle Blog
Hey lily great post and all pictures are beautiful ❤
This is such an important message! My dad used to work at UCSF in the skin cancer department and he always told me the most biopsies come from noses and ears so this hat would be perfect to protect those areas!
Chelsea
Chow Down USA
Instagram
Growing up in Australia, we have had the dangers of skin cancer taught to us from a very young age (which has put me off tanning in the sun for life) even so, there are still so many young people who think they are immune just because of their age!
X
Anjelique
http://anjelique.com.au | snapchat: anjeliquetv
So perfect! Love the arch in the back of the photos!
Happy week!
http://fashionradi.blogspot.com/
Thanks Radi! Isn’t Utah such a beautiful place?
Clothing with UPF is something new! Interesting post and I might wanna wrap mysef from head to toe in that fabric!!!
Love, Aldora
Skin protection is really important and your dress is truly perfect!
Stay in Style
Karen @ Lookbook Store WordPress
That’s an incredible story, thanks for sharing 🙂
The Cutielicious
http://www.thecutielicious.com
Federica
I LOVE how stylish the dress and hat are, and the mission statement behind the company! I myself had a close call with skin cancer last year, but luckily it was a carcinoma (not as bad) and not melanoma (very bad). So I’m a huge advocate too now of always wearing sunscreen!!
omg wow that’s so crazy Jesica. I’m glad that it was carcinoma. And yes, sun protection is sooo important regardless of age. Thanks for stopping dear xo
This is powerful, thanks for sharing. It’s all too tempting to want to “forget” sunscreen for a nice summer glow, but hearing these stories serves as a bold reminder of its importance. Beautiful photos by the way!
Morgan | http://www.monde-et-mode.com
I simply want to tell you that I am just beginner to blogs and certainly loved your page. Probably I’m planning to bookmark your site . You really have very good well written articles. Thanks a bunch for revealing your website.