Why sun safety is the new self care, with Lisa Patulny from Call Time on Melanoma.

With wellness always being a prominent trend in everyone’s day to day we were quite surprised when we found out there aren’t many people putting sun safety at the forefront of their self care routine. Out to make sun safety the new social standard we chat to Lisa about her NFP initative making sun care cool.

We are in love with your organisation, CTOM an informative and extremely aesthetically appealing IG account raising awareness and calling out the facts about melanoma in young Australians. Explain to us the initiative behind CTOM?

L: Thank you so much. CTOM exists to inform and inspire. Behind the Instagram account is a desire to stop deaths from melanoma through education on the importance of sun safety. You might know that melanoma is the single biggest cancer in young Australians aged from 15 to 39. We’re talking with that demo about prevention and early diagnosis through self-care (see: sunscreen and skin checks), but we’re also retooling perceptions of sun safety. You don’t need to use a shit sunscreen or wear unflattering swimmers to be sun safe!

As like minded businesses we believe in putting sun safety at the forefront of everyone’s minds, we strongly stand for informing customers about the choices of how they protect their eyes, face and body. Can you tell us some statistics about how common melanoma is in Australians?

L: The latest stats are frightening - one Australian is diagnosed with melanoma every half hour. And someone dies in this country from it approximately every 5 hours. Aside from that, 2 out of 3 Australians will be diagnosed with skin cancer by the time they’re 70 years old.

It’s 2020 and we need to start taking care of ourselves, we agree there needs to be a 360 flip on the stigma of sun safety in Aus for men and women. What can you recommend readers do to help prevent their chances of melanoma?

L: Here’s the thing - it’s not hard to prevent. It’s believed that 95% of melanomas are caused by overexposure to the sun which means it’s largely preventable. (It’s important to note there are also types of melanoma not caused by overexposure to UV but these are less common.) You know what to do, we all do! Slip, Slop, Slap, Seek, Slide. And get a regular skin check.

In a crazy world full of notifications and flashing phone screens, what are your top wellness tips to reflect and take a step back?

L: I’m not great at taking a step back, lol. I do have a nightly gratitude practice which is something I’ve stuck with for years. I basically just say thank you for three things every day. It was challenging at first but it’s shown me that there is always something to be thankful for.

What is something you have learnt during isolation?

L: How to keep my plants alive. I’m officially a reformed black thumb and I couldn’t be prouder!

How can you implement sun protection into your skincare routine?

L: Sunscreen!

We recommend a cap, suncreen and some sunglasses to protect yourself from the sun. Shop our picks below: