During the Beauty and Health Forum, Echo Sandberg, Brand Director of CP Skin Health Group US, presented how to protect skin health. She was later joined by Jean-Michael Crum, celebrity makeup artist and co-host of the BeautyCurious Podcast, and Dr. Michelle Henry, founder of Manhattan Dermatology and Plastic Surgery and CEO of Henry Research Group, in a discussion hosted by EltaMD.
Noting that "every person under the sun deserves to live free," Sandberg said skin cancer is the most common type of cancer in the United States, with one in five Americans suffering from skin cancer. "The one thing we're really focused on is what we can do as a brand to change these statistics," Sanburg said.
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To raise awareness and make a difference, EltaMD has donated products to various groups of organizations for greater outreach and partnered with non-profit organizations to provide free skin care screenings. More than 2,000 people have been tested so far this year.
To create this promotion, the brand worked with dermatologists and celebrities to raise awareness and partnered with the Melanoma Research Foundation. Melanoma survivor Andy Cohen teamed up with EltaMD to recreate his famous nude photo from 1994. The sunscreen brand reached its goal with the campaign and donated $100,000 to the Melanoma Research Foundation.
Crum has held its Skin Watch events for the past three years in an effort to "make sun protection attractive."
"Skin Watch is a way to talk about this very serious topic, but in an accessible way, because a lot of people don't want to talk about [death and cancer]," Crum said. He emphasized that he was aware of skin cancer since he was young, as his grandmother had died of skin cancer.
Crum, who is now an esthetician, said she always participates in the Skin Watch program and said she feels a responsibility to tell her clients to check their skin if something isn't right. The message behind Skin Watch is that anyone can relate. For example, stylists see the scalp and neck of their clients.
Although misinformation remains a major barrier, research has shown that daily use of sunscreen can reduce the chance of developing skin cancer by 50 percent.
Although daily sunscreen use overall has increased, less than 30% of women and less than 15% of men actively use sunscreen when outside for more than an hour, Henry said. A common misconception among your patients is that artificial UV rays are not as harmful as natural UV rays. Additionally, the entire panel agreed that TikTok and other popular social media platforms have spread misinformation and that education is important.
But the tide is turning, with Henry saying 50 percent more people are using sunscreen than last year. Social media helps bring about change by demystifying sunscreen and skin cancer.
It is essential to campaign for better health care and access to a dermatologist, invest in cancer treatments and increase UV filters. Henry noted that the European Union has 30 UV filters, while the US Food and Drug Administration has approved only 16.
"Make sure you see a dermatologist and have an important point of contact with your health care provider," Henry said.
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