Australian media personality and former Married At First Sight star, Martha Kalifatidis, is out to shed light on one of Australia’s most common cancers.
The make-up artist and model took to Instagram to say she was ditching her bronzer in the name of skin cancer awareness.
“Last week, I gave up my bronzer for seven days as part of the End The Trend skin cancer prevention campaign,” she announced to her followers.
End The Trend is a campaign from Cancer Council and the Australian Government encouraging Australians to embrace their natural skin tone and kick the dangerous trend that is sun tanning.
The reason Martha ditched her bronzer for the campaign is because young Australians often turn to sun tanning to replicate the bronzed complexions they see on social media.
Meanwhile, Australia has the highest rates of skin cancer in the world, and baking in the sun is putting you at significant risk.
“Two out of three Australians will be diagnosed with skin cancer at some stage in their life,” Martha shared. “I can prove to you that you will still enjoy your life without a tan.”
Martha, who confessed she usually takes her bronzer with her everywhere, said she found Day 1 of her pledge difficult, admitting that she’d love to add some bronzer to her look.
However, she ultimately took away key three lessons she hadn’t considered before.
- You don’t need a tan to have fun
- You don’t need bronzer or a tan to look good
- You don’t need a tan to look or feel good on special occasions.
“You don’t need the bronzer or the tan to the event, to slay the selfie, any of that s**t,” she says. “You don’t need it.”
The Sydney socialite even hit the red carpet without her bronzer — though, she did have a photo shoot one day where a bit snuck in!
Martha added: “It made me think about how much we’ve glamorised the beauty ideal of ‘bronzed’ skin.”
This is a common attitude in Australia, where sun tanned skin is almost a cultural preference. However, this mythology that sun tanning equates to enhanced beauty is incredibly dangerous — and deliberately sitting in the sun without proper sun protection is not worth it.
Fake tanning and applying bronzer to achieve a suntanned look can contribute to this culture. It’s time to end the trend of sun tanning, and embrace our natural features and skin tones. Because you can look and feel confident and beautiful without a tan, whether it’s from the sun, a bottle or your bronzer.
Achieving healthy and beautiful skin while looking and feeling stylish is simple. When the UV is 3 or above, simply pop on your favourite sunnies, a wide-brim hat and clothing that protects your skin like a matching long-sleeve shirt and maxi skirt set. Don’t forget to apply (and reapply) SPF 50+ sunscreen when you step outside and stay in the shade where you can.
