Mum used hair gel instead of suncream to get tan ‘like celebs’ – until ‘ugly as hell’ sign of cancer appeared
A MUM admits she slathered herself in hair gel and baked on sunbeds four times a week for a tan “like the celebs” – until an “ugly as hell” mark on her shin turned out to be cancer.
Former “sun worshipper” Claire Brooks would douse herself in low factor tanning oil and even hair gel in her twenties, in a bizarre bid to achieve the deepest tan possible.
The 38-year-old used sunbeds up to four times a week and injected herself with tanning jabs to get a bronzed look.
The mum-of-two said she believed she was “invincible” at that age – until she spotted a brown mole on her left leg in April 2022.
Claire, who works in recruitment, said she was dismissed twice by doctors over concerns that the suspicious-looking mole was growing in size.
It wasn’t until September of that year, when the mole had grown to the size of a 5p coin, that Claire insisted it be removed and doctors diagnosed her with melanoma.
Claire underwent surgery to remove the growth and was told she was cancer-free.
But two years later she realised her cancer had returned after feeling a lump in her stomach.
Two surgeries later, the cancer has been removed but the mum has to undergo preventative immunotherapy over the next year to prevent it coming back.
Claire, who described the mole she had removed as “ugly as hell” in a Facebook post, said her yearning for a tan “isn’t worth” the ordeal she’s faced over the last two years.
Claire, from Wakefield, West Yorkshire, said: “As soon as I got old enough to go on holiday on my own, I was a massive sun worshipper.
“I used to use the lowest factor oil and hair gel when that was a thing – they used to say it would make you go browner.
“I went on the sunbeds three or four times a week. It wasn’t every single week without fail but it was definitely often, and at least twice a week. I used tanning injections too.
“It was just a confidence thing. In that era, everyone wanted to be tanned – all the celebrities were tanned, it was just the aesthetic to go for and I followed the trend.
“At that age, I thought I was invincible. Everyone was doing it. There weren’t any reports of risks at that time. If anything, it was actively encouraged.”
Claire, who stopped using sunbeds around 10 years ago, went to her GP when she first spotted a suspicious-looking mole on the shin of her right leg in April 2022.
Despite the mole being dismissed as “nothing” twice, Claire insisted that it be removed after it grew to the size of a 5p coin.
I was in complete shock. Cancer is something that happens to other people. I was 37 and thought it wasn’t possible
Claire Brooks
Claire said: “I went back to the doctors and said I wanted it removing. They removed it and sent it away to be tested and told me it was Stage 2b melanoma in November.
“I was in complete shock. Cancer is something that happens to other people. I was 37 and thought it wasn’t possible.”
After the shock diagnosis, Claire underwent surgery to remove the mole and six lymph nodes in January 2023 – after which she was told all the cancer was gone.
Claire said: “I thought everything would be okay after that. In June, we were out paddleboarding when I felt a lump in my stomach and thought it was a hernia.
“I got someone to get in touch with my specialist and after that it was quickly discovered it was melanoma.
“I wasn’t shocked. When I felt the lump and felt it was growing, I knew what it was. I had prepared myself for it.”
Claire underwent two further surgeries to remove the stage 4 melanoma but will have to undergo immunotherapy to ensure the cancer doesn’t return.
Get your moles checked
Claire said she’s thought many times she’s not going to live past five years, as there’s a big risk it could come back.
She said: “I’d be stupid not to be concerned about the future. I’ve gone through all the emotions of thinking about making recordings for my daughter’s 18th birthday in case I’m not there.
“I think the tanning injections have played a big part in it and years of sunbed abuse. None of it was worth it just for a tan and to look nice in a tan.
“For people that still go on sunbeds, I just think ‘why?’ it’s not worth it. The fake tans are so amazing these days. It’s just irresponsible, especially if you have kids.
“If you have moles, what harm is it doing to get them checked? If you leave it too long, you may have to go through a lot worse.
“If I hadn’t been a person that advocates for themselves, it’s quite scary what could’ve happened.”
What is melanoma, what are the symptoms and how can you prevent it?
Melanoma is the most serious type of skin cancer that has a tendency to spread around the body.
It is diagnosed 16,000 times per year, and tragically takes the lives of 2,340 people per year.
The number of people being diagnosed with melanoma is increasing, and it is the 5th most common cancer in the UK.
But it is also one of the most preventable cancers, with 86 per cent of cases in the UK avoidable.
The best way to protect yourself from melanoma is to be sun safe – wear SPF every day, wear a hat and sunglasses and keep out of the sun in the hottest hours. It is also advised to avoid sunbeds.
People who are fair-skinned, have blue or green eyes, blonde or red hair and a large number of freckles or moles are more likely to get skin cancer.
Surgery is the main treatment for melanoma, particularly if it is found early. This will involve removing the affected tissue in the skin.
Radiotherapy, medicines and chemotherapy are also sometimes used to try and stop the cancer from growing. Treatment depends on the severity of the disease.
What are the symptoms?
The key thing to look out for are changes to an existing mole, or a new mole on your skin.
Most experts recommend using the simple “ABCDE” rule to look for symptoms of melanoma skin cancer, which can appear anywhere on the body.
There are five letters/words to remember:
- Asymmetrical – melanomas usually have two very different halves and are an irregular shape
- Border – melanomas usually have a notched or ragged border
- Colours – melanomas will usually be a mix of two or more colours
- Diameter – most melanomas are usually larger than 6mm in diameter
- Enlargement or elevation – a mole that changes size over time is more likely to be a melanoma
A mole that changes size, shape or colour may be a melanoma.
But other signs to look out for include moles that are:
- Swollen and sore
- Bleeding
- Itchy
- Crusty
How deadly is it?
Melanoma is a deadly form of skin cancer.
The outlook of a person’s disease depends on the stage of the cancer when it was diagnosed.
Survival is better for women than it is for men.
“We don’t know exactly why this is. It may be because women are more likely to see a doctor about their melanoma at an earlier stage,” says Cancer Research UK.
The charity says that generally, statistics show that in England, more than 85 out of every 100 people (more than 85 per cent) will survive their melanoma for 10 years or more after they are diagnosed.
- Around 100 per cent in England diagnosed with melanoma at stage 1 – when the cancer cells are only in the top layer of skin – will survive for five years or more after diagnosis.This drops to 80 per cent for stage 2.
- Some 70 per cent live for a further five years when they are diagnosed in stage 3, which is when the cancer has started to spread to nearby lymph nodes.
- At stage 4, when the melanoma has spread elsewhere in the body, almost 30 per cent survive their cancer for 5 years or more.
Cancer Research says the stage 4 data does not account for age differences. Age can affect outlook and younger people have a better prognosis than older people.
Age can affect outlook and younger people have a better prognosis than older people.
What is melanoma?
Melanocytes are cells in the skin that give us the colour of our skin because they produce a pigment, known as melanin.
When you sit in the sun, melanocytes produce more pigment (a sun tan), which spreads to other skin cells to protect them from the sun’s rays.
But melanocytes are also where cancer starts.
Too much UV causes sunburn, and this is a sign of damage to the skin’s DNA.
The UV triggers changes in the melanocytes, which makes the genetic material become faulty and cause abnormal cell growth.
People who burn easily are more at risk of skin cancer because their cells do not produce as much pigment to protect their skin.
Those with albinism are at the most risk because their skin produces no pigment at all.