Portrait of a Porcelain: I Was Diagnosed with Skin Cancer at 16

Like many little pale girls, when I was young, many well meaning family members pushed me outside in the sun because I needed "just a little color." I burned every time. They'd push me back out in the sun, sunburn and all, telling me that if I did it enough, I'd start tanning.

I never tanned.

I do, however, have pretty severe sun damage on my decolletage. I scour my body, especially that area, for any sign of strange moles, new textures on existing moles, and anything else that looks amiss. I've rushed to my dermatologists with concerns as minor as "I think one of my moles may itch slightly," and they humor me every time. Luckily, I'm yet to be diagnosed with skin cancer, but that fear is always in the back of my mind.

I recently had the honor of meeting Hannah through the Rock Your Porcelain Instagram account. Hannah, a citizen of Germany, told me how she had been diagnosed with Basal Cell Carcinoma at the young age of 16, and I knew immediately that I wanted to hear her story.

According to SkinCancer.org Basal Cell Carcinomas (BCCs) are "abnormal, uncontrolled growths or lesions that arise in the skin’s basal cells, which line the deepest layer of the epidermis (the outermost layer of the skin). BCCs often look like open sores, red patches, pink growths, shiny bumps, or scars. Usually caused by a combination of cumulative UV exposure and intense, occasional UV exposure, BCC can be highly disfiguring if allowed to grow, but almost never spreads (metastasizes) beyond the original tumor site. Only in exceedingly rare cases can BCC spread to other parts of the body and become life-threatening."

And if you're thinking, "No big deal, it rarely becomes life threatening," go back to the part where it says it can be "highly disfiguring." I googled this, to spare you the gross pictures, and let me tell you: they really mean it can be highly disfiguring. If you have a strong stomach, here you go. (WARNING: very disturbing pictures)

Hannah took the time to answer some of my questions about her experience with being diagnosed with BCC, and at such a young age:

RYP: How old were you when you were diagnosed with skin cancer, and what was the exact diagnosis?

Hannah: I was 14 when it appeared and at 16 I went the doctor to cut away the "wart" underneath my eye. A week later he called me and told me that the thing was not a "wart," that it was a "basaliom" (note: "basaliom" is the German word for Basal Cell Carcinoma). So that I had white skin cancer. And that he has to cut more tissue away otherwise it will grow back. Later I informed myself on the Internet and found out that I could not die from it, but that it destroys the tissue of my skin. 

RYP: When did you first notice that something was wrong? 

Hannah: Because it had not disappeared in two years, I thought it was a "wart," but my dad noticed that it had grown and he wanted a doctor to cut it away. 

RYP: You were diagnosed with skin cancer at such a young age, was the possibility of getting skin cancer ever even a thought in your mind prior to the diagnosis? 

Hannah: I did not ever know that white skin cancer existed, but I knew how dangerous black skin cancer could be because my mother had it and survived it. So I thought I could get black skin cancer, too. But not at that age. 

RYP: I'm so glad that everything turned out OK for you, but it must have been such a scary diagnosis to receive; what was going through your mind when the doctor first brought up skin cancer?

Hannah: I was so shocked by the word "cancer" and directly started to cry. My family was around me, helped me, and we started to google it. The pictures of other basalioms looked definitely more shocking than mine. That I could not die from it should have calmed me down, but the fact that mainly people around 60 get this shocked me even more. And that it just appears in the face area and destroys the skin tissue made me cry again. 

RYP: How has having gone through this impacted your life? Do you do anything different now? 

Hannah: Of couse it has! Now I just love my skin colour. I never would want to be tanned, and I think that everybody should love their natural skin colour. I think that a beauty ideal is unnecessary, and that Sun Studios (tanning salons) should be removed. Another thing I started to do was to protect my skin every day with a spf of 50. 

RYP: What would be your advice to fellow fair-skinned girls out there who may feel similar to you prior to developing skin cancer? 

Hannah: Fair-skinned girls should accept and love their own skin because it's beautiful. And most importantly protect it on an everyday basis because they have a higher risk to get white and black skin cancer. I would suggest to wear at least a spf of 30 in their daily moisturizer.

Love your skin and protect it, we couldn't agree more. THANK YOU Hannah, for sharing your story with us.

Hannah today, skin cancer free

Bronzers for Fair Skin/Blogger Love for A Little Bit etc.

I go through bronzers regularly. Mostly because I'm fickle with makeup in general and love trying new products.

A great bronzer makes me feel alive on my worst day. A bad one makes me feel like a little girl who was playing with Mommy's makeup and didn't know what she was doing.

I love the A Little Bit etc. blog because Maree Sye lives and breathes beauty. Her background is in makeup and skincare, and her love of what she does shines through on her blog.

Check out her awesome blog post on bronzers for pale skin. And while you're there, look around a little bit. This woman knows makeup!

Does Ben Nye Banana Powder Work on Pale and Fair Skin?

Oh Kim Kardashian, you little trendsetter.

Seems like when her and her makeup artist revealed that the secret to her glow was Ben Nye Banana Powder, the beauty world went on a Banana Powder frenzy, and I saw tons of reviewers rave about how it works on virtually any skin type to achieve that Kardashian glow.

But us porcelains know "virtually any skin type" usually precludes ours.

Which begs the question: can pale girls where the Ben Nye Banana Powder?

I saw a few review videos that claimed they could, so I decided to investigate for myself. I went online to Makeup Mania, which has the BEST sample program. You can get three generous samples of any of their makeup for just a couple of bucks. I got 9 samples for under $10.

I went online to find a tutorial on how to use it.

I must caveat: I am by NO means a makeup artist. Just a pale girl who likes to play with makeup.

I liked this one a lot:



So I did my thing:

Annnnnnnnnd:

No. I look like I've got a touch of liver disease. It's quite yellow, and I did blend like a mad woman. 

Note: This may work better if your skin tone is warmer? For $3, it's worth a sample to try. And if you have warmer skin tone, I'd love for you to leave a comment and let me know if this worked for you.

Don't feel that you are left out of the world of Kardashian glow, because I found a few other products on Makeup Mania that I am head-over-heels in love with, so stay tuned for those reviews coming next!

Pale Male Monday: Alexander Skarsgård

Confession: I wanted Sookie to end up with Eric. They're chemistry was so steamy!

Alexander Skarsgård is today's feature for Pale Male Monday. He's pale, he's gorgeous and it's Monday. It's like he was made for this feature. 

Plus, his eyes just penetrate your soul.

Must be those Swedish genetics.

Fun fact: he was an anti-terrorist soldier in the Swedish army. Probably gave him so good training for his role in Generation Kill.

Dear Alexander Skarsgård, I love you.

A Pale Girl's Review of Accutane

Why specifically a pale girl's review?

Because I can tell you from the perspective of a pale girl an onslaught of huge red pimples screaming across your face feels disfiguring.

I'm not in any way trying to diminish non-pale people with severe cystic acne, but there was a part of me that envied them. The big red zits seemed less angry when set on the background of a face that wasn't paper white. Add to that the difficulty any pale girl has finding concealer and foundation, and you end up with a difficult task when making vain attempts to cover the mountains erupting on your face.

I tried everything before I resorted to Accutane. Diets, like the ones recommended in all of those Perricone books, supplements, antibiotics (one of which resulted in fluid accumulating on my brain), masks, cleansers, Proactive, you name it.

My acne was stubborn, persistent, and leaving me humiliated and depressed. Severe cystic acne hampers so many aspects of your life. I hated people looking at me in sunlight, especially if I was driving in the car and my passenger would turn to talk to me. I feel like things somehow look more severe in your car during the day. I'd picture them seeing my bright white skin, with a smattering of huge red bumps.

On top of that, acne is incredibly painful. The huge bumps are painful to the touch, yet you somehow touch them throughout the day, as if you can't believe these ugly, painful intruders are actually violating your face.

I finally went to my dermatologist, frustrated and in tears, and they decided to try Accutane. Let me be clear, Accutane is a nasty drug with a slew of side effects that are terrifying.

It was also one of the best decisions I have ever made in my life.

Accutane works by essentially killing your oil glands. According to Acne.org, it reduces the size of the skin's oil glands, as well as reduces how much oil they produce. Since there is now less oil on the skin, which is what skin bacteria tends to live off of, it also greatly reduces acne-causing bacteria, as well as slows the production of skin cells inside the pore, which can cause the pores to become clogged. And it has anti-inflammatory properties. This drug does it all.

But I remind you, it does come at a cost. Here are just a few of the side effects that can come with Accutane:

Nosebleeds
Lip inflammation
Dry skin/hair
Hair loss
Yellow deposits on your eyelids
Sensitivity to the sun (great for us pale people)
Oozing and bleeding skin bumps
Elevated liver enzymes
Pancreatitis
Breathing difficulty
Birth defects
Muscle pain/joint pain
Bone overgrowth
Arthritis
Rapid breakdown of muscle tissue
Headaches
Vision impairment
Low white blood cell count
Anal fissures/rectal bleeding

Oh yeah, and suicide.

What? Yes. Suicide. It's rare, but has happened.

Did I read about these crazy side effects before I took it? Yup. And I still wanted to do it? You betcha.

Call me vain, but it went beyond that. Severe cystic acne destroyed my self-confidence and I was tired of it.

To take Accutane, if you're a woman, you have to declare two forms of birth control and take a pregnancy test before each month's prescription is given to you. They really don't want you pregnant on Accutane. In fact, this is the little illustration you see on each pill bubble before you pop out a pill:

It's not a matter of if it will deform your baby, it's how badly. And it's bad. You also have to take a monthly blood test to test your cholesterol and liver values because it can wreak havoc on both. But once you pass all your blood tests, you're in the clear and you get your monthly prescription. 

They told me it typically takes 4 weeks on Accutane to start seeing a difference in your skin. After one week of taking Accutane, literally all of my acne was gone, and my face was smooth, glowing and beautiful. I'm not lying. I was amazed. People who knew me were equally amazed and the compliments on my skin started pouring in. I only needed to be on it for four months, but I know people who have been on it longer and even needed several rounds. 

That was almost 10 years ago, and I've not had an acne problem since. My husband who only knew me post-Accutane is amazed at these tales I have of what my skin used to look like. I wish I had a picture to share, but I honestly didn't take many pictures back then. But here I am today, with cute hubby:

Fun side bonus while being on Accutane: You can literally go for a week without washing your hair and it will look just as fresh as the first day you washed it. Absolutely zero oil or grime. It's unbelievable and I wish it lasted forever! 

Bad side of Accutane: I developed eczema that I'm still dealing with to this day, and probably will be dealing with for the rest of my life. 

But I honestly don't care, I'd do it again in a heartbeat.  

To be clear, everyone has a different experience with Accutane, and there are plenty of people who have not had as positive an experience with it as I did. It's a personal decision everyone needs to think about long and hard, but I think it's an option that is definitely worth considering if you have persistent severe acne that is impacting your life. 

Jergens BB Body Perfecting Skin Cream Review for Fair Skin

If you're anything like me (impatient), products that show immediate results get you way more excited than those you have to wait for. I first read about Jergens BB Body Perfecting Skin Cream in Allure, where it had been picked as an Editor's Choice. 

Because my decollete is a source of self-consciousness, it definitely made me perk up. Several well meaning family members pushed me out in the sun constantly when I was young, with the reasoning that, the more I was in the sun, the more likely it would be that I'd finally "get some color." I did get color. Tomato red, peeling color. As a result, my decollete is permanently red and uneven in skin tone. I hate it. I also feel that it is the location of future melanoma, but that's a post for another time.

 Body BB cream is exciting because it offered the possibility that maybe I could even out my skin tone in that problem area. Putting regular foundation or tinted moisturizer on it always felt odd and I was worried it would rub off on my clothing. Jergens BB Body Perfecting Skin Cream does two things: it both smooths out imperfections immediately, but also improves the skin over time. What I found interesting about it is that it delivers different results for light and dark skin tones. For light skin tones, it specifically focuses on evening out red tones, and blurs skin imperfections. Here's the swatch for light skin:

It does not go on as full coverage, like foundation, or even really much like tinted moisturizer. In fact, when I saw it out of the tube, I was skeptical. I took a before picture of my decollete, in full light, then applied the BB cream on my neck, decollete and the tops of the girls. Then I took an after picture, in the same spot. Below are the pictures, with no filter or absolutely no manipulation. 

Holy wow! It really did reduce my redness and smooth out my skin tone. It's not perfect, but it's BB cream, not a magic wand and my sun damage is pretty bad. I'm so impressed with how much it did do. I highly recommend giving it a try! 

Pale Male Monday: Eddie Redmayne

Pale Male Monday is something I've been doing over on Instagram, but I feel the showcasing of hot pale guys needs to be spread much farther than Instagram. Otherwise I'm doing these beautiful pale men a major disservice. 

Today's Pale Male Monday man: Eddie Redmayne. You may recall him as Marius in Les Miserables.

He's from London, so has a British accent. Which always makes a guy 10x's hotter in my eyes. Look at him, looking all British-y.

He studied Art History at Cambridge. He's educated and hot and loves art. I can't even. Here he is, looking all Cambridge-y. 

And when he's not being all British-y and Cambride-y, he models. Because, hot.

He's playing the brilliant Stephen Hawking in his next movie, check him out in the trailer:

Happy Pale Male Monday! And if you know a pale male you want to nominate (or you want to nominate yourself), send me an email with a short bio and 4-5 pictures to: rockyourporcelain at gmail dot com.

Fair Skin Plum and Berry Lip Colors for Fall

Fall is here, which tends to be a porcelain's favorite season because we really shine in fall colors. This is the time of year that we love wearing berry and plum lip colors. Here are a few of my very favorites.

Estee Lauder, Extravagant Berry

Ok, I apologize in advance for including a lipstick that is hard to find because it was a seasonal lipstick. But this lipstick is so amazing that I couldn't not include it. You can still find it in some eBay stores and I promise that I am on the hunt for some good dupes. The color is stunning, the texture is truly like butter and it smells divine. You owe it to yourself to hunt this down, or wait til I find some dupes :)

Bite Beauty, Bramble

This is a deep, vampy purple on me and it is stunningly dramatic. It is goes on velvety smooth, and being in stick form allows for precision application. 

Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick, Spicy Cinnamon

This is a spicy little color that is the perfect fall color for under $10. It is such a yummy, cinnamon-y color that can be work day or night. A perfect tube to keep in your bag for those days when you forgot to put apply lipstick before you rushed out of the house and then remembered on your way to work. 

Revlong Colorburst Lip Butter, Sugar Plum

This is a pretty, sheer plum that is perfect on top of your favorite plum lip liner, for an intense look, or on its own for a softer, sheer look. 

Revlon Super Lustrous Gloss, Pearl Plum

Lord help me if this lip gloss is ever discontinued. This is my HG lip gloss, and now that I see that they're mostly selling them in packs of 2, which makes me worried they may be. So I may just have to buy a few (dozen) two packs. This is a definite MLBB (my lips but better) gloss. This is more of a nude for me on its own, since my lips are more of a plum shade. It is one of my all-time must haves. 

The two colors on either end of my arm are a few inexpensive lip liners that go well with these lip colors in case you want a bolder look. 

Rimmel Exaggerate Lip Liner in Enchantment

This is a great plu liner and I love the texture. It glides on with a deep color payoff. 

Rimmel Lasting Finish in Cherry Kiss

I do like this liner, it's great for berry lip colors. I will say that this particular line of liner loses its glide-ability (is that a word?) after a few months. But hey, it's like, $3, so you can't complain too much.