Haywards Heath fashion vlogger raising awareness of skin cancer

Annemarie Moore, from Haywards Heath, uses her platforms on Youtube and Instagram to offer styling tips to help women over 50 look stylish and raise awareness of skin cancer.

The 61-year-old’s own cancer experience started with a mole on the inside of her leg, which had been there for up to eight years but started to change in 2018.

“I was concerned because it looked to me like it was getting bigger,” she said.

“So I got it checked by a dermatologist who said it was an A-typical mole. I was travelling abroad a lot for work at the time and really busy, so I thought it was done and dusted.

“But during lockdown in 2020, I looked at it again and decided I wasn’t happy with it, so I went and got it looked at again with a different specialist. I was told it was a surface melanoma.”

A surface melanoma is also known as superficial spreading melanoma.

“Thankfully it hadn’t spread so they were able to do a wide incision and cut it out. I was relieved it had been removed but shocked after initially I was told it was just a mole, said Annemarie, who lives with her partner John and two daughters, Annabel, 28, and Chloe, 24.

Annemarie is careful in the sun now (Image: Annemarie Moore)

“It just emphasises that if you feel you are not happy with something, you should always follow up.”

Melanoma skin cancer cases have hit a record high of 17,500 per year in the UK and are projected to soar by around 50 per cent over the next two decades according to the latest analysis by Cancer Research UK.  

More than eight people in the South East diagnosed with melanoma, the most serious form of skin cancer, every day.

Annemarie has joined forces with the charity and Nivea Sun to share advice and tips on how people can protect their skin from too much exposure to the sun’s UV rays.   

In one of her vlogs on YouTube channel @Myover50fashionlife, she told her thousands of viewers about the melanoma she found on her inner leg, below the knee.

“It wasn’t a video about sun safety, but I said it because it was relevant and it’s an important message – you have to look after yourself in the sun and the heat,” she said.

“And it’s also really important to remind people you can get skin damage in the UK, even on a cloudy day – you don’t have to be in Florida or Spain.

“High factor sunscreen is a must, along with clothes that can still look stylish but offer cover. And just staying out of the sun when it’s at its strongest is really important.

“I was a bit of a sun worshipper when I was a teenager – I remember getting sun stroke in Lanzarote.

“But now I’m religious about staying safe and using factor 50. And hats are really useful too – I have a great foldable one which I carry in my bag in summer.

“We all want to enjoy the sunshine, of course. But getting sunburnt increases your chance of getting skin cancer - so I’m urging people to take care.

“It’s so important, because almost nine in ten melanoma cases each year in the UK could be prevented by being safe in the sun and using a combination of shade, clothing and sunscreen to avoid burning.”