5 Lessons I Learned From My Mother, the Aesthetician

My roots are Irish and Scottish, which means like my mom, we don't really tan; we just freckle... and suffer sun damage if we aren't careful. She's had some scary bouts with pre-cancerous spots on her chest, so she is very diligent about applying at least an SPF 30 several times a day. No matter the season — or no matter where a travel writing assignment takes me — my mom always nags me to lather up. My daily moisturizer has a built in SPF, and whenever I'm about to be face-to-face with those powerful sun rays, I agree that yep, mother knows best.

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