When it comes to body imperfections, Cindy Crawford could care less about cellulite. It’s her mole she’s worried about. Not that the supermodel has ever been self-conscious about her signature beauty mark, but she’s concerned that it could become cancerous. She tells the Daily Mail, “It’s not something I really like to talk about. But I do now get this and all my moles checked out every year.” The mole has grown in size over the years, which is a possible sign of melanoma.

We commend Crawford for checking up on her health and being a good example to women who sometimes let their doctor’s visits lapse for longer than they should (guilty as charged). After the jump, some tips on how to keep tabs on your own spots and beauty marks. [Daily Mail]

We all know UV rays (the fake kind or the real deal) don’t do us any favors. Wrinkles are one thing, but, more distressingly, sun exposure ups our chances of getting skin cancer. What you might not have considered is how important hats can be when it comes to preventing sun damage. Allow me to introduce your favorite new must-have summer accessory. This Lauren Moffatt-designed canvas hat with gold grommets is guaranteed to not only cover up your face but your neck too from those dastardly UV rays. Leave it to the creator of easy, summer dresses to come up with the perfect, face-saving solution—and it’s all for charity! One hundred percent of the proceeds will go to The Skin Cancer Foundation. [The Cut]

Doctors have been using Efudex cream to treat actinic keratoses, a precancerous form of squamous cell carcinoma (also known as skin cancer), for four decades, but a new study has found that the medication could also improve skin and smooth wrinkles and rough spots. Dr. Dana Sachs of the University of Michigan, whose study appears in the Archives of Dermatology, said the cream seems to cause an increase in collagen production as it heals the skin wounds. But with every medication comes a downside. Patients experience reddened and inflamed skin soon after application. “Patients look really bad,” Sachs said in a telephone interview with Reuters. “Their skin is red. I’ve heard people describe it as looking like raw hamburger meat.” Then, their skin improves—the pre-cancers are gone and the skin remains youthful for years. Sachs said this knowledge could get patients to stick with their treatments through completion.

Dear Dr. Derm, forgive me for what I’m about to say.

So, yeah, “tan me” is way hotter than “pasty-and-pale me.”  (And by way hotter, I’m not intimating that I’m incredibly good-looking—or even a little good-looking—it’s about that little bit of bronze that balances out my sometimes ruddy skin, makes my hair look blonder without the $250 highlighting bill and let’s me walk out of the house with some Aquaphor on as lip gloss and nothing else). But, since tanning is universally known to cause bad stuff (hi, cancer), I refrain and instead hit the bottle.

Either way you go, the bottle tan or the UV-ray real thing, getting bronzed often produces the most brutal (and totally hilar) stories. To wit…

Sigh. It’s the last official weekend of summer coming up and before I know it, my tan is going to fade into my usual sallow pastiness. But speaking of tanning, when you’re hittin’ the beach this Labor Day weekend, don’t forget to slather yourself in sunscreen—I never wear anything higher than an 8, but I am an idiot. Our girl Lori, however, is a smart cookie when it comes to sun protection and she took to the streets to ask people about their sunscreen routine and to do a little finger wagging.

Summer is all about showing some skin while you’re having fun in the sun and tanning goes with the territory. Sadly, as well know, getting that bronze glow can also be life threatening. While fat roll tan lines, raccoon eyes from your sunglasses, or even the dreaded Oompa Loompa-like burn are cause for concern in the short term, there are health risks on the horizon. The rate of melanoma among white women between the ages of 15 and 39 has doubled over the past 30 years.  There are almost 14 cases out of every 100,000 young women.  Yikes!  [Indeed. I got a sunburn this weekend.—Editor] The medical establishment says the tanning trend is to blame for the tally. So, if you’re still inspired to look like your tanorexic celeb heroines, try a cocktail of self tanner and sunscreen or beware! Have you ever seen the old ladies that look like lobsters lying around the retirement community pools in Florida?  They will make you turn white as a ghost! [Truemors]

If you think that glossy lips and sun-kissed skin make for a good combination, you have another thing coming—and that thing is called cancer. Most shiny lip balms and glosses don’t offer protection and can even increase light penetration through the lip surface. Wear a lip sun block with an SPF of 30 and reapply throughout the day, dermatologist Dr. Christine Brown suggests, and if you have any changes to your lip color that aren’t caused by lipstick (i.e., if an area turns opaque or white), consult a dermatologist. [HealthDay]

Sure the 50-Foot Woman can kick anyone’s butt, but now a new study has shown she’s at a higher risk to have to fight off skin cancer too. According to an Australian scientist, Dr. Catherine Olsen, from the Queensland Institute of Medical Research, the tallest quarter of the 5,000 women she studied were 30% more likely to get melanoma than shorties. Dr. Olsen added, “We found this risk greater among women less than 50 years of age.” Is that just because tall women have more skin to show? Well, she and her colleagues from Italy, the USA, and Britain, are just not sure, but being naturally pasty or excessively tanning are still the strongest risk factors. So ladies, if you want to look trendy and orange like Paris Hilton, but not get the big C, you better stick to a spray tan….or you’ll end up looking like a California Raisin like Lindsay Lohan. [Fox News]