Aussie woman living in London urges Brits to ditch sunbeds and use SPF (2024)

An Australian woman has expressed her concern for Brits' 'casual attitude towards tanning and sun damage'.

Charlotte Rose Hallett, who recently moved from Sydney to London, says she's been shocked by the amount of people using sunbeds and being dismissal of stepping outside without slapping on any SPF.

'Obviously you don't see as much of the sun here you have a working ozone layer but it doesn't that the sun isn't going to come for you,' she said in a TikTok shared this week.

The influencer added that her wariness for the sun is rooted in being 'scared out of her mind as a child' with skin cancer awareness ads.

She shared a snippet of a video campaign from Cancer Institute NSW, dubbed The Dark Side of Tanning.

One clip shows a man on the beach tanning, before beginning a haunting narration: 'Tanning is skin cells in trauma tying to protect themselves from cancer.

'But a melanoma just one millimetre deep can get into your bloodstream and spread.

'So even if a melanoma is cut out the cancer can reappear months or years later, often in your lung liver or brain... and you haven't even started to burn yet.'

'Imagine you're like eight going to watch Bridge To Terabithia and you get one of these ads before the movie,' Charlotte told her viewers.

'Obviously that struck the fear of God into me as a child and it's worked. And I thank the government for that - at least even for anti-aging purposes.'

In a final plea to Brits, she stressed that there is 'nothing healthy about a tan'.

'You can still get vitamin D if you're wearing SPF protection,' the content creator added.

'You can buy fake tan - amazing these days - and some amazing SPFs. Stay safe outside and if the UV is above three on your weather app, put SPF on.'

The Dark Side of Tanning campaign was developed by the Cancer Institute NSW for the summer of 2007-2008.

It was then adopted by other organisations including Cancer Council and run in other states and territories over the following years.

Britons and Australians alike commented on Charlotte's TikTok - with one poster explaining: 'It's because we barely get any sun okay.'

'We are obsessed with getting tanned cause we never see the sun,' another added.

'I think it's so bad in the UK because it's so rare to see the sun consistently and everyone just loses their minds when it's out,' a third also agreed.

But other Aussies were equally horrified, with one sharing that her housemate goes to a sunbed.

'I almost died when I heard!' she exclaimed.

Another added that the same problem exists across the pond too.

'I literally gasped when I saw a US influencer promoting a tanning oil,' they said. 'They would be shamed so hard in Aus.'

'I went to a midsummer roof top work party on a sunny London day when I lived there and as I was putting sunscreen on someone walked up to me and said you must be Australian,' one recalled.

Earlier this year, dermal clinician Madeleine O'Brien, from Melbourne, shared the nostalgic commercial online triggering the memories of thousands.

Cancer Council Australia Director, Cancer Control Campaigns and Communications Melody Chew told FEMAIL the campaign made a huge impact on young Australians but there is still a long way to go with many prioritising vanity over skin health.

'(Cancer Council Australia) absolutely popped off with this campaign! It haunts me. Maybe a little too terrifying for 10-year-old me to see but hey, look at me now preaching sun safety. It clearly worked,' Madeleine captioned a TikTok clip.

Madeleine said the campaign 'haunts' all Australians born before the 2000s. She called it her 'Roman empire', meaning she still thinks of it regularly.

Melody said because the ad was so 'shocking' it was very successful in achieving high recall.

'(The Cancer Council) did some research late last year with young people aged 18 to 30 and we found they were still quoting the line from that ad: 'There's nothing healthy about a tan',' she said.

'We also saw in that research that there's a really strong understanding among young people of the risk of skin cancer and how to protect themselves against skin cancer and we can thank that particular campaign for that.'

Melody said while young people are well aware of the risks of tanning and sun exposure, there is a strong attitude towards ignoring the advice for appearance's sake.

'We need to focus onsocial media and in particular influencers that are targeting young people, aged 18 to 30, and driving these attitudes that are all image related,' she said.

Melody said the shock value of the 2007 'Nothing Healthy About a Tan' ad isn't as effective these days with social media.

'They won't work unless we can convince young people that a tan doesn't make them look more beautiful, that their clothes don't look any better on them with a tan, and that they can feel confident without a tan,' she said.

'That's what the Cancer Council and the Australian Government have been working on, and it's a long game.'

The Cancer Council teamed up with more than 60 influencers who have been promoting the benefits of staying out of the sun and avoiding tanning.

'They've been really fantastic at driving conversations about tanning culture and making sun protection look glamorous and aspirational. Just seeing all of the comments on their posts out there and the way that people are starting to question these really rewarding to watch,' Melody said.

'It fills mewith a bit of hope that we actually might be able to climb this big uphill battle. Obviously, this cultural change is not going happen overnight but we're seeing really good early signs of success.'