This past week when my story of being a former tanorexic hit newstands in the New York Post I was shocked that it was on the front page of Pulse. Yet, never have I ever imagined it would continue to grow and affect so many people. Today, Yahoo published a very honest story highlighting my former tanorexic days and the role Cosmopolitan played. Now, a new chapter unfolds... I feel I owe it to you, my readers, to express not only gratitude for being as dedicated as you have been these past couple of years, but also for showing a tremendous amount of support as the press has picked up on my "Confessions of A Tanorexic" blog post.

Since, I've been in touch with my old boss, Kate White, the Editor-In-Chief of Cosmopolitan. I wrote her a thank you note expressing how thankful I am to have launched my career at Cosmopolitan, because if it wasn't for that, I wouldn't be where I am today, but of course, I also thanked her for changing my life as her staff looked out for my best interests. She responded and is thankful that the messaging is on point in my post and on Yahoo.

The most inspiring thing that's come from this so far are emails I've been receiving; some from melanoma survivors who are thanking me for raising awareness. I cannot believe my story has made this much of an impact on other people's lives and feel honored and blessed to have a platform to be able to share it on and continue educating about safe sun. The best part, this is only the beginning...

xo,

Jeannine

Hey BeautySweetSpot readers! I'm really excited, because I was given an incredible opportunity to share my "Confessions of a Tanorexic" story on an International level today: first in the New York Post and then in UK's Daily Mail. However, the drama around the situation was a bit blown up for entertainment purposes, obviously. Headlines catch any of you? As you know, I used to live in a tanning bed and have blogged about my confession back in May. I often credit my now healthy skin and paleness to my editors at my first job, where we practiced safe sun at Cosmopolitan. I literally say, they may have saved my life for if it weren't for landing that gig and entering the beauty world, who knows, I may still be tanning.

The NY Post wrote my name as Jeanette, not Jeannine and also quoted me as saying, "If I didn’t practice what I preached, I would be shown the door.” Not true, I wouldn't even say, "I would be shown the door," even if that's how it went down. I was never given an ultimatum or said that. It was simply an oxymoron for beauty writers to tan as I mention in my former blog posts and my editors, who were my mentors at the time were truly concerned for my addiction. If you read "Confessions of A Former Tanorexic," then you know the story.

Still practicing what I preach here on BeautySweetSpot, I'm honored to have had the chance to tell the story of my tanning confession, what it was like to go through tanning withdrawl and how I've learned to embrace my new look. I believe that practicing safe sun is imperative, but like any addiction, tanning isn't easy to quit.