At least two celebrities are shunning the sun for skin cancer awareness.
Marcia Cross of "Desperate Housewives" is promoting the joint campaign between the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery and beauty brand Olay for a free skin-cancer screening program, while Kristen Bell of the upcoming "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" has pledged to get her glow from a bottle.
Bell signed on to the Glow in the Dark campaign on the Jergens.com website. For every similar pledge made by the public, Jergens - known for its Natural Glow self-darkening skin products - donates $1 to The Skin Care Foundation.
"It's an oxymoron to say you've got a healthy tan," says Bell, 27. "You want to glow."
Even with the looks of a beach-loving starlet, Bell says she has pale Polish skin under her tinted moisturizer.
Cross also wears sunscreen every day - rain or shine - and wears hats almost all the time to protect the pale skin that's become her trademark. "I don't want sun spots or even freckles anymore," says the 46-year-old actress, who has had two family members stricken with melanoma.
This is the second year Cross is the spokeswoman for the program sponsored by Olay and ASDS to offer free skin-care screenings during May, June or July at the offices of participating dermatologists in the United States.
"If I'm at the beach, then I'm the fully clothed person on the beach. I wear a long cover-up and a big hat," Cross says with a laugh. "I really just keep covered. It's not always fun, but I do know this is for the greater good. It's some health and some vanity that help keep me pale."
