Eyelids, like the tips of your ears, may not seem a likely place to develop cancer but we really do need to sit up and take notice, warns Cancer Research UK.

Malignant melanoma, which is the fifth most common worldwide, is one of the most serious forms of skin cancer. Rates have increased by almost a third over the past decade but about 17,000 of the projected 20,800 cases this year in the UK are preventable, says the charity, because almost nine in ten cases in the UK are caused by exposure to too much UV radiation from the sun and sunbeds.

What most people don't realise, however, is that when melanoma affects the head and neck, it has the highest risk of death and – eeek! – our eyelids (lower as well as upper) are the worst place to have affected.

Cancer of the eyelids is a somewhat mysterious form of melanoma with a number of risk factors – but those are, unsurprisingly, headed by UV exposure. Age is another factor, as skin gets thinner and more vulnerable, also previous sunburn, a history of non-melanoma skin cancer and a positive family history – your genes may play a part.

Once they occur, it’s not an easy place to treat being so near your eyes. So the mantra has to be: protection, protection, protection.

Top of your list should be a wide brimmed, close woven hat and big Jackie O shades with wide arms. And staying out of the sun is a no-brainer – self tan is our best friend… But, you might say, shouldn’t you also apply an SPF to be on the safe side, as you do on the rest of your face and body? Well yes and no…

Most sun preps are based on an emulsion formula and can sting and irritate like crazy if they get in your eyes, especially ones based on chemical screens as opposed to physical ones, such as the minerals titanium dioxide and zinc oxide. In fact, if you bother to read the Warnings (as I signally failed to do recently), you will be see words like ‘Caution:  Avoid contact with eyes, eyelids and mucous membranes’.

It’s fair to say that some health professionals may not have read the warnings. I found one leading hospital’s Patient Information sheet, which advised applying an SPF30 on and around the eyes.

There are options for the upper eyelid. In general we’d go for a mineral powder, applied with a small brush to target the area, as powder is much less likely to travel into the eye.

All minerals have the ability to scatter UV light and provide some protection against UV. So look for a mineral-based eye shadow such as Odylique Organic Mineral Eyeshadow/£8.50 each, in six colours, or use a pressed powder for the face, such as Cosmetics a la Carte Matte Mineral Foundation/£50 in 12 shades from very fair to dark. Founder and CEO Lynne Sanders recommends this for evening out eyelids and concealing redness as well as giving some protection: ‘apply with an eye shadow brush or a cotton bud’, she suggests.g

You may find other alternatives, as I have. My favourite Lumene CC Color Correcting Cream has an SPF20 and never irritates my eyes, despite being stroked over lids and into dark corners. It comes in ten shades, priced £19.90.

I’m also trying Revision Skincare Intellishade TruPhysical SPF45. This is an all mineral, tinted daily moisturiser with a hefty amount of zinc oxide and titanium dioxide. It promises to reduce the look of fine lines and wrinkles, to brighten (vitamin C helps there), blur and conceal imperfections, as well as hydrating and giving antioxidant ‘benefits’. It’s a hefty price too, at £96 for 58g. (‘Intellishade’ means it adapts to your skin tone.)

Finally, please don’t forget about your ear tips and the back of your neck, especially if you eschew a big hat for a baseball cap, which leaves them exposed. Slosh on the sun preps there.

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