When you’ve been an aesthetician for nearly three decades, you get to know skin — your own included. So when Summer Moore, co-owner of Nashville’s Luxe & Luna, spotted a pink bump on her nose, she immediately clocked it. “I thought it was just a clogged pore,” she says, deciding not to touch it. “I thought for sure it would go away.”
But it didn’t.
A week later, her business partner asked, “How do you still have that same zit?” That’s when Summer realized the texture was spongy, not firm. Her years of extractions told her it was something else, yet it didn’t look like textbook skin cancer. “It wasn’t flat, red, or scaly,” she explains. “It was protruding. It didn’t scream ‘skin cancer.'”
Her dermatologist agreed; it looked like a viral skin condition common in children. Still, they decided to do a biopsy. Days later, she got the call: it was an aggressive squamous cell carcinoma.
“It was growing fast,” Summer recalls. “My doctor told me, ‘If you haven’t had it removed by this time next week, that’s too late.’ That’s a lot to process. You go from thinking it’s a blemish to realizing you’re making decisions that could affect your face forever — in a matter of days.”
The location couldn’t have been worse. The cancer sat directly on the bone near her eye. If it spread, it could affect her ocular nerves and vision. While squamous cell carcinoma isn’t melanoma and won’t enter the bloodstream, removing it in such a delicate spot meant complex reconstruction. Her options were daunting: have a dermatologist perform the removal and closure, or undergo Mohs surgery with a specialist, followed by reconstruction with a plastic surgeon.
“All of it felt like a trust fall,” she says. “You’re trying not to make decisions based on vanity, but […] it’s your face; you don’t get to do this twice.”
That’s when she remembered Dr. Brian Biesman, a Nashville plastic surgeon who specializes in eye and facial reconstruction. She reached out via Instagram, and he called her within seconds.
It wasn’t until Dr. Biesman said, “I’m so sorry you’re going through this,” that Summer finally let herself feel the weight of it. “I’d been in problem-solving mode,” she says. “That’s when it hit me — this actually sucks. And it’s okay to say that.”
The Public Face of Healing
As one of the faces of her business, Summer didn’t have the luxury of healing in private. “The cancer was [in] such a visible place,” she tells us. “I wasn’t going to be able to hide. And I think that forced me into a kind of fast-track acceptance, at least publicly.”
While her surgery was a best-case scenario, her reflection had changed. “There’s a strange feeling when the face in the mirror isn’t the one you’ve always known,” she says. “And in this age of Zoom calls and social media, you’re hyper-aware of every angle. My face isn’t symmetrical like it was. That’s hard to see.”
The emotional impact, she says, is complicated. Gratitude for her health exists alongside a new set of insecurities. “You don’t want to be vain, but you also can’t pretend it doesn’t matter,” she explains. “Once you realize you’re going to live, that’s when the self-pity and the frustration can set in. You can’t rush acceptance.”
There was also a twinge of shame. “I thought, of all the cancers, I get skin cancer? Me? My clients even said, ‘But you’re so careful.’ And yes — I’ve been careful for 27 years. But when I was a kid in the 1980s, I wasn’t wearing SPF. It only takes five bad sunburns in your lifetime to double your risk of skin cancer.”
The Danger of “It Won’t Happen to Me”
Summer hears it often: “I’m indoors most of the day. I have SPF in my makeup.”
“There’s a two-finger rule,” she explains. “That’s how much you need from chin to hairline for your whole face. And it needs to be medical-grade SPF, not the kind mixed into your foundation. When it’s in makeup, it’s diluted with pigments and hydrators.”
Even a diligent morning routine won’t protect you all day. “If you put SPF on at 7:30 a.m. before work, but then you’re outside for lunch at 2 p.m., that morning application is long gone. We treat reapplying like something you only do at the beach. But incidental, everyday exposure is where so much of the damage happens.”
She recommends Color Science’s powder brush SPF, which is backed by the Skin Cancer Foundation. She also carries a UV-blocking umbrella and wears visors from Bluestone Sunshields.
What still surprises her is how little skin cancer prevention is part of routine healthcare. “You’re not advised to get annual skin checks unless you’ve already had skin cancer,” she notes. “The ‘it won’t happen to me’ mindset is dangerous because the damage often happens decades earlier. Mine probably started in childhood. We can’t control everything, but we can protect ourselves better.”
Year-Round Sun Protection: A Breakdown
While many people pack away their sunscreen in the fall, your skin needs year-round protection from UVA and UVB rays. Think of “A” for aging — UVA rays are intense throughout the year and penetrate deep into the skin, contributing to wrinkles, sagging, and certain skin cancers, like basal cell and squamous cell carinomas. Think “B” for burning — UVB rays are strongest in summer but still present year-round, and they’re the primary cause of sunburns and most skin cancers, including melanoma.
All skin tones are susceptible to UV damage, so daily SPF is essential for skin health, no matter the season.
Self-Care as an Act of Surrender
Lately, Summer has found healing through reflexology and Reiki.
During a recent session, her practitioner sensed a struggle with control, noting how her attempts to “hold everything together” were causing energy blockages in her body. This experience taught Summer a powerful lesson: to let go and be present. It’s about shifting from a “clenched fist” to an “open hand.”
In a world full of heroic, brave survivor stories, Summer felt compelled to share the messy, unglamorous truth: the story that isn’t pretty yet. By being real about the emotional weight of her journey, she hopes to provide a sense of camaraderie and a resource for others who are still in the middle of their own struggles.
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