Christie Brinkley Reveals Skin Cancer Diagnosis

By Tariro Mzezewa, the Cut's morning blogger.   Her coverage areas include culture, politics and art. She also contributes to Vulture, The New York Times and Conde Nast Traveler. She previously worked as a national correspondent at The New York Times.

On Tuesday, model Christie Brinkley revealed that she recently had surgery to remove skin cancer from her face. In an Instagram post, she said her doctors caught the basal-cell carcinoma — a common type of skin cancer — early.

“I had great Doctors that removed the cancer and stitched me up to perfection like an haute couture Dior,” Brinkley captioned her post, which included photos of the scar and stitches on her left temple.

Surprisingly, Brinkley wrote that her cancer was actually discovered during her daughter’s checkup. “It wasn’t my appointment so I wasn’t going to say anything but at the VERY end I asked if he could just look at a little tiny dot I could feel as I applied my foundation. He took a look and knew immediately it needed a biopsy! He did it then and there!”

According to the Mayo Clinic, basal-cell carcinoma is “a type of skin cancer that most often develops on areas of skin exposed to the sun, such as the face.” Brinkley, who described herself as a “mermaid/gardener,” urged people to make checkup appointments and to “slather” on sunscreen, which she said she didn’t start doing until late in life: “I’ll be slathering on my SPF 30, reapplying as needed, wearing long sleeves and a wide brim hat. And doing regular total body check ups … that is a MUST.”