Looking Good, Feeling Great - Tanning?

I was wondering, how many of you all tan? My gym offers it and I have been really turned off by tanning but, I have really fair skin and with warmer weather coming I am hoping to be outside more and more. Is it a good idea for me to get a jump start by tanning once or twice a week so that I don't get super burned my first few trips out in the sun? :mad: this is usually what I look like after an hour or so in the sun...not really mad, but that red! :dizzy:

If you don't really tan in the sun, you're not going to tan well in a tanning bed. sorry :(
If you do tan a little, you can build up a base by starting out at really short amounts of time - 3-5 minutes depending on the strength of the bed a couple times a week, like every other day to start and then you can maintain at once or twice a week. they also make creams and bronzers that will acclerate the tanning process. A burn is still a burn and you're damaging your skin by doing that, and tanning is still on the dangerous side, so you have to be very careful and aware of the risks before you start.
I am personally very fair, borderline for tanning at best, but I have been known to go tanning in spring just because I am VERY pale and I don't want to scare the locals comes shorts season.

I don't use tanning bed, I accept whatever tan I get from walking and swimming -- I wouldn't recommend you to tan because of your fair skin. It would be a good idea for you to invest in some good suncreen so you won't burn. Burning is very bad and everytime you burn, you increase your chances of getting skin cancer. If you want to get some color, try spray on tans or lotions. Don't use tanning beds. I think the color they produce isn't flattering on anybody.

http://www.webmd.com/melanoma-skin-cancer/news/20031016/tanning-salons-boost-skin-cancer-risk

http://www.cancer.org/docroot/NWS/content/NWS_1_1x_Tanning_Beds_May_Increase_Skin_Cancer_Ris k.asp

maybe i'm reading your post differently, but i took you to mean that you aren't planning on continuing to tan necessarily, you just want to get a slight tan so that you don't burn the first time you go out in the sun once the weather is nicer. if that is the case, that's the same thing i do. i go just a couple times a week and only for a few minutes. i still use a high spf sunscreen when i go out, even though i have a small tan built up to protect my skin and prevent a burn.

I am fair skinned as well and use a tanning bed regularly. I used to burn alot before I used a bed and now I really don't have a problem getting an awesome tan. I don't over do it like some girls I have seen that look orange but I tan enough so that I don't appear to be pastey. You have to start out small and work your way up. Start at 3 min or so and then *** you go you will be able to increase your time in the bed.

DON'T TAN!! I'm sorry but I think people who go lay out for tanning or go to a tanning bed are just crazy. It's like asking for skin cancer. I am fair skinned and yes I don't like looking pasty white in the summer, but I would rather be pasty white then have skin cancer in 10-20 years. Try doing the cream tanners that you can get at the drug store - it might not be the best looking thing, but at least you won't be getting skin cancer later in life. And going tanning a few times so that you don't get super burned the first few times out in the sun is silly - by tanning you are getting burned, it is just a more severe burn. People think that looking tan and dark is great, but their is really horribly damaged by it. Just because you don't turn red from being in the sun (like fair skinned people (including me) do) and you turn a darker shade, doesn't mean you aren't getting burn - it is a worse burn than you think. Please think carefully about this before you go tanning - skin cancer might not happen to everyone, but it could happen to you.

I would also recommend getting a good sunscreen. I also have fair skin although it takes effort for me to burn so I don't know the answer to this.... Do those sunless tanners like Jergens and what not help protect you?

Again, you should always wear a good sunscreen on your face and body. The suns rays aren't something you want to have access to your skin unfiltered.

My husband also has fair skin and burns easily. I buy him good face and good sunscreen and he never burns, even when we are out in the sun for hours. A hat is also a good idea for long term exposure.

I am very very fair (can't find makeup light enough anywhere fair) and for me I tried a tanning bed a couple of times and I burnt even after 4 minutes. It just wasn't worth it. Getting a base tan doesn't really help you to not burn, you can still burn and it won't decrease the likelihood of a burn unfortunately. However, if you are concerned about the fairness and would like to just have some color why not try a spray on tan. That way you will have the color without having to worry about getting burnt in a bed.

The "mature" woman weighing in on this one. Don't tan. Protect your skin. Wear sunscreen daily. Particularly on your face and hands. I am very fair and I burn easily. Skin cancer runs in my family. But almost as scary is watching what happened to my mother when she moved to a warmer climate. Over 20 years, I watched her skin turn leathery and prunish. She never sat out or tanned intentionally, she just never used sunscreen. She looks 20 years older than she is. Many people are surprised to find out that I am in my 50s, but I attribute this mostly to the use of a lotion with spf 15 every day since I was 20 - and I mean every day - even here in northern MI. And don't forget to protect your eyes with sunglasses as well.

I dont lay in tanning beds. It feels like laying in a coffin to me.


I do get tanned during the summer from being in the swimming pool. I make sure and use sunscreen every time we go out.

I'm on the side of no tanning! After watching my niece, 21 years old, die of melanoma it made me want to get up a big box and shout it to the world. Skin Ca is deadly. And it does age the skin. Go to the beach sometime and look at the older sun bathers. They look like dried up prunes. And who says pale skin can't look lovely. Lots of the stars now are pale and beautiful. How about Nicole Kidman? We have been brain washed to think tan is beautiful. We need to change our thinking.

i used to go on the tanning beds quite a lot...after reading a few articles it scared the HECK out of me and i've stopped completely, i don't even like going to warmer countries now. It's too much of a risk, and i'd highly discourage it.

Don't tan. Outside, or in a tanning bed. Seriously. If you want a little bit of color, there are wonderful self tanning lotions out there-the ones by Jergens and Dove are really good. No, they won't make you a bronze goddess, but you won't look like school paste, either. :lol:

If you want to avoid a burn when you go out this summer-wear high SPF sunscreen and sunblock. Use a lip balm with a good SPF in it, and you can also buy face makeup with sunscreens as well.

My mother tanned a lot when she was younger, up until recently, and so did my grandmother. All of that sun damage is REALLLLLY showing up. They have much more wrinkles than women their age who have avoided the sun.

Also, my mother has had to have some skin cancer spots removed on her FACE. The spots look like chicken pox scars now. How attractive is that? She had an swesome tan once upon a time, but now in her 50's she has these small scars on her face...that are going to be there for life-20, 30, or 40+ years depending on her lifespan.

When I was in high school, the cheerleaders and preppy girls were all nice and tan from their sunbathing and regular tanning bed visits. 15 years later, when I run into them somewhere, they look much more haggard, and older than I do. One girl in particular that I went to school with looks like a leather boot now. You should really weigh the pros and cons of looking good NOW vs. having more wrinkles and sun damage later. A 25 year old woman might look great with a tan, but it will rear its head later when she is 40 and her skin looks like she is 60.

ANY amount of sunbathing that you do will effect you later. Any burn you get will affect you later.

I'm a definite 'no' if you don't tan naturally. My 35 year old brother had a secondary melanoma removed from his neck only last week. His prognosis is poor:(

Kitty

No to tanning beds!! They give u a freaky color anyway. Im from Portugal and we are really big on the tanning thing, when you go to the beach you see all the familys and like the daughters are a lovely skin color very tanned and the mother is like full of rinkles, creepy...So what I do since I´m very white but easliy get tanned I usually get a spray on tan that we have here, smells like coconut yummy and then u tan in the morning and late afternoon, and use sunscreen anyway! Never between 12 or 4!! But tanning beds? big NO NO . not good and not worth it. :)

I'll have to join in and say DON'T TAN! I don't understand why anyone would want to do that to their skin.... Baking yourself in the sun in just about the worst thing you can do to your skin. Really, do you want to be bronzed now but in as short as 5-10 years look like a wrinkly leather handbag? Or even worse.. end up with deadly skin cancer? (Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer, and oddly enough the most preventable!)
If you want to look bronzed, use a spray on tan or something of the like. But if your goal is just to not burn.. then simply wear your sunblock. Your skin will thank you greatly!

(By the way- fair skin is beautiful. Do you know the crazy things that women used to do to have milky white skin? Things they died for. Consider yourself lucky!)

Layri is right. When I was a teenager, I hated my milky white skin...but now as an adult, I consider it one of my defining features. I even accentuate it's whiteness by wearing a lot of black or emerald green, and painting my nails dark Elvira burgandy. :devil: No, I don't look great in short shorts being white skinned, but I can look pretty chic wearing black capri pants and some cute, funky sandals!

It is basically about learning to play up what you were born with. My daughter is part Native American, so she naturally has a golden glow about her with dark hair and eyes-she can naturally go for the bronze goddess look in a few more years...but if that is not what your natural inclinations are, it is best to go with what you were given, and play those attributes up instead.

When I was in my early 20's I was a person who would lay in the tanning bed in the morning and then head to the beach in the afternoon for so long til I would fall asleep. I tan easy as my father has Indian in him so I naturaly have a lil darkness to my skin but with tanning & the sun I got real dark. I slowly grew out of that way of tanning and just went to the salaon a few times a week until a couple years ago I got a scare with what appeared to be skin cancer (just showed up one day) but thank God after lots of test & praying it wasn't skin cancer and for that I no longer lay out or go to a tan bed if I don't get it from sports, swimming, fishing etc than I just don't get it.

I have decided not to tan, Thanks to all who have commented. I looked at the price of tanning and decided against it. also for all that commented on sunsceen. I often use a ver4y high spf and still burn...don't know what that is all about.

Thanks again!!!

:D Many people don't realize, but you have to reapply suscreen/sunblock every few hours. If you apply it once in the morning, and are gardening all day in a tank top, then you need to be sure that you reapply it every 2-3 hours. That might help.

Move north far away from the cruel bright sun. Just kidding. I am fairly dark but learned to respect the sun from a couple bad burns when I was in the tropics. I do tan but I don't like laying out very much. Sports type sunscreens tend to stay on better. Watch the contacts if you use them though. My husband is very fair he uses neutragena with the highest spf we can find.

This is a tricky subject for me...I am a normal looking Caucasian when I don't tan...But with Indian and Hispanic ancestry, well...LOL.

My skin is a medium tone when I don't tan...But when I do, my ethnicity shines (which I can't deny...it makes me feel good turning that dark golden color).

I rarely burn. Never in the tanning bed (I start off with 10 and work up to 30) I admit..I use the tanning bed a couple of weeks out of the year to build up a base...It takes hours in the sun for me to burn. I have always loved being outside, and have had the luxury of being able to use low SPF suncreens.

I would just suggest to know your skins' limits. Never burn yourself to get dark. It's painful, and the dead skin that peels is not attractive. :)

Yes, but even those who tan well naturally and rarely burn-STILL get sun damage, and it still advances aging, etc.

My husband is Oglala Souix, and my kids are have darker skin tones. However, they still all wear 30+ sunblock when they are outside playing. If you ever go out to the reservations and see the elderly folks...well, let's just say it isn't pretty. It seems to happen all at once, too.

I've been reading the posts again and I just have to make this observation. Lots of you say you won't use the tanning bed but will get tanned "naturally". You still get damage to your skin, natural or not. Farmers have a very high instance of skin Ca from being in the sun.

I agree with what aphil said too about playing up your fairness. It took me a while to come to terms with it, but having fair skin makes my eyes look even darker brown than they are (at times they looks almost black) and my lips also stand out. I also tend to blind people when I wear shorts, but at the same time my bf said he thinks it's gorgeous that I am pale. So it all works for me. As for sunscreen I have to re apply constantly because I will burn without...I can burn in 5-10 minutes depending on the day so I make sure I'm covered. Usually brand wise for sunscreen I stick with Banana Boat, they have always done wonders for me

I've been reading the posts again and I just have to make this observation. Lots of you say you won't use the tanning bed but will get tanned "naturally". You still get damage to your skin, natural or not. Farmers have a very high instance of skin Ca from being in the sun.

Correct. When I stated above that my mother has had skin cancer removed from her face, she had done both tanning beds and sunbathing over the years. However, my father and grandfather have both had skin cancers removed as well-and it was only from outdoor exposure-fishing, yardwork, etc.

I can admit that I tan in tanning beds. I only do it during the Spring so that over the summer I look decent. I live in Florida - it's very, very, common here. I know that doesn't make it less dangerous, but like my diet center says...we all make our own "adult decisions." Alcohol can be dangerous too, and plenty of people drink...etc

I used to tan in tanning beds (and the beach, of course, because I LOVE the beach). I didn't tan excessively, just to keep my legs from looking too white. I've always felt much better with darker skin, and I tan easily. But a couple of years ago I had a skin cancer scare (turned out to be nothing) but the thought of it was enough to scare me straight. Now I use spray tans and lotions. If you get the good stuff, it looks fairly natural.

I know it's bad but I do tan...last year I started with the tanning beds for a month and then when the pool opened I could not stay away! This year will not be as severe but I do plan on tanning because I have a wedding coming up and I want to look decent and not have to wear panty hose. I just think I look better with a little color.I know what I am doing to my body with doing so but right now...not worried about it.

FrouFrou - you might not be worried about it now, but what about 20 years down the road - if you continue to go tanning, and your skin is all weathered and tired looking from having too much sun on it? You might look beautiful tanned on your wedding day, but is it enough to look gross 20 years down the road like most sunbathers look?

Get spray painted or use self tanners. Some of them are really great!!!

Tanning ruins your skin!!!!! You will regret it!!!!!!!

As someone who has had several "precancerous" spots removed (I'm only 30) I would stress that you wear sunscreen and reapply throughout the day!!!

I'm quite fair and have used sunscreen regularly for most of my adult life, but I still have accrued enough skin damage to cause me worry. Only 1 or 2 bad burns in childhood is enough to raise your skin cancer risk substantially. I really wish my mother had stressed sunscreen use more when I was a kid.

So please, don't tan and wear your sunscreen.

I think women need to embrace who they are and stop worrying about how society and the fashion mags tell them to look. A tan is not healthy!

Chiming in on the self-tanners, my newest try is Vaseline daily moisturizer with a self-tanner. I bought the type for "medium" tones, and it says it gradually works like over a weeks' time? no, it works overnight! you'll be a shade or two darker the next day. It works well for my skin tone, it doesn't look orangy or brown.

I also have L'Oreal Sublime bronzer, i use it in the summer when I'm at a party or such because it has shimmery gllitters.

Don't tan! Embrace your pale skin!

Did you see the Oscars? Anne Hathaway refuses to tan, and she was there in all her porcelain glory next to other stars who looked ORANGE by comparison.

I know it's bad but I do tan...last year I started with the tanning beds for a month and then when the pool opened I could not stay away! This year will not be as severe but I do plan on tanning because I have a wedding coming up and I want to look decent and not have to wear panty hose. I just think I look better with a little color.I know what I am doing to my body with doing so but right now...not worried about it.

But in 10 or 20 years from now, you'll have other things you want to attend and look good for. You'll have other weddings, parties, events, etc--don't you think you're going to want to look good when those roll around too?

This debate reminds me of an article I read encouraging people to contribute to their retirement funds. It said something like, "yes you want that pair of shoes now, but don't you think you're going to want shoes when you're 65 as well?" In other words, don't sacrifice the future for the present. You're always going to want a new pair of shoes.

I don't, tanning damages/ages your skin. I want to look good when I am middle aged. I wear sunscreen daily.

Even without considering the harmful effects of tanning, pale people look awful when they tan anyway. And tanning now means you have to pay the piper later.

My brother and I are very close in age (I am older by 1 year) and we have exactly the same skin tone - we're pale redheads that burn quickly and freckle. He has tanned since his early 20s and he now looks years older than me. His girlfriend is a major tanner too (blond and pale), and she has aged poorly as well. Neither of them turn a particularly nice colour when they tan - they are just too pale and it looks kind of orange on them. I am 39 and am so very, very, glad I have not tanned. I look years younger than my age and am usually mistaken for being in my 20's (believe it or not, that's kind of irritating - I have earned my years ;))

I don't use sunblocks much because they block the UVB rays that are essential for vitamin D production and vitamin D is very important in preventing skin cancer. Some studies are actually showing an increase in skin cancers in long term and faithful sunblock users. Because adequate vitamin D production needs more sun exposure on my skin than I can tolerate without burning, I limit my sun exposures to less than 5 minutes at a time. Over the course of a day, 5 minutes here and there are enough to produce sufficient vitamin D without damaging your skin. If I am going to be in the sun for more than 5 minutes at a time, I put on a broad brimmed hat and a long sleeved breezy shirt and some sunglasses and I'm good for the day (I have developed quite a nice hat collection!). I do always carry a small tube of sunblock in case I need it - one light burn is way worse than one day of no vitamin D production!!!

BP

You know, I have to chime in here.

Tanning CAN be dangerous...but on the flip side, many people who stay out of the sun are vitamin D deficient. The sun is one of the only ways to get vitamin D. Yes, they put it in milk and you can take vitamins, but the absorption rate is horrible from those sources. A little bit of sun is actually HEALTHY for you, but like everything...in moderation.

Sunlight also can help with depression. I get extremely depressed in the winter. My doctor recommended that I spend at least ten minutes out in the sun daily during the winter. She also said that if that wasn't doable, that 5 minutes a week in a tanning bed would help, but not as efficiently.

So, while I agree that baking yourself to a crisp isn't healthy, neither is shying away from the sun.

But you can get vitamin D if you use sunscreen. I use sunscreen when I go out in the sun.

nelie, what I've heard is that you shouldn't go much above 30 SPF if you want to get absorption of vitamin D.

Sunscreen does block UVB rays, and that's what's needed for vitamin D production. The better the sunscreen, the less vitamin D you can produce.

One thing that matters a lot is where you are. If you live in the southern US or anywhere similarly sunny, you're going to get enough sun through your sunscreen or through other small exposure areas. It you're in Canada, like I am, then you get less sun to begin with and it's a lot more important to get a few minutes of sun a day.

Sunblock is a good thing - especially for young kids and babies who can't or won't wear protective clothing and for people that are out in the sun for an extended period of time. Sun is also a good thing - we *need* it. But it's finding the happy medium of no sun/too much sun that's tricky. It's different for different skin types and different geographical areas.

Nevertheless, it's going to be sunny and 12 degrees out (50 something F) on the weekend and after this long crappy winter, I'm going to go out and enjoy the first nice sunny day!!! I might even take my hat off :lol:

BP

You can get enough vitamin D from the sun in just a few minutes a day...and you don't have to be sunbathing to do it-as in fully body exposure. Doing things like going to the mailbox and mowing your lawn with SPF 15 or 30 will provide more than enough. But, you can wear sunscreen, and you don't have to be totally exposed (bathing suit or nude in a tanning bed) to do it.

tanning is fine

I went tanning for a few years in high school because I was a cheerleader and I didn't want to be the pale one. I regret it so much, I feel like the few times I accidentally burned already make me look older than I am!

My 23 year old cousin Shannon passed away last month of skin cancer that metastasized to her lungs. She was always tan from the beds. It's one of those things people don't care about until they are staring down the barrel of the gun, so they say...you can die of skin cancer, I don't think people realise that.

Of course it is your choice to take the risk, but the question of whether or not it is worth it is even pointless to consider, especially with such great self tanners out there now!

Articles from the Mayo Clinic:

1. Getting a base tan? (http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/tanning/AN00589)
Short excerpt: "Many people go to tanning salons to get a so-called "base tan" before leaving on a beach vacation. The theory behind this is a few sessions of indoor tanning will protect your skin from sunburn in a sunny climate. But there's no proof that this is true."

2. Tanning beds safer than the sun? (http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/tanning/HQ01487)
Short excerpt: "No. There is no safe tan. Exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation — whether from sunlight or tanning beds — damages your skin, increasing your risk of skin cancer and premature skin aging. In fact, malignant melanoma, the most serious type of skin cancer, has seen a sharp rise in recent years, perhaps due to the increased exposure to UV radiation from both the sun and tanning beds."

I'm from the "pasty white" skin coloring also and very proud of it. When everyone I knew was getting as dark as possible, I was lathering on sunscreen. They all look older than they are now and I look younger. A few have had skin cancer issues. I even (always) wear an SPF moisturizer on my face and neck since I was in my teens, and wear hats if I'm going to be out during the day to protect my scalp.

Take care of your skin, it protects you for your whole life.

I agree. People can say tanning is fine, but most likely they have not yet gotten skin cancer...or they are not yet experiencing the wrinkles, etc.

One, or both, will eventually happen.

Numerous family members of mine, including my mother, have had skin cancers removed. My mother's was removed from her FACE, and now there is a pea sized scar. Luckily they caught it early...but now she has a scar on her face-FOREVER. :( Her skin also looks much older than women her age who have NOT spent years tanning.

I am in my thirties, however, and still get carded for beer or wine. I may be pale, but I don't have all of the sun damage. :)

I was listening to a radio program the other day and it had, as the guest, a dermatologist/oncologist. She was speaking about all the ill effects of the sun when the host said, "Oh, I know we shouldn't really tan but a bit of color is okay." (I live in a very cold climate with a very short summer). Her response, "No amount of sun on your skin is safe, I mean none."

I guess I'm one of the few that tan in a tanning bed......I for one think it's safer than being outside in the sun for hours upon hours. The max time at my salon is 10 mins...Who knows though I'm no Dr.

It's only safer than being outside if you go outside to sunbathe with no sunblock. That is the only way it is safer.

However, tanning beds still cause premature skin aging, and still heighten your risks for skin cancer.

The time on the beds do not matter. 10 minutes in a bed is not the same as 10 minutes in the sun. When I worked in the salon, the time on the beds was totally dependent on the strength, and the amount of bulbs in the beds. If you go to a tanning bed where it is 20 or 30 minutes maximum time...it is the same as going to one that has a 10 minute maximum time. The 10 minute bed has more bulbs, and stronger strength ones.

From what I remember (it has been a few years since I worked into the salon) a single, maximum time tanning bed visit, is equivalant (give or take) to 2 hours in the actual sun.

I am in my thirties, however, and still get carded for beer or wine. I may be pale, but I don't have all of the sun damage. :)

Ditto.

Actually, I am now entering my upper thirties, and still get carded most of the time.

Last year a waitress at a bar even suspected my ID was fake, so I had to show her a second form of identification! She said she didn't believe I was as old as I am. :D She even took my ID around and showed it to the bartenders because she just couldn't believe it.

Another example of why staying pale is paying dividends now: About 5 years ago I was even carded trying to buy a rated-M video game. The clerk looked at me and said, "You have to be over 17 to buy this." I was stunned, but pleased, that he thought I was still in high school!

:carrot:

Since I found out when I was a teenager that the sun causes premature wrinkles, I have made a conscious effort to stay out of the sun and avoid tanning alltogether. And many moons later, it is paying off. I look much, much younger than most people my age.

I am still vigilant about staying pale, too. I was very proud that last month I went to Laughlin, Nevada for a few days, went jet-skiing and was in the sun and water a lot, and yet I came home without a single tan line: I was just as pale as when I'd left thanks to the SPF 50 sunblock I slathered all over myself religiously every day.

So, maybe when I'm in my 50's I'll look like I am in my thirties. ;)

Another example of why staying pale is paying dividends now: About 5 years ago I was even carded trying to buy a rated-M video game. The clerk looked at me and said, "You have to be over 17 to buy this." I was stunned, but pleased, that he thought I was still in high school!

I had something similar happen to me when I was 32! And then she didn't believe it was my ID because there was no way (according to her) that I was 32! It was only when I thanked her for thinking I was young that she relented. :lol:

I'm turning 40 this year and people (usually over the past year) have guessed me in my early 30s, but with the weight loss and healthy living (exercise, whole foods, etc.) I'm getting lower numbers all the time. :carrot:

I used to lay in the sun from 10-2 every single day the sun was out with SPF4 all through my teenage years. If I could have peeled my skin off and spread it on the roof all summer, I would have done it. Then, in the later 80's, out came tanning beds. I did that all winter when I was 19 and absolutely loved it. I was very careful in the beds and never, ever burned in them.

Then...

I viewed my face in one of those ultra violet lights that show sun damage, like they show in those Avon commercials currently and literally screamed out loud at the sun damage I'd caused myself and stopped immediately. About 10 years later, out came the liver/age spots and now, in my 40's I have the lovely brown testaments to my sun worshipping up and down my arms, on the tops of my hands and on my cheeks back towards my ears. I still go out in the sun, but mostly just when we're out in the boat and always use spf25 and really give my nose, in particular, a real coating. I don't feel its necessary to hide from the sun, but be reasonable. I also suffer from seasonal depression in the winters and I can't tell you how much I just crave laying there and absorbing the warmth of Mr. Sun, but now I do it much more carefully.

I do worry about cancer some day, but for the short term, I'm more concerned about the age spots and wrinkles I gave myself from all that sunbathing in the 80's.

Also, on a side note...I tried using the spf4 and I really feel the sun is stronger now. I burn very easily with it and have to use the spf 25 to keep from burning.

On another side note...anyone interested in make up to cover age spots and a perpetually red (sun damaged) nose, I just got the Avon mineral foundation and I'm literally blown away at how great coverage I get from it. And I don't look 'made up'. Much, MUCH cheaper than the Bare Essentuals (like $10) and I just love it.

techwife-

I have noticed the same thing about the sun. When I was a child and a teen, I could use SPF 4 or 8 sunscreen and go out, and not burn. Now, I need at LEASE SPF15 to not burn...but I usually buy SPF 30 or 50-because I want as little sun on my skin as possible. (I freckle a bit still if I use 15...)

me too....either my skin is more fragile or the sun is stronger....I stopped trying to get a suntan when I was in my late 30's....I took what the plastic surgeon i work with said seriously...."keep sitting in the sun and your face is going to look like an old saddle".

i'm quite happy with my fake-bake self-tanners these days, they give me a little color (my legs usually resemble copy paper)

Coming from a country with lots of sun I guess I should reccommend something when it comes to tanning. Patience. What I mean is that, even though I am quite dark skinned, I also have a very fair-skinned brother. We both go for swimming in from July till August. We both have never sunburnt in our life. Why? Because we take 3 precautions. 1. We never go to the beach after 12 o' clock. We go around 8 o' clock in the morning till 11:30 in the morning. And that's just it. 2. We both use really high SPF sun-lotions (both over 40 on body and face) before we go to the beach, around 10 and immediately after we finish swimming at 11. 3. We do not expect to tan within a week. One of the reasons people get so many risks of cancer is that they literary bake themselves under the schorching sun in the most dangerous hours of the day. My natural tan, and my brother's who is fair skin starts appearing within a month of every day exposure (sometimes it might appear at the very end of the summer, after 2-and-a-half months of swimming. We put skin lotions immediately after shower but the most important thing is that we have never, ever got out during the critical hours.

And yes sun ages. My mum has the same sun exposing habits and she looks years younger than one of her maid-of-honors that used sun beds and is 5 years younger than her.

Something I forgot to post earlier...

Dove's Energy Glow (found with the lotions) Moisturizer with Subtle Self-Tanners for Fair Skin, if you are fair skinned with a bit of pink to it (like me), if used daily will slowly give you a light tan that doesn't streak, turn orange or get onto your clothing. I forgot I used this when one of my friends here got married a while back.

*Warning: I never used it while wearing white...so it may come off a little...but I never noticed it on any other color fabric.

Wow, I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one whose decided to embrace my natural lighter-shade-of-pale. I have come to believe that people need to embrace the beauty they have, whether pale, dark or in between, and not try to become someone they are not.

And like many have said, no tanning is safe - none. I have known african-american and latina women in their 30s who have had skin cancer - its not just us pale girls that are at risk. As to the vitamin D debate, people can get adequate vitamin d through the food they eat - its abundant in fish oils and comes added to many products like milk and cereal. You can also get vitamin D supplements in the vitamin aisle.

Seriously, if a report came out saying that cigarettes gave you a certain vitamin you need what would you do - take up smoking or find that vitamin through another source? Ultraviolet exposure increases your risk of cancer - there is no "debate" on this issue.

Look, we all have the right to decide for ourselves if we want to expose ourselves to a known danger, we're adults. But IMHO it is patently irresponsible for anyone to advocate tanning to others, or to feed the myths and societal norms that make others think that tanning is desirable and/or safe.

As to people who burn even with sunscreen - hi, me too! I have recently become a BIG fan of rash-guards. They are those super cute shirts surfer chicks wear, etc that have sun protection equivalent to SPF 40-50. They can come VERY lightweight and very cool on the skin, and you can get them in long sleeves if you so desire. So if you are at the beach and see a chick in a long-slv rash guard, with a big hat, sun-glasses, and long pants on - hey it might be me! And that will all be on top of my sunscreen.

i used to use tanning beds, but have sworn them off. i have to admit i have been tempted this summer because i haven't had much time in the sun, but i have been good and resisted. i do get an occasionaly spray tan (once ever couple months) i recently bought a tanning lotion that worked extremely well and didn't turn me orange! it is jergen's natural glow express. i love it! i use it once a week and it gives me some color so when i wear a bathing suit i don't look like a ghost :)

Okay, so after reading all these posts it kind of scared me. I decided 2 weeks ago to stop going to the tanning salon. I'm very pale when I don't go tanning and I don't get any color if I lay outside. So I did some research online for self-tanners and one was highly recommended and reviewed. It's called 'Strike Gold' by true blue spa products. You can buy it at Bath & Body Works for $15. I bought it Friday night and applied it yesterday and omg I'm in love. This was the 1st self tanner I've ever used. I was worried I would turn orange or streaky and it was so easy and the color is so natural and brown. It does have shimmer to it so you can see where you applied. I actually think this is better than the color I get from the tanning beds. I'm glad I went when I did though to buy it because it was the last one they had. I'm going to order some online and stock up. Oh and also I used it on my face and I have acne prone/sensitive skin and I havent broken out but have a really awesome glow.