tanning.
 

I know the facts. I know its bad for you etc.etc. but I'm soooo white and spray tans just aren't the same. is once a week in a level 3 bed really gonna kill me?

It may not kill you - but it may make you VERY VERY sick.

Embrace the whiteness. You'll live longer.

it could cause cancer later down the line or sooner rather than later. or you may not get anything cancer wise.

but if you do it for long periods of time then your skin will get nasty.
and i understand where you are coming from, bc im so white as well, and I go tanning in the summer only.

Well tanning really ages people. I'm 23, very pale and I never tan, and I've sunburned only 2-3 times in my life, as a child. My skin is one of my best features and I want to keep it that way. I know girls my age, 23/24, who have been tanning regularly for years, since high school, and to be honest they look haggard already. They might not have deep wrinkles yet but they show other signs of pre-mature aging, like rough uneven skin, "freckles" on their neck chest and hands, fine lines, blotchy skin, etc. If you look like that at 23/24, then how haggard will you look at 30 or 35? I don't mean to cause anyone any offense but I think tanning is just not worth it, even if only for vanity reasons.

I'll admit it though, I'm super pale but when I get a slight spray tan, I do feel sexier. I can understand why people feel better about themselves when they tan, especially if it's a real tan. But I wouldn't tan for vanity reasons if nothing else. Tanning has a very short shelf life. You can only do it regularly for a handful of years before it starts to catch up to you, even when you are in your teens/early 20s. And if you do it only occasionally for years/decades, you will prematurely age before your time although not as dramatically. The risk of skin cancer is also very real, especially if you have fair skin. Non-melanoma skin cancers are usually manageable, but melanoma is very aggressive and spreads quickly. The survival stats for it are not good. And if you get a non-melanoma skin cancer (and many people will), your risk of getting melanoma increases significantly.

I do it too even tho I shouldn't. I only tan like 20 minutes every few months. So I guess I'm like you saying its prob not that bad.

Embrace the pale! Actually, I got a tan ONCE (usually I burn and go right back to pasty so I am obsessive about sunblock) and people kept asking if I was sick. Obviously tan doesn't suit me! Pasty=gorgeous!:cool:

Don't do it! I'm pale as well and I get a spray tan every now and then, for special events. I found a salon where they actually mix the colour especially for you and then a profession sprays it on. It lasts abut 10 days to two weeks. Save for the few months when I lived in Costa Rica, I hardly ever tan.

Most of my girlfriends already have wrinkles, and crows feet (we're only 26!) and my skin is flawless. They're on expensive anti aging skin regimes and I just use my drug store brands and look much better. I fully believe it's because I avoid tanning beds like the plague!

During college I worked at a tanning salon for over 2 years... I never really liked tanning but they were hiring and I lived a block away. I tanned sort of regularly for the first year I was there because it was free - but I quickly learned my lesson when I told someone in one of my classes that I worked there and she said "yeah, I can tell." That was the last time I ever went tanning!

But anyway, the reason I am telling this story is because I dealt with people who tanned a lot. Yes, it might give you cancer in the long run, which is scary, but like many other things, hard to consider because it's so far into the future. BUT the effects are immediate. When I would check people in to tan, I would just look at how dry and old their faces already looked and most of these girls and guys were college students like me. I can't even imagine what regular tanners are going to look like in 40 years - keep in mind that when our parents were in their 20's they had to tan outside because tanning salons weren't really around...

ALSO, I would like to mention that those tanning beds (at least in the case of the salon I worked at) ARE NOT CLEAN. People go in there naked, sweat their asses off (literally, *** sweat) and then 16-20 year olds who don't really care about their jobs "clean them" At one point our salon cut our cleaning costs and we weren't even using a real disinfectant. Not to mention if the bed didn't look dirty after someone used it, it would most likely not really be cleaned. Working at a tanning salon sucks so most of the employees don't put too much effort into their jobs.... So if you do go tanning? I suggest using the stand up and wearing flip flops.

So that's my tanning rant. I regret tanning so much for the first year that I worked there, but you better believe that I will never set foot in a tanning salon again and always have atleast 15 spf on my face!

P.S. That smell that you have after you get out of the tanning bed? That's the smell of dead skin cells.

It's not the killing-me that worries me about tanning, it's the wrinkles. Why would anyone do that to herself? I'm not sure what's so wrong about being fair-skinned...

Oh yeah and that story above mine totes reminds me of my friend who got a staph infection from a tanning bed. She had to wear a portable IV in her wrist for a while. She quit tanning after that.

Take it from a skin cancer survivor and reformed tanning bed user. Embrace the pale...you DO know better.

You know what I remember most about October 1997...I had the greatest tan I had ever had...it was gorgeous...and deadly. Watching my doctor operate and remove this giant tumor from my midsection against a background of beautiful brown skin really burned (pardon the pun) a vivid image in my brain.

All that is left now is the bullet hole scar and a fear that it will return in another spot. I now have to have my skin reviewed every 6 months.

Having heard all that...is that tan worth it?

Okay, I guess I'm one of the idiots that doesn't think it would be that bad for you.

I had never tanned in my life until last summer. Part of that is because I rarely wear shorts in the summer and my legs are PASTY white while my upper body tans to a golden brown because I have an olive complexion.

I tanned for about 3 weeks (every other day on the lower level bed) and had a really fantastic base tan. I was also going to Florida and didn't want to burn to a crisp. I rarely burn, but didn't want to.

Honestly, I would say that I will do it again this summer.

Now, I will say it DOES dry your skin out horribly. I could feel a major difference in my skin, but used lotion constantly.

While it isn't good for you... I think it's a little LESS harmful (IN MODERATION) than laying out in the sun all of the time. I also stopped smoking and am eating healthier, so this is my vice.

*shrugs*

I say don't do it.

The tanning bed is actually worse for you than tanning out in the sun. Its purely UVB which is the most likely to cause cancer. The sun emits UVB rays, but it emits UVA rays which burn up a lot of the UVB.

My cousin has her own spray tan business, and the way she does it you cannot tell its spray tan and not her natural skin. Shop around and find a decent spray tan place, it will be worth not getting cancer in the end.

Like I said before I totally second this. No one can tell my tans are fake adn I'm not getting cancer. I'm totally paranoid about cancer, as I've been told by my doctor, "It's not if you get cancer, it just a matter of when and what type" - every woman on both side of my family going back 3 generations has had cancer. Tanning is not worth: the risks, wrinkles, or dry skin!

I tan too. I can't wait to go back in a few weeks to get a good base tan going. I, too, know the dangers and risks (as does pretty much everyone who goes), it's just a matter of weighing the risks. Luckily, I don't burn at all and I've never gotten like, addicted to it.

I say that it's not worth it, and I use to tan everyday that I went to the gym. I got too dark, and was a weird color. I'm no longer tan, LOL.

Anyway, my best friend's step mom was a tanner, and now she has cancer in her foot. They had to remove a big part of muscle in her leg, and she's all f_cked up, now. Chemo, shots, etc. Was it worth it? She was a beautiful woman, had the fake boobs, and everything. Now, her leg all the way up to her butt will be disfigured the rest of her life, and the cancer isn't going away, so the rest of her life might be sooner rather than later. All from tanning.

I've decided that if I want a tan, I will get sprayed. It's not worth the risk.

LMFAO! that is disgusting but funny I dont know why. Oh wait its probably because I always see bleach fake blonde way too tanned and their hair lighter then their skin and they look ridiculous.

I dont tan in a tanning beds, its too closed off for me, im slightly clasterphobic(sp?) and hate being in a heated surface. Plus I dont have the patience to lay there for 10 to 20 minutes lol. I cant hardly even lay outside on a nice summer day and let the sun soak into me.

As far is it bad for you and can it give you cancer? Apparently everything can give you cancer these days so who knows. But will your skin eventually look gross and dried up when you get old from tanning in a tanning bed too much? Yep that will definitely happen. But doing it once in a while I think you'd be fine.

At my old job we had a metastatic melanoma trial (so skin cancer that spread) and they had to send us pictures. If you saw these pictures you would stay as far away from a tanning bed (or the sun) as possible.

Google image search it and see what you find.

Yes, "everything" gives you cancer, but IMHO you should try to avoid the things that are proven, as opposed to the things people just assume.

I only tan right before I go to the beach for summer vacation, and then it is only a few times. I know that it is not the best for me, but I have learned that if I have a small tan to start with, I won't burn. If I don't, even with sunscreen, I will get an awful sunburn and not enjoy my vacation at all. But other than that, I live with my paleness.

Avoid burning at all costs. Other than that, tanning really isn't bad for you if done in moderation.

I worked at a tanning salon in college...

There were old women who would come in there and they had the most wrinkly dry leathery skin... I dont want to be that lady so I dont tan...

My sister tans a lot and she has a weird coloring to her...shes slightly orange or something...its just not natural however if you do tan be sure to use a lotion which will help you not to burn

Being a red head my skin comes in two colors. Pale and Burned. Tanning has never really been an option for me.

People who use tanning beds can justify to themselves as much as they want about "oh, how harmful can it REALLY be if i just do it alittle..." Would you engage in any OTHER activity ourposefully that science has PROVEN DIRECTLY causes/increases risk of skin cancer?
Believe me, i love a good tan as much as the next person.......its not worth it. please do yourself a favor and google some of the most recent studies done on tanning beds effects... It increases your changes of cancer EXPONENTIALLY

This made me laugh, I totally had the whole orange thing going on when I was tanning at the gym. It looked really unnatural, and my boyfriend still makes fun of me for it. I'm glad I quit going. ROFL.

I wonder what makes you look so orange from tanning beds. I've also tanned religiously in the sun at one point, and I didn't look orange from that. :?:

Its the difference in the UV light. Tanning beds only give you UVB - while the sun emits UVA, UVB and one more kind.

There are so many lotions out there now that gradually increase the color each time you apply it. They are cheaper than the spray tans and if you get the better ones they don't turn you orange. It is so much better than using a tanning bed. I used to use one every spring, I even have one in my basement but I will not use it any longer. I want to sell it because I have not used it in a couple of years but my husband hates to get rid of things so there it sits.

It is just not worth the risk, yes lots of things cause cancer but why up your chances?

My sister used to tan, mostly naturally, but occassionally in the bed. A few years ago she had to get a big chunk of pre-cancerous skin cut out of the middle of her back. It left a big nasty scar. She is now the sunless tanning queen!

same here

A suntan is skin damage. Can't really dispute that, so I probably wouldn't do the tanning beds.

I am however the sunless tanner queen! They make SUCH great ones, so I'd definitely go that way. The first time I did it I was so scared I'd mess it up, just take your time and it's easy :) My fav's are made by Lancome and Clarins, they give SUCH good colour that every person thinks it's natural.

-Aimee

it's just my opinion, but I find women with pale skin much more attractive than women who tan. I can't tan myself because [insert laughs here] I'm allergic to the sun, it's the Irish in me, I think. I breakout in hives and rashes if I get too much sun, so wide-brimmed hats and gauzy shirts in the summer. I tried tanning when I was in high school because I was so pale and I stuck out [Addam's Family anyone, lol.] I ended up getting welts and hives from tanning beds and by my 3rd visit gave up, so I just embrace the paleness now. I get lots of compliments about my skin and told that I look much younger than my age, so I'm pro-pale. Your skin will thank you later. For instance, my mom who also can't handle too much sun is 50, and she usually gets asked how old she is because she only looks about 35-38.

I'm with the "don't tan at all" group. A good family friend is a top dermatologist, and she said even a "healthy looking" tan ( and not a burn ) is a sign of damage. AND - to not believe the "tanning beds are safer than the sun"... As far as age goes: in Britain Melanoma is the no.1 cancer diagnosed among women in their TWENTIES., and in the US I think it's the second. And this dermatologist i know said in her 30 year career she's never seen so many young people diagnosed with melanoma as in the past 10 years. So no - it's NOT just something you'll have to worry about later. As someone who has very fair skin and who gets skin checks every 6 months and has had close calls, don't do it! Having to wait two weeks to see if a mole that was biopsied is melanoma or not is just not worth it.

That being said - I understand I look much better with some color, and i love the Jergens Daily Glow lotion - you know the kind that builds gradually so it doesn't look really fake?

And in case you still need some convincing:

http://www.skincancer.org/iarc-tanning-link-study.html