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? this is usually what I look like after an hour or so in the sun...not really mad, but that red!

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-c...in-cancer-risk

http://www.cancer.org/docroot/NWS/co...ancer_Risk.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.

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.