Do you tan?

purpleipod
purpleipod Posts: 1,147 Member
edited November 9 in Health and Weight Loss
Kind of off topic for this board but no board really seemed appropriate for this.

But just curious, do any of you tan? Naturally? Tanning beds? Spray tans? I am pretty pasty pale and I'm considering doing something about it when I get closer to goal. Not all Jersey Shore style or anything, but a little bit of sun. There's no way I could tan naturally or in a tanning bed without a good amount of sunscreen to avoid burning. So if you do it, what's your preferred method and why?
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Replies

  • lukeout007
    lukeout007 Posts: 1,237 Member
    Sure I get a wonderful tan...its a very rosy red with some peeling and pain..

    That's normal right?


    Just kidding.
  • niknak0508
    niknak0508 Posts: 425 Member
    I just started for the first time in my life......if you have very sensitive skin, my advice NOT to use any tanning accelerant (sp). I have hives all over my waist up to my neck........ridiculous!! From now on I am not using that crap.....i'll use a small SPF tanning lotion!
  • Mandys_Getting_Fit
    Mandys_Getting_Fit Posts: 70 Member
    I don't set out to "tan" exactly, but I'm living in Hawaii at the moment and I REALLY like the beach. Getting tan just sort of happens. :smile:
  • nytdreamer80
    nytdreamer80 Posts: 123 Member
    Yes, I tan. Regularly. Off and on.
  • rebeccaME207
    rebeccaME207 Posts: 90 Member
    I do, Medium tinted spray tan!! Versa! Id recomend the light spray for 1st time user!! I love it!!
  • MaximalLife
    MaximalLife Posts: 2,447 Member
    No, no and no....
    I get enough sun just going outdoors and am dark all year round.
    Italian:glasses:
  • TurtleTape
    TurtleTape Posts: 254 Member
    I look forward to getting a good semi-all-over natural tan again. I tan beautifully when I do and I used to be tan year round when I was little (probably up until about fourth grade) before I started gaining weight. Pools and lakes and rivers and swim suits I'm coming! I think the reason I tan so well is the good amount of Native American blood I have in me, lol.
  • justbecause2014
    justbecause2014 Posts: 371 Member
    I LOVE the sun! But, I could sit in the sun alll day and the only color I would turn is red! My skin doesn't tan, at all! :P
  • fitaliciag
    fitaliciag Posts: 373
    i do mystic tan when i tan, but that's not very often
  • rpantusa
    rpantusa Posts: 267 Member
    I dont now, but i used too, and when i started i would only go for 5 minutes, then i added 2 minutes each time till i had a base tan, then i would go for the 15 minutes a couple times a week to maintain. But spray tans are much better for you, but kinda pricey, just dont go orange...:laugh:
  • sagetracey
    sagetracey Posts: 607 Member
    My tan lines are something I am really proud of this summer because they show how much I have been outside exercising! But I do use sunscreen because skin cancer is a major concern here in Australia.

    My next challenge is how to get rid of my tan lines so that I can wear my gorgeous new shoulder-less maxi dress for my son's wedding in April!
  • sbaquera
    sbaquera Posts: 4
    I like to be outside and just tan as I go...I don't really make it something to do. I live in Arizona and the weather here is pretty nice year round....not a fan of tanning beds.
  • jenlb99
    jenlb99 Posts: 213 Member
    Nope.

    I fry like you would not believe, then blister and peel. I'm also very conscious about wrinkles lol, so I use sunscreen and generally stick to the shade.

    Funny thing is, there are a lot of men who seem drawn to my pale skin...probably because every other white girl out there turns brown in the summer lol. Something different, I guess.
  • lilqtwbotkam3
    lilqtwbotkam3 Posts: 46 Member
    Yes i'm a bit tanning obsessive lol, I do have natural color i'm mixed black and white so i'm brown anyways...but I love a good tan and have been tanning for at least 7 years! I've done every type of tan but I would suggest a spray tan. If your very pale try TAN TOWEL for "light skin tones" I use the dark ones but it's a very natural gradual tan that develops in about 2-4 hours.
  • Camsdette
    Camsdette Posts: 32 Member
    If you have fair skin, you might want to look into the skin cancer risks involved with tanning.
  • purpleipod
    purpleipod Posts: 1,147 Member
    No, no and no....
    I get enough sun just going outdoors and am dark all year round.
    Italian:glasses:

    Not fair. Apparently I'm part Finnish, hence the blonde hair, blue eyes and very pale skin. I'm not even sure I could tan, honestly. I would like to try a tanning bed maybe once, but my fear of burning even with lotion on is pretty high.
  • annavt09
    annavt09 Posts: 16 Member
    I have tanned in a tanning bed before, but my mom was diagnosed with melanoma in September. I always thought melanoma was a cancer you could just have removed, but that's not true. It spreads in the body and is treated with chemo and radiation just like other cancers; of course, it can be fatal.

    When I went to the dermatologist (my brothers and I now have to go once a year), the very first question she asked was, "Do you use a tanning bed?" and the second was, "Have you EVER used a tanning bed?"

    I will NEVER get back in a tanning bed, and I recommend that you don't either!!!! Some friends of mine said there are some great tanning lotions out there (way updated since the bright orange stuff of the 90s...haha), and I'm sure the spray tan is safe as well. But please don't use the tanning bed!!!!!
  • rolliepollie087
    rolliepollie087 Posts: 251 Member
    Absolutely not. I'm tan already, but I don't want to run the risk of skin cancer.
  • sdrawkcabynot
    sdrawkcabynot Posts: 462 Member
    I tanned for years and have not tanned in about two years. If you do it do the spray tan. Otherwise you will deal with sun damage.
  • MissFit0101
    MissFit0101 Posts: 2,382
    I used to tan in tanning beds.. .religiously. And at the beach every other day. But now I wear sunblock all the time and take care of my skin. I don't want to look 60 when I'm 30.
  • dollipop
    dollipop Posts: 379 Member
    I used to. A lot. On sunbeds.
    Not anymore. Plus I live in NZ, so we have the highest melanoma rates in the world (apparently - damn hole in Ozone layer).
    But I do tan up fairly well in the sun. ATM, I have mean jandal lines, lol.
    *waits for someone to ask what jandals are*
  • jenlb99
    jenlb99 Posts: 213 Member
    No, no and no....
    I get enough sun just going outdoors and am dark all year round.
    Italian:glasses:

    Not fair. Apparently I'm part Finnish, hence the blonde hair, blue eyes and very pale skin. I'm not even sure I could tan, honestly. I would like to try a tanning bed maybe once, but my fear of burning even with lotion on is pretty high.

    Oh, you should be able to tan beautifully with your Finnish heritage. I know it makes no sense! I lived in Norway for 4 years, and those people tan BEAUTIFULLY. My neighbour's sons were quite the sight. Their blonde hair would turn white every summer, but their skin would turn this awesome golden colour -- billboard perfect.

    Irish skin FRIES -- hence my dilemma. lol
  • sdrawkcabynot
    sdrawkcabynot Posts: 462 Member
    ps... I use a bronzing lotion for my face... That's why I still look dark.
  • raindancer
    raindancer Posts: 993 Member
    NO, I work outside and even then I don't get too dark..
  • Elizabeth_M
    Elizabeth_M Posts: 562 Member
    Nope, no way am I going to give those cancer cells waiting in everyone's body a reason to morph.

    My sister used to tan ALL the time. Now, at 36 (almost) she is WAAAAY more wrinkly than I am, and I am 2 years older. Face wrinkles, chest wrinkles...
  • danahake
    danahake Posts: 64 Member
    I tan in a tanning bed. The first time I went 20 mins and burned to a crisp. I now go 13-15 mins daily and love it.. You can use sunblock on areas you think will burn excessively or you can start out slow like 5 mins at a time. To me its the same as sitting in the sun just a lot quicker and a lot less hot and miserable. and if ur already tan when you get in the sun you wont burn just an added plus..
  • Beezil
    Beezil Posts: 1,677 Member
    Yep. Love it. I do natural tanning by the pool side at my condo complex during the summer. So relaxing, and I just love the look of a natural tan! :happy:
  • ivanaaaaaaaaa
    ivanaaaaaaaaa Posts: 87
    i own a tanning bed and love having tan skin, but i absolutely hate lying in it. i naturally have olive skin and tan easily so i'll get in several times a week for a couple of weeks until i get dark, then only a couple of times a week to maintain. eventually i get tired of it and don't tan for months. after my color completely wears off, i repeat the process.

    i love having tan skin - i look and feel 10x better. as i'm losing weight and leaning out, i love how the look of my muscles is enhanced by my tan.

    i guess it's a vanity thing, but it works for me. :smile:
  • ladykate7
    ladykate7 Posts: 206 Member
    I have fair skin. My tan has a closer to the sun thing. Face burns easy, shoulders easy, but not as much as face, and speed of burn decreases the closer I get to the ground. My legs never burn, even when I forget to put sunscreen on them. I don't use tanning booths in the spring, summer, fall or first part of winter. I start in Janurary or Feburary. Once its wamr outside I stop going.

    Tanning places seem to grade their beds by the rays and what they do to your skin, I go for beds with middle range bulbs . Ones that have a mix of burning and non-burning rays. Gives the exposure I need to build up a tolerance, but its not super-ultra harsh. Generally 15 minute beds or the 8 minute standups, but I start at half the max time and increase one minute each 2-3 sessions. And leave at least two or three days between a session. After going that often for the first month I tone it down and just go once a week. I've never gotten to the max time on a bed. I have no desire to maintain the max.

    After a certain point of tanning bed tan the color will start to look a little weird. Try not to get carried away with it. Its painfully obvious to people when you reach that point, and not in a good way.

    I don't wear any sunscreen in there. They give you a towel and glasses, I put the towel over my face part of the time so it doesn't burn. You'll learn to sense when you've been in there too long, or if certain areas are getting too much. I'll move the towel from my face to my chest if I notice its getting to be too much, other times I just get out of it early. Better to go less than to walk out and turn into a lobster 2 hours later and have your clothes hurt as they brush on you (not to mention where your bra sits -- ohh that the worst!)

    yeah, and if you don't tan in the sun outside then you won't tan in a tanning bed either. Go spray!
  • kyoules
    kyoules Posts: 37 Member
    ATM, I have mean jandal lines, lol.
    *waits for someone to ask what jandals are*
    I know what jandals are!!! :):):) I live in the US but my cousins live in NZ.

    As for tanning, my Irish/Scottish/English skin prefers to be in its natural, pasty white state. When I was in my early teens I loved to try to tan but ended up with many sunburns. I've embraced my white skin and now wear sunscreen whenever I'm outside. Pale is the new tan. :)
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