To tan or not to tan - and I do not mean TAN

I love being tan!  In the rainy winter, I NEED to fake-bake....mentally it just makes me feel good. 

However, I did spend a little too much time baking yesterday and my a$$ is lovely shade of pink today.

Yes I know it's not healthy!!

Like your avi?

Never done it. Wouldn't do it even if I didn't have olive skin.

I don't care if others do it, but I know I wouldn't not only because of the health effects, but also because everyone that I know who does it has a slight to very noticeable orange tinge to their skin and later in life a lot of people I know that did it have more wrinkles than people that I know that didn't.

Back in high school (80's) tanning was such the in thing, we would actually lather ourselves up with baby oil and lay in the sun...

Good lord, were we dumb....

I have no problem with it, and often seek out the hottest parts of the day to go out shirtless. I do tan fairly easily too.

I've only done the electric beach a few times, and that was during a very low time in my life -- I can't believe the difference just 10 minutes made to my mental outlook (regardless of the results on my skin).

Health effects...yah - I try to be balanced - microwaves, cell phones, plastic, processed everything - sigh>>>>

I have been fake n baken for a little bit now and I really love seeing my "natural" colour come back! I USE TO be so dark when I was little. My plan is to get a nice base then wear a sunscreen during the summer. 99% of my training in the summer is outside so I always get dark, but I just wanted to get a jump start on it this year.

Don't want to be the wet blanket on the thread, but spouse had been in the medical industry for years and the sun can do some serious damage.  She uses the tanning spray "banana boat" or "ban de soliel" after she showers and her legs look great in the spring, summer and early fall!  Use the good stuff (i.e. pay the price for it) and experiment.  The cheap stuff will streak.  A man can tell how old a woman is by the wrinkles below her thyroid - that is where the sun does a lot of damage.

After 3 rounds with skin cancer this freckle face stays out of the sun!  I don't need anything else cut off me!  Blech!

 Sometimes I will do the spray on tan, but only for special occasions. 

I can't believe that tanning beds are being compared to microwaves, cell phones, etc.

I am flabbergasted that some of you think its not dangerous. I know some people don't believe in stats, but the numbers are out there. I've seen melanoma in friends and relatives, from fake-n-bake and being in the sun naturally.

Standard questions any dermatologist asks are "have you ever been to a tanning bed, when was the last time, and long long have you been tanning?" Mine asked me those questions yesterday, just because I have moles and other unrelated skin concerns.

Long-term exposure to artificial sources of ultraviolet rays like tanning beds (or to the sun's natural rays) increases both men and women's risk of developing skin cancer. In addition, exposure to tanning salon rays increases damage caused by sunlight because ultraviolet light actually thins the skin, making it less able to heal. Women who use tanning beds more than once a month are 55 percent more likely to develop malignant melanoma, the most deadly form of skin cancer.

But, you're married.  Why do you need a condom.  Stick to the topic. 

This is true. My mother did the whole tanning bed thing for awhile, and of course, tanned in the 70s with baby oil when they were stupid about it, and she now looks like a leather handbag.

My youngest sister, who is 3 years older than me, used to use butter back in H.S.  Yep, she would swab on from a 1/4 lb stick.  I used to give her a lot of flack about getting "cooked", etc.  I don't know how she looks now since I haven't seen her in a number of years.

I used to do tanning beds when I was in high school (my mother actually MADE me...the whole 'get a base or you'll burn' BS).  Last time I did was for a wedding where the dress I had to wear was ghastly and could only be pulled off with a tan.

Now, I try really hard to remember the sunscreen, and am proud of my moon tan during the winter.  It's actually rather striking, considering how dark my hair is.

I don't think I misunderstood. I think people who fear anything about the sun can be overreacting. However, we are discussing tanning beds and those are proven dangerous.

I spent my whole life on the beach and was a lifeguard for many years. The real sun can be just as dangerous due to overexposure, but being in the sun or a tanning bed just for the purpose of getting darker, carries many risks. I'm pretty sure more than microwaves and cell phones.