There seem to be so little reliable information about it. Been googling quite a few times, but I find nothing really interesting.
On the dark side i find:
- Increases heavilly chances of skin cancer.
- It WILL accelerate your skin aging.
But they all end with “… but you can buy our sunless tan product and…” who obviously have motives for getting you away from the sun and tanning salons. Or they come from government organizations like this one:
http://www.fda.gov/cdrh/consumer/tanning.html
But I’ve lost faith in governmental organization. They ban stuff without any proof, and historically done big mistakes before (can you say, no-fat?). I sometimes think they just make claims now and then so people think they work for their salary.
On the good side, we have:
- Vitamin E (Which I believe can be reached from other sources).
- A cool tan, and all the babes who come with it
- Increased testosterone (questionable)
- Increases level of well being. Since I live close to the polar circle, winter time we have few hours of daylight, which often brings depresions. But a visit at a tanning bed each week and it all goes away.
I guess you can get the tan with a tan spray, which I’ve been experimenting with lately, but it doesn’t give the same mood effects. Allso it disappears after a few days, after never been really great.
Since the dawn of the day we stepped out of the water we’ve been heavilly exposed for sunlight. And even the pale northern people had ancestors not that far away (I think) living in areas with heavy light and heat exposure. So by nature, we were never meant to living in darkness like the FDA wants us to. But the data of increased skin cancer are scary. And I’ve seen plenty of people with a tan that looked much older than they were for their age. Allso compare 10 random 40 year old scandinavians with 10 random 40 year olds mediterreanean, and you’ll see a marked difference in skin.
So anyway with all that in mind, and in case you’ve read something from some other seemingly unmotivated source…
- What is that source?
- Is UVA rays (especially from tanning salons) harmfull at all in moderations (1-2 times pr week)?
- What is better: Tan 2 hours in strong sunlight with sunfactor 12 or 2 hour in moderate (half strength) sunlight with sunfactor 6?
- Is it really better to tan for long hours, with a big sunfactor, in weaker sunlight, then a 2 hour heavy set almost to failure (sunburn).
- Does suncream give the same protection in the entire UV spectre?
Hmm yes, that’s just about all.
here’s a surefire way to get the positives of tanning to outweigh the negatives:
get your tan at the pools in vegas. hard rock, palms, rio provide high-quality sunlight and scenery.
My two cents. I’m Irish, which means I turn bright red while watching the weather forecast for the Antarctic. I believe in SPF 45 and rarely use anything else and I stay white most of the year round, because I have an office job.
That being said, I tanned two years ago, in Spain, with the sun beating down. I started by hanging out at the pool sans SPF at 7.30 p.m. until 8.00 p.m. I kept moving the start time back until eventually I was able to stay out 3 hours without using sunscreen. During the day, I still used SPF.
I think most people (and the British Isles folks are the worst in the world for this) suddenly take note of our paleness in April or May and decide to get tanned. Since we don’t get much sun, we go on a sun holiday, and spend as much time as possible outside. And get burned to a crisp day one, and damage our skin.
Tanning is like training, in that regular exposure is more important than the period of time on the day. If you never wear a shirt year-round and you’re outside for 4 hours daily, you will be dark by summer, end of story.
If you need a tan fast, that’s when you want to look into artificial help.
One other tip: if you’re looking for a tan but not in a hurry, try going outside with no SPF for 20 mins or half an hour and then putting on the SPF 45. Then you can stay out without worrying about burning.
You’re in Valencia, right? Must be hot as hell down there right now, we’re roasting here in Madrid.
Nice tips flynnie, thanks.
[quote]flynniec6 wrote:
One other tip: if you’re looking for a tan but not in a hurry, try going outside with no SPF for 20 mins or half an hour and then putting on the SPF 45. Then you can stay out without worrying about burning.
[/quote]
That’s one of the things that I’m curious about. Will this type of tanning only affect the outer skin, and will be removed after like a week, while staying longer affect the deeper levels? Sadly no research seem to exist. Nobody gains money on people tanning naturally .
[quote]
You’re in Valencia, right? Must be hot as hell down there right now, we’re roasting here in Madrid.[/quote]
So, you mean you don’t have nice, temperature regulating mediterranean with a nice brease cooling you down on the beach next to you? 
Is there anybody left these days in Madrid? Most have obviously invaded the entire shore, stealing my best beach places (assholes!)
Nope, there’s still a ton of people here. Bitching about the heat despite the fact that they’re Spanish. Blah blah blah “we can’t sleep” … “que calor” … “whine moan bitch”.
If they don’t like the heat, they can fucking move to Ireland. I don’t like rain, so where am I? Not in Ireland.
Having given you all that advice, I’ll promptly ignore it now by going up to Pamplona this afternoon, getting distracted by all the fiestas and staying outside all day to see what’s going on. Come Monday iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit’s Lobster Boy!