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Tanning
LiveWire
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Its getting around that time of year, and I'd really like to get a little more tan. Whats the right way to do it? What SPF lotion should I wear? Will I tan faster if its hot out? Would using a tanning bed make my skin orange?
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My plan so far:
Take off everything but my shorts.
Go running while it's sunny out.
??
Profit.
edit: good plan, yes?
Wear SPF15+ at least, don't use tanning beds (apart from the cancer thing, only idiots pay for something you cna get for free). Sunscreen doesn't stop tanning, just slows it and stops you burning.
Edit: even if its cloudy, you still get UV exposure. and don't spend more than an hour a day or so doing this, max.
If you're trying to tan, take your time with how much exposure you're getting. If you're starting to get noticably pink while outside, get out of the sun. I know from personal experience that it's not good to say "oh well, I'm just a LITTLE pink. I'm sure that's just because it's hot outside"...you will really end up screwing yourself over.
For me, I try to build up a light "base" tan in the spring, if I can...I've noticed this prevents me from getting really bad burns in the summer. Tanning can be a slow process - everybody's skin tans at a different rate, (if at all...some really fair-skinned people just end up burning). Just go with an exposure that is still brief enough to prevent you from getting burned, and slowly build up from there.
Promising (but not definitive) research indicates tanning beds have a higher cancer risk than natural tanning. Soaking up sun is more fun, anyways.
― Dr. Seuss, Oh, the Places You'll Go!
changes this to spf 8 and apply it every 3 hours or so and you have the correct answer to your question. i am a dark skinned lad by nature though so different rules may apply.
PokeCode: 3952 3495 1748
my skin looks like this:
EDIT: I'm going to start off with some SPF +35 or so and see how that does.
If anyone can find references to the studies showing UV rays from a tanning bed are (or might be) more harmful than ones from the sun, I'd be interested to read about this.
There are many advantages to a tanning bed. One, you can get tan at night or in the off season, or in cold climates. Two, it's a hell of a lot easier to find 20 minutes to go to a tanning salon (you actually spend only 4 minutes in the bed at a time if you're a light skinned individual, this probably varies based on the machine though), than it is to drive to the beach or park and lay out a towel at exactly the right time of day. Three, all over tan, if you know what I am saying. Four, you have more control over how much exposure you're getting.
That being said, I don't do it personally. From all I have learned, you're healthier to avoid UV rays (which are essential for tanning). Get your vitamin D though...or something.
Anyways I just throw on Banana Boat Sport SPF 30 when I'm going to the beach or kayaking and I end up with a tan.
why bother at all then? you were born a ghost and no amount of sun will ever make you less ghost-like. don't hide from your frightening skin relish in it my friend!
my ladifriend is white as a sheet and for me its a turn on. yen and yang so to speak.
PokeCode: 3952 3495 1748
Yet, I still tan a little in the summer just by being outside and applying sunscreen when necessary.
For those of us that don't live in sunny climates, tanning beds are the only viable way to get a decent tan.
And no, the UV rays that manage to penetrate the cloud cover are in no way enough to get a tan.
For tanning, there are several factors to consider:
1- The intensity of sunlight your skin receives
2- The angle of sunlight that hits your skin (this is why shoulders and nose typically tan faster and more than the rest of your body... because the sun hits those areas more perpendicularly)
3- The SPF rating of your lotion*
If you go tanning, make sure your lotion has good enough rating (higher rating is recommended for more intense sunlight). Don't stay under the sun for more than an hour at a time, and make sure you drink lots of water to prevent dehydration. Also, wear sunglasses with good UV protection to avoid damage to eyes.
* Your natural skin complexion is also an important factor in determining what SPF you should use. If you're naturally whiter, you'll have an increased chance of getting sunburns because your skin doesn't have enough melanin to block out solar radiation (melanin is also responsible for making your skin look tanner).
edit: i almost forgot... for playing sports under the sun, the sunscreen should be waterproof and sweatproof, and be re-applied after 2-3 hours.
--
I should also mention that even though exposure to intense sunlight introduces the risk of skin cancer, lack of sufficient sunlight can lead to cancer as well (as a result of vitamin D deficiency), not to mention osteomalacia (bone pain).
Are you planning on going to the beach or pool? Tanning booths are great to develop a base tan so you don't burn on a trip, that sucks.
I suggest a quality tanning booth like those at Hollywood Tan for example. The have standing high-pressure tanning booths so you spend less time in them. Their staff is knowledgeable and will give you all the details.
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As I said, this is true only if you don't do it properly.
I'm willing to make allowances for Swedes with SAD, but those things really aren't healthy. If they were regulated as medical devices rather than cosmetic ones, the story might be different.
No, I was saying you can still burn under cloud cover. Been there. I hate nature. Oh, and the Northern Hemisphere, for sending all your CFC's south. Bitches :P
the rest of your post was well rad :^:
I usually work from textbooks or limited-access sites like Uptodate.com, but, this one doesn't seem too bad to get started and I found the citation off uptodate:
http://jnci.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/94/3/224
Although a retrospective study, the controls on this one are decent - the conclusion is that, after controlling for other sunlight exposures (and predicted effects of normal sunlight exposure for the same period of time as tanning), almost any degree of tanning use increases risk of later developing basal cell carcinoma (BCC).
The underlying theory seems to be that tanning bed use is cumulative with normal, everyday UV exposure, but also that the particular mix of UVA and UVB rays used in tanning beds may be harsher than natural sunlight. I couldn't find the raw study suggesting this, but there's a reference here in WHO fact sheet 287:
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs287/en/index.html
I'm not a dermatologist, so I don't have any clinical impressions on it, unfortunately.