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Why do people tan?

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I have to say that I caught some rays outside for the first time in 4 days (fucking rain!) and it made a 180 on my mood. I became a completely different person after getting my dose of UV. I guess I was just really missing it with all this rain and needed it to be happy.
 
I think I look better when I have a little bit of a tan on me.

But I think there is a difference between tannoholics and people who don't overuse it. If someone goes to a tanning solon twice a week for years, yes it can add up to premature aging and orange looking skin. But that's extreme and not many people do that.

I just started working out at a large gym place. They have 7 days free which includes free tanning. I went 4 times in that one week and developed a nice looking tan. Not orange at all.
I was very pale before and can say that this tan makes me look much hotter physically. We live in a society that likes physical attractiveness and rewards it. My partner doesn't want me to tan but after I got my nice tan he has been almost obsessing about it, about how hot I look. The world is a weird place. And a nice tan can make someone look better physically. Not talking about an orange, fake looking tan.
 
I think that people who spend time under the sun and have a good tan look good.

My girlfriend doesn't think her skin changes when she gets a lot of sun light. She definitely still stays white but its such a sexy glow. I love it.

People who go to tanning salons look good, but if they get a spray its hard to look at.
 
Gaian Planes said:
just lay out in the sunshine...its healthy that way :D
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Are you people all nuts?

You are at just as much risk of developing some form of skin cancer from excessive bathing in the sun as occasional tanning in a booth.

However, the upper limit for a tanning booth should be no more than ten visits in a year, and you should never be able to see a burn after visiting a tanning booth. If you do then you are staying in the thing too long.

I'm living in London, and there has been no summer for the past two years - just rain.

I do six minutes in a stand up booth every two months, no lotion or shit like that, just to keep a healthy colour. I'm not orange, nor could you tell that I have been tanning:p

Most orange people are victims of bottle tans, I reckon.
 
I can attest to staying OUT of the sun leaving you with much better skin as you age. My younger sister is 30- she looks older than me! She tans all the time- year round.

I, on the other hand, will only get a spray tan if we go to the beach or something so I dont blind people; I am scary pale.

But, I have NO wrinkles at ALL and she does!

On the other hand, gotta agree with GP. The sun is good for you, just use that sunscreen everyday. I put it on when I get out of the shower and keep some with me where ever I go!
 
jude101 said:
Are you people all nuts?

You are at just as much risk of developing some form of skin cancer from excessive bathing in the sun as occasional tanning in a booth.
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You are at FAR higher risk of developing colon cancer or lung cancer or something due to subclinical Vitamin D deficiency. Malignant melanoma is pretty rare and easy to treat, while low lifetime Vitamin D levels are one of the biggest factors in the development of more risky and common cancers like colon and breast cancer.
 
I get the impression Coolio is either very big on tanning or is a paid promoter for vitamin d. A website suggests that tanning booths use mostly UVa to avoid burning. This also minimizes the amount of vitamin d synthed. The article then goes on to say that 15-20 minutes in the sun a few times a week is plenty, and thats with clothes. Appearenly it only takes a few minutes of full body absorbion to get more then enough.

http://www.womentowomen.com/nutritionandweightloss/vitamindandtanningbeds.aspx
http://www.healthcentral.com/skin-cancer/c/115/6851/salons-hype
http://nutrition.about.com/od/askyournutritionist/f/sunlight.htm

"Doctors say this is a gross overstatement of fact. Exposure to sunlight does allow your body to produce a supply of vitamin D. However, as little as 15-20 minutes of sunlight on your face is enough to produce an adequate supply of vitamin D for an entire month. In addition, some studies show that tanning can actually break down the existing vitamin D supply in your body."

"You probably need from 5 to 30 minutes of exposure to the skin on your face, arms, back or legs (without sunscreen) twice every week."

Perhaps one sided sources but all i can find for "you need tons a week" was tanning salons and bed makers. It seems like the general theme is walking around outside for 20 minutes a day is more then enough this is with full clothing to.
 
I think tans can make people more attractive when done right...

pale skin is a turn off for me with most girls, unless she has the right look for it.

nothing worse to me than that pale look like "hey look at me, I'm so pale I glow, because I never go out, I just stay inside doing drugs with the shades closed" ...just me though
 
Excessive tanning is ridiculous. I look around my campus and see all these orange/too dark girls walking around during the winter. it looks so unnatural, but I don't like really pale skin either.

I go tanning once every 2-3 weeks, just to keep a healthy looking skin shade. You can't see I am tanning, but I am not white as hell either. Happy medium
 
I'm only attracted to pale people. So it doesn't make a lot of sense to me. I do eat lots of Vitamin D to compensate for lack of sun exposure.
 
I have trouble with tanning, as every time I'm in the sun for more than 20 minutes or so, I start to get hives. Not just sun-burn, but those itchy little red bumps that even Benedryl won't calm down. I get the same effect in tanning beds, only faster, due to the 'higher doses' for lack of a better term.
As for the Vitamin D issue, it's been said by doctors all over that a person needs about 5 minutes of sunlight a day. That's all. A person can have all the Vitamin D they need and still be ghostly pale.

Personally, I dislike tans, I think nice pale skin has a very upscale look to it. But then, maybe I'm just stuck in the 15th century where women with tans meant women who worked. Women who were pale were usually pretty high up on the food chain...

Cyanide
 
nuke said:
I'm only attracted to pale people. So it doesn't make a lot of sense to me. I do eat lots of Vitamin D to compensate for lack of sun exposure.
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The Vitamin D like in milk, is different than the vitamin D from the sun.
The only way to absorb the D is from being in the sunlight, and 5-10 mins a day or so is sufficient. You and your mates can stay nice and pale, and still be healthy.

Cyanide
 
lol..."absorb the D" idk y that made me laugh

People say that I'm "so tan" but I rarely even go outside!

Either way I can't stay in the sun for too long. I get so uncomfortably hot, even when I'm in the water (i guess that makes it a little worse now that i think about it)

I cringe when I see people laying out on black sand for example for hours--yikes!
 
cyanide68 said:
Personally, I dislike tans, I think nice pale skin has a very upscale look to it. But then, maybe I'm just stuck in the 15th century where women with tans meant women who worked. Women who were pale were usually pretty high up on the food chain...

Cyanide
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Haha. This is what my mother used to tell me when I was younger to make me feel better about my pale skin and stop me from wanting to tan.

InTherapy82 said:
But I think there is a difference between tannoholics and people who don't overuse it. If someone goes to a tanning solon twice a week for years, yes it can add up to premature aging and orange looking skin. But that's extreme and not many people do that.
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I have to disagree, I have seen many more tannoholics than I would have liked.

What I don't understand and think is gross is the people who use fake tanner? It never looks natural. I understand it's better for your skin, but that's where I see orange looking people the most, and with weird streaks on their skin and very strange colore hands and feet... :\
 
cyanide68 said:
Personally, I dislike tans, I think nice pale skin has a very upscale look to it. But then, maybe I'm just stuck in the 15th century where women with tans meant women who worked. Women who were pale were usually pretty high up on the food chain...

Cyanide
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They even resorted to arsenic use to keep themselves pale.

In many parts of the world, pale skin is still an ideal! It implies you are not in the sun a lot and do not have to be exposed to the elements. While you guys tan, here whiteners are all the rage. Below is a recent ad:

bale2.jpg


In the West, I suppose when the masses began working in dreary places like factories, things probably turned completely on their head and being pale became a symbol of not affording to cavort under the sun.
 
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