Have you ever been to a tanning salon??

[charley]

I went once and never again. At the salon I saw a life tanner with wrinkled skin, I thought she was 35 here she was my age.

 

You reminded me of something funny. I used to work at a computer company that was next door to a tanning salon.

 

Us computer geeks used to marvel at the sexy, tan young women in their early 20s who came and went from that place. We equally marveled at the amazingly wrinkled women in their 30s who looked like 50s who came and went. I remember one woman in her 40s, I'd guess based on her body, but her face looked like 60s. Really.

 

I think tanning the face, arms, and hands are the main concern. It gets sun everywhere you go, unless you wear a straw hat, and even then it gets some. Your face does not need or want more sun exposure in your life. Same with hands and forearms. However, the rest of your body (at least mine) does not get much sun, so I really don't think some intentional tanning will hurt me, and it prevents acne on my back. However, I don't want it on my face, hands, or arms.

 

Take a look at the wrinkled tanners in their 30s and 40s. It's their faces and forearms that look like they've been put through a food dehydrator. The rest of them looks good.

[charley]

I don't tan either, but I go to a tanning salon to get the light exposure. I don't lie down in the bed, either; I just tan my legs. I go for four minutes at a time -- the minimum for effective exposure. It's made a difference in my energy level this winter. My face is sensitive to the sun, so I wear sunscreen to protect it year round -- I need the tanning salon in winter. I also wear sunscreen on my hands year round, as I've noticed that my friend's hands look like they should be on women alot older than they are. What point in keeping your face looking young, with creams and make-up, if your neck and hands are going to look like a 60 year old's?

 

Excellent advice and I'm going to use it. Thanks. I'm also light sensitive. To little messes with my head. I didn't know tanning helped with that.

 

Aside from acne control, I want to be the same color as the average white person, so I don't stand out like Casper the ghost. A "tan" for me is the same color as average white folks who don't have a tan. I'm not trying to be brown, I just don't want to be literally white, and also don't want acne. It only takes a little bit of tanning to kill and prevent acne.

[lizziebee]

At the risk of being blasted I will tell you that I used to be the queen of the tanning salon, the Arizona sun etc. I love the endorphin rush from the real sun but the salon gives me 10-20 minutes (whatever I feel I need) of private, quiet time as well as quick color in my cheeks! Sometimes it is a pain to go in, strip down, lay down and relax, but once the drone of the machine starts....ahhhhh....And for those of you who talk loudly on their cells while lying in a tanning bed? Annoying idiots.

[Juliana]

"I'm also light sensitive. To little messes with my head. I didn't know tanning helped with that."

 

I had read it somewhere, so it's something I'm trying for the first time this winter. Tentatively, it would seem to be working. Hopefully it's not placebo effect. But it's certainly a cheap, easy fix, if it does work.

[Aurian]

If you worry about the effects of tanning, you can buy a simple light box (about size of a book) that produces the same light that tricks your body into thinking its getting some sunlight (the eyes need to absorb the light to have the emotional benefit).

 

What's wrong with looking like Caspar anyways?