Do you actively seek a tan? (1 Viewer)

[Patrick Sun]

I've never been one to slather myself with tanning lotion and roast myself under the rays of the sun for hours on end, but I know others do. Is it for looks only, or it just something to do?

Nowadays I try avoiding extended exposure to the sun due to skin cancer warnings/pitfalls.

 

[RobertR]

I've never been able to tan. I burn very easily. I always try to put on lots of sunblock whenever I'm out in the sun for awhile. I decided a long time ago that I would accept my skin color as is, and not try to be darker for the sake of fashion, especially considering the detrimental effects of overexposure to the sun.

 

[StephenA]

I also burn very easily. I turn into a cooked lobster when in the sun. When I was last in Florida, I burned so bad I got sick for 2 days. I musta got sun poisoning, I was that sick. My skin used to blister up when burnt, when I was a kid. Must be the Irish in me.

 

[Garrett Lundy]

No! sunlight causes skin cancer! On the flip-side my legs are so pale (I don't own "shorts") you can see my tibia by holding a bic-lighter behind my leg

 

[Mark Paquette]

I live in Michigan, what's a tan? I have no idea what you guys are talking about

 

[Dave Poehlman]

I've never been one to slather myself with tanning lotion and roast myself under the rays of the sun for hours on end

C'mon Patrick, I would think with a last name like Sun you would look like George Hamilton.

When I was younger I used to tan on occasion. And I received a tan as a byproduct of my frequent bicycle riding. But, since I started working for a living, I now get something I never used to... sunburn.

I am so pale, I glow in the dark.

 

[Patrick Sun]

When I was younger, in my pre-college years hanging out at the neighborhood pool all summer long, I was so dark that I passed for Hawaiian. But as I got older, I also went through a bout of sun poisoning one weekend in Panama City beach that was not fun, and I still get teased about it by those who witnessed it, and then I got severely burnt during Labor Day weekend in 1997 (a couple of hours without sunscreen), and vowed never to suffer a sunburn ever again (if it could be helped).

 

[MickeS]

I used to try, but it's so incredibly boring to lie still and try and get a tan, that I gave up years ago.

Now, here in Tucson I try and avoid the sun as much as I can, and I always put on sunblock if I know I'll be outside for more than half an hour or so. I burn easily, and I don't want to take any chances with the cancer.

There aren't a lot of tan people here actually, I saw more tan people in Sweden I think, even though there is a lot more sunlight here.

/Mike

 

[Jay H]

And I received a tan as a byproduct of my frequent
bicycle riding

Yes, the infamous bicycle tan, as well as the forever Helmet Hair... I don't sunburn easily but I do get tanned alot because I am riding almost every day of the week. I wear cycling shorts which tend to be longer than the average casual shorts so when I do wear the plain old shorts, theres about 3-4 inches of whiteness from my tan line. Makes going to the shore a weird experience. And then there's the V from the zippered bike jersey going down your chest from the zippered area.

Jay

 

[DennisHP]

The tan I actively seek is around 5'9" and blonde with blue eyes.

 

[Dave Poehlman]

Yes, the infamous bicycle tan

Yep, tan on your back, pale on your chest, tan on the front of your thighs, pale on the back, tan on the back of your calves, pale on your shins... you wind up looking like a friggin' checkerboard.

 

[Jeff Pryor]

Last year I used to lay on my trampoline and soak up the sun. Got a nice tan. Haven't started on one this year, though. My wife tells me to go to the tanning salon. No, I say, I'm not paying money for a fake-looking tan.

 

[Ron Etaylor]

No tanning for me. I'm more pale than I'd like to be, but maybe I'll escape melanoma. I'd be a lousy cancer patient.

 

[KyleS]

The tan I actively seek is around 5'9" and blonde with blue eyes

Dennis you have the right attitude
I also burn pretty easily but then that burn usually turns tan. When I was in high school or yourger I regularly had a good tan but that was because I was outside in the sun playing sports or working on the farm. Now I dont have the time to stay out in the sun for hours each day and I am certainly not about to pay someone to use a machine to get skin cancer.
KyleS

 

[Moe Maishlish]

I only wish I could get a tan.
The weather has been so crappy lately - no sun, no heat, lots of wet wet wet yucky poo weather.
As opposed to many of you however, I LOVE the sun. I have a very dark complexion, so I rarely burn, and it's kind of difficult for me to get any distinguisable color.
I do hate feeling pale though.
The sun just makes me feel alive. It gives me energy, and makes me want to move! Of course, anytime I got to the beach or spend a significant amount of time exposing myself to the sun, I'll slap on some sunblock.
Moe.

 

[Eve T]

I use Clarins self tanner. It gives you the look of a really nice healthy tan without the sun damage. It's rated as the best in the world and it doesn't leave you orange and they have a variety of products and applications to make you look as if you just came home from a tropical island vacation.
Working in the cosmetics business I learned at a young age on the damage the sun has on skin. Infact, 80 percent of the damage we see on our skin as we get older was preventable! I am a natural pale blonde and burn quite easily my grandmother was the same way and always used sunblock, she looked years and years younger than she was. I still have people who are stunned to find out that I'm not 20 years old....
I know people who are much younger than I am but have tanned to such an extent that their skin is like shoe leather and it aged them so much. I don't know if they think it looks good or if they just tan out of habbit as some of my friends have tanning beds in their home. I think it's unhealthy.
Stay away from that sun

 

[DonnyD]

There was a time that I loved to get one of those deep dark tans and parade around for others to envy. Being part Native American, I tan easily and get very dark but the first of the season, even I would burn. That reminds me of a funny story.....
My GF and I headed to Daytona several years ago in May. She was a natural blonde and being the first of the season, I wasn't dark yet. We got there early, around 9 am or so and was told our room would be ready in a bit so we went out to the pool to wait. Time passed and we both fell asleep since we had driven most of the night to get there. Someone awaken us and I immediately knew I was burned some and looking at my GF, found she was absolutely scorched. Funny though, both of us must have kinda turned our heads cause we were both burned on one side of our face!! Anyway, that pretty much ruined our vacation and we had to go home after she recovered enough to wear clothes.... BTW... you know how porcupines mate????

After that, I vowed to never burn again. I use copious amounts of protection and stick to the numbers. They are a very good way to know what to use and how much protection you will get. I now participate in boating and see so many people out there just getting lobstered and saying "oh I have to burn before I can tan".... so many stupid comments.

As Eve T pointed out, sun exposure DOES produce aging to the skin. My family being Native, some get really dark and now that they are older, they also look like leather. I started protecting myself when I was in my late 20's and others say I look like I am in my late 30's/early 40's now.... although I am 52.

To sum it up: Yes, a healthy tan looks good but there are ways to get one without the agony of the burn and without your skin looking like leather in the later years. Use the proper strength sunblock and keep your skin lubricated, especially your face. BUT>>>> I will have to say, ain't nutin' looks better than a bikini and a good tan!!!

 

[DennisHP]

Since most things seem to come and go, society will dictate when being tan is bad and then people won't want to be tan anymore. It used to be that having a tan was evidence you were in a lower working class. People avoided the sun and "tans" to show they were upper class, didn't do manual labor, and had servants. Now being tan is more to show you have leisure time to spend vacationing or not working.

 

[Christopher P]

Yes I do, definitely.

- Marty Cordova (Baltimore Oriole outfielder)

 

[Ron-P]

Color me white. I like my beer tan though
Peace Out~