Fake bake, anyone?

[Laurajean1014]

I keep telling myself that tanning beds are bad for you and the sun, accumulatively will keep you in the dermatologists' office for years later in life. But everyone is encouraging me to go for a few sessions before we cast away.

Is anyone going to the tanning salon prior to their sail?

 

[travelcrazy]

i think it depends on your skin. i'm fair and i've found that if i go for about 5 sessions before a vacation, i don't burn as easily. the small number of sessions just gives me a base color and not a "fake" tan. i worry about ruining my skin too, but i think that getting some color is probably better than turning red.

 

[Sandiebean]

I always go a few times before I go away. I'm red haired, and fairer. When I didn't go... no matter how much protection I wore.. I fried. Since I started doing a few sessions at a tanning salon... I've not had that problem. All within reason, of course.

Sandie

 

[AnnMorin]

Each cruise I have gone on I have gone to tanning prior. The sun is MUCH stronger in the caribbean then here in Ma. and I burn at Cape Cod. It is no fun to have a burn on vacation-plus there is so much to do I don't want to waste time just lieing in the sun. If you get a "jump start" before you go then you come back looking great. Ann

 

[ruvidu]

I keep telling myself that tanning beds are bad for you and the sun, accumulatively will keep you in the dermatologists' office for years later in life

On April 1, of this year I had 25 pre cancers removed from my arms and neck. The doctor did this by using liquid nitrogen on a swab to burn each one individually. I now get to do a creame face burn. That is the application of a special creame on your face that will burn off individual layers of skin until the cancers are gone. My face will be bright red and peeling for about 3 weeks. During that time I have limited access to the sun because I will be more prone for burning.
If you look for me on the cruises I will have on the Panama hat and be spraying SF 50 sunscreen on my face, neck and arms. I also will be moving under the shade during the 11 - 4 time to limit the amount of sun I am getting.
I hate to put a damper on your "a tan is beautiful thread" but if you could see the scars on my arms you may would think twice before climbing in a tanning bed.
I am a 53 year old male that has never been in a tanning bed, just been outside a lot.
I hope this doesn't happen to any of you but at least I tried to tell you.

 

[ldb1030]

I also have a "lovely" scar on my upper arm and one on my hip! I love being in the sun but to get a nice looking tan, I'll stick w/ the tanning lotion! Much safer!

 

[mkunichi]

As a first choice, I'd like to encourage everyone to join me in my winter color - "slightly translucent".

As a second choice, I think tanning is better than burning. So if you think the only way to keep yourself from burning is to visit the tanning salon before going on your cruise, I'd say to go ahead. But don't go overboard and make sure to use a good sunblock while on the cruise.

 

[ruvidu]

http://www.fda.gov/cdrh/tanning.html
Read this if you think tanning is important.

Hey, I'm an Ex smoker too. Life has taught me some tough lessons.

 

[vicnmickey]

I am a nurse and know the risk of skin cancer. But like others I am a red head and fry in the sun if I don't get a base color. I also have ezcema on my feet and my dermatologist suggested tanning to help clear it up. Yes, the dermatologist! I don't go every day of the week and only go 10 minutes at a time. I have been told its safer to tan slowly than to fry yourself. So a couple months before vacations I do start tanning.
There are alot of things in life that aren't good for us but my theory is. Enjoy every minute you have on this precious earth because tommorow you may not be here to enjoy it anymore.
God Bless!!!!!

 

[KAR3600]

I cheat, I use "tan in a can", Lancome & Estee Lauder make excellent products. I can not take the sun for I too am very light skinned and just burn, hurt, and turn white again. So my instant tan works well for me.

 

[DreamsDoComeTrue]

Would a canned tan also reduce the likelihood of sunburning, too?

 

[ducklite]

Originally posted by DreamsDoComeTrue
Would a canned tan also reduce the likelihood of sunburning, too?

Not one little bit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I do tan in a can (I like Lancome's) and then slather on SPF 30-45 (depending on where I am, how much of a base of "real" color I have, and how long I'll be out). My daily face cream has an SPF 15 in it, and my head hasn't seen the sun in years (I've got a collection of wide brimmed sun hats).

Most people think I look 5-10 years younger than I am. I attribute it to protecting my skin from the sun.

Anne

 

[Michelle]

I'll try not to get on my soapbox here, but it's hard.

I used to do the tanning salon thing in my 20s (and I'm fair skinned, lots of freckles, family history of skin cancer) and I regret it immensely. I've had MANY pre-cancerous lesions removed and am at a huge risk for skin cancer. Plus it does a nasty number on your skin and face and adds lots of not-so-lovely wrinkles.

There is TONS of evidence that says a "base tan" does NOTHING to protect your skin from the sun. If you want some color, do the sunless tanner (I use Neutrogena on my legs and it works wonders). Then use LOADS of sunscreen, and re-apply, re-apply, re-apply. That is the ONLY way to keep from frying in the tropical sun.

Okay, so I climbed up on the soapbox. This is something I feel very strongly about and wish I would have listened when others told me what "tan in a can" would do to me when I was 40...now I know.

 

[snowball22]

Noooooooooooooooooo to the fake bake!!!!!!!!! The tanning beds are just as bad as the real sun!!!!! I am 37 and a malignant melanoma survivor. Just diagnosed this past fall. I also just had a basal carcinoma removed from my leg in March. Yes I spent my teens and 20's in the sun and in the tanning beds. Now I am paying for it. Nasty scars and lots of doctors visits. Just load up on the sunscreen and apply often!!!!! For a right in your face web site on melanoma go to www.mpip.org Go to the message boards and read the stories of the fighters of skin cancer. Learn how sun can turn into malignant melanoma and invade your body with cancer of the brain, liver etc. Bob Marley was in the sun alot, had melanoma on his toe and it took over his body. Maureen Reagan had melanoma and it travelled to her brain and also took her life. Please just load up on the sunscreen and try not to get baked!!!!!!

 

[TootyJane]

Sunless tanning is the way to go. The color is great -- no longer that orangy QT look!! Best thing to do is exfoliate, moisturize and apply sunless tanning. Of course, you don't have a "tan" so you will need to apply sunscreen when you go into the sun. This is the only way I get tan. I am fair-skinned and learned a long time ago that no matter how long I stayed in the sun I would burn and never get tan.

I just tried the Mystic Tan at our local tanning salon. Basically, you apply a barrier cream to your toenails, fingernails and palms of your hands, then you step into a booth, press a button and you are sprayed with an even mist of self-tanner for 14 seconds. Then it stops to give you 10 seconds to turn around and then repeats the mist on your other side for 14 seconds. You stand in the booth for another 30 seconds, step out of the booth, wipe off the barrier cream, dry yourself with a towel, get dressed and go about your day. It doesn't stain your clothes or have that strong sunless tanning smell and you see your "tan" in 4-6 hours.

HTH

Lisa

 

[A kid at heart]

If you were meant to be brown you would have been born that way.

I am very fair skinned and stay that way all year round. Even when I go to FL. I still come home looking like this. I use SPF 30 evey 30-45 min. It's not worth it to me to get that tan that fades and could later on cause damage. Besides I burn too easily and I avoid the sun as much as possible!

 

[Dave_from_Marietta]

Originally posted by TootyJane

Sunless tanning is the way to go. The color is great -- no longer that orangy QT look!

That's good... that stuff was around when I was a kid and it was GROSS!

Anyway... like Michelle... I was trying not to get on my soapbox, but since she couldn't resist, I'll stop resisting as well.

I know that so many people dream of coming back from the Caribbean with a deep golden tan so their friends and colleagues will be jealous of the exotic vacation they've had. But the facts are that the makeup of the passengers at the end of the cruise are as follows:

<table border=0 cellpadding=10><tr valign=top><td align=center>15%</td><td><i><b>Bronzed gods and goddesses.</b></i><br>Sure, some people will go home with great tans, but they will be a very small minority.</td></tr><tr valign=top><td align=center>40%</td><td><b><i>People who showed "sun sense"</i></b><br>People who used liberal amounts of sunscreen with high SPF numbers... wore a t-shirt when snorkeling, etc. They will be in the best shape at the end of the cruise.</td></tr><tr valign=top><td align=center>45%</td><td><b><i>People who are crispy-fried</i></b><br>These are people who either didn't use sunscreen or didn't use enough or a high-enough SPF. They don't particularly want to get sunburned... but they definitely want to get a tan they can be proud of. But they always get sunburned. Especially at Castaway Cay because they realize it's their last chance to get that great tan. These people always look <i>really</i> uncomfortable at dinner on that last night.</td></tr></table>

You can count me in the middle category.

 

[ruvidu]

We have been amazed at the number of people who come to dinner on the second night and can hardly sit in a chair. Their sunburns are killing them and I know their photos have to be overexposed.
Sun sense is all important.

 

[ducklite]

Originally posted by WebmasterMichelle

Okay, so I climbed up on the soapbox. This is something I feel very strongly about and wish I would have listened when others told me what "tan in a can" would do to me when I was 40...now I know.

"Tan in a can" is the sunless tanning sprays, lotions and gels. It's NOT the sunbeds in the tanning salons, which are generally referred to as "fake bake".

Tan in a can is completely safe, as long as your realize it's a FAKE tan, and will not protect you at all from the sun. Many of the newer products have moisturizers in them, making them actually GOOD for your skin

Anne

 

[Michelle]

Right Anne, I meant the tanning booths.

I use sunless tanners and they are fine.