Tan or fake tan before Disney?

[mtblujeans]

...... and I always wear a hat to protect my gradually balding head.

I have to wear a BIG hat 'cause my nose sticks out farther than the brim. DH is always getting a laugh out of that (darn little nose people)

 

[ChristmasElf]

I never thought about northerners tanning BEFORE coming to Florida! I don't know why, but it just sounds funny! I'm a native Floridan, been here all my life, and I bet I'm still paler than most of you! Seriously though, the fake tan would be better for your skin.

Ever notice how true this is? Many of us that live here in Florida can't be bothered sitting out to get a tan. The one's that you see here that are very tan are the Northerners that move here and sit out all day long day after day.
Most of them have skin that looks like leather.

 

[mtblujeans]

Ever notice how true this is? Many of us that live here in Florida can't be bothered sitting out to get a tan. The one's that you see here that are very tan are the Northerners that move here and sit out all day long day after day.
Most of them have skin that looks like leather.

....or we run from air conditioned room to air conditioned room!

 

[mickey4ver]

Well, if someone asked whether they should be slap themselves in the head, wouldn't you want to gently point out that it might not be the best idea...

Either that or we need to start every thread with a disclaimer: "Opinions wanted (otherwise why would I be posting on a public message board?) but only those I already agree with and want to hear..."

Again, JMHO, but the op didn't ask for opinions on the risks of tanning, but asked if anyone tanned or used the lotions.........so I don't think the "opinions wanted" disclaimed is warranted To me, they were asking which people preferred, tanning or lotions

 

[georgina]

Do you regularly walk up to smokers and 'gently point out that it might not be the best idea...'?

I burn painfully if I spend minimal time out in the full sun unprotected. I find that if I tan for a month or so before my WDW visit the sun doesn't affect me so badly. I have a darker skin tone so I don't ever look pale, no matter what time of year it is. Sun screen works OK, but I'm always forgetting the little places (tops of ears & tops of feet if I'm wearing sandals) and I always wear a hat to protect my gradually balding head.

I'm in the "no tan" camp too. If a smoker asked my opinion about which type of cigarette he should use, you bet I would tell him what I thought about it! And tell him about the mom with young children down the street (heavy smoker) dying of lung cancer. After one burn I always remember to do the tops of my feet and ears. If people run if fear of my pasty white legs, then I'll get on the rides quicker.

 

[stinkerbelle]

Do you regularly walk up to smokers and 'gently point out that it might not be the best idea...'?

As a northerner...I will admit to have tanned before traveling down south in the dead of winter (after one bad burn in WDW in December.) I would go to a tanning bed for 2 weeks...every other/third day...to get a little color (not deep dark hawaiian tropic brown...but just a "base" color)

Of course...I tan VERY easily most times...so I do get pretty brown once I'm down there.
I have a picture of me, from Dec 04, going to WDW with NO color, after one day at BB...I got pretty brown.

Anywhoodle...it's what works for you. Everything in life is going to get us in one way or the other...yes, some of these are PREVENTABLE...but hey - life is short...if you wanna go through it a little less pale, who is someone else to judge?

I will say...as a northerner, I went to the Bahamas with ZERO color at the begining of November...wore LOTS of sunscreen as we were on the water ALL the time. (and I'm not exactly as liberal with the sunscreen when at home)...really didn't get red at all.

 

[ely3857]

I tan aswell, around 2 weeks before I will start going to on sunbeds, like others have said I dont want to scare anyone!



Jodie

 

[Equidae]

....or we run from air conditioned room to air conditioned room!

No shame in that! That's why I'm so pale -- I would rather be inside in the cool than out in the heat!

 

[ChrisnSteph]

Before I vacation anywhere where I have the potential to sunburn, I tan. I get a base tan before every cruise. It works - I have yet to have a sunburn, I feel good and it gets me in the mood for summer, and I don't blind people on the beach! Sometimes I'll even do the Mystic (spray) tan over my base tan. Chlorine removes the fake tan though, just so your warned!

 

[DisneyJen0504]

I used to tan before and ultimately my skin looked less healthy and I slathered on the sunscreen so I wouldn't burn. So now, I use self tanning lotion so I am not pasty, and once I have a little color, I am done and I wear major SPF. No burning for me!

 

[FSUGrad97]

I would think in March the sun won't be TOO strong down in Florida...unless you burn very easily.

My shoulders got red at my outdoor wedding in the middle of March in Winter Haven, FL (about 20-30 minutes from WDW).

 

[FSUGrad97]

Ever notice how true this is? Many of us that live here in Florida can't be bothered sitting out to get a tan. The one's that you see here that are very tan are the Northerners that move here and sit out all day long day after day.
Most of them have skin that looks like leather.

ITA!

It's too hot to lay in the sun, IMHO. On the other hand, I do like to go to the beach, but it's usually once in a great while.

 

[MScott1851]

I broil in a cancer-coffin myself, but just remember if you fake tan, you still need a strong SPF...you're still pale under the bronzer.

 

[mtblujeans]

I broil in a cancer-coffin myself, but just remember if you fake tan, you still need a strong SPF...you're still pale under the bronzer.

That is o-so-true! The fake tan is no protection....just a little bit of a deflector.

 

[cheerful chickadee]

I use the tanning beds for a few weeks before a trip only because I burn majorly if I don't have some sort of base "tan". I don't look at the tanning beds just as a way to get more color but more as a way to slowly introduce my pale skin to UV rays instead of doing it all at once on our arrival day and spending the rest of my vacation so badly burned that I can't move. Not fun at all. If I could go without getting burnt I wouldn't go to a tanning bed at all, they worry me

 

[CathrynRose]

Im a self-tanning Freak-A-Zoid..... Now other than the past 2 weeks (cuz of the stuff with my mom) I dont leave home without it.

Can I say - Ive tried a TON of them, and one of the best one's out there is the "NO-AD" brand, in a big yellow bottle with blue letters. It's not TOO dark, so you wont end up streaky - it's cheap, so you can slather it on without guilt, and it builds up really, really, really well.

Now L'Oreal's SubLime is nice - but will get funky looking as it fades.

What I usually do is the spray tan (at a salon) and do the rub on stuff - until I feel i need to go back and get sprayed again (usually once a month and a half or so)

Also, I had read the stuff in self-tanner's *DHA* - it will either work for you, or it wont. If you turn orange, odds are you'll turn orange with any brand you use.

And I miss, miss, miss my tanning bed days - I know, I know *skin cancer* But IMO - nothing looks as awesome as a real tan....

 

[mommyintn]

I hear Mystic Tan is really good and really easy. Much less risky than the real thing!

I tried this a few days before a party for dh's work and it was horrible. I was not told to exfoliate before going so the color stuck on certain parts of my arms and it looked more orange, so if you go exfoliate and do it in advance so you don't go to WDW looking like one of Florida's best.

 

[mommyintn]

I broil in a cancer-coffin myself, but just remember if you fake tan, you still need a strong SPF...you're still pale under the bronzer.

 

[Sylvester McBean]

friends of ours came down last year for vacation. they had spent a month going to the tanning beds to build up their base. they wanted to hit the beach, and thought the base would protect them. I'm not going to lecture a guy and his wife in their mid-thirties. so they spent the next 2 days laying on one of our beds in extreme pain.

to those of you ladies that do tan before you come down, thank you. your legs do look better in shorts like that.

 

[Michelle2]

I'm in the "no tan" camp too. If a smoker asked my opinion about which type of cigarette he should use, you bet I would tell him what I thought about it!

Me too, being a fair skinned person I am probably triple times more likely to get skin cancer than other people. So even though my legs might not look as good in shorts, I will give my health more priority than what other people think....
In all seriousness though, if I wanted to try a fake tan, I would try the lotions. The spray on idea sounds good too. As long as it does not involve UV rays (or the like), I think someday I might give it a try.