Tanning Parlors????????

[momrek06]

How many of you use/go to tanning parlors? I have been going to tanning parlors since probably 1995. I go from April-July! I don't go to get real, real dark just to get some "color"! I absolutely cannot stand laying in the sun! Hence the tanning parlors.

EVERY single year I hear so much about how bad they are.....

What are all the DISer's opinions on this and I would like to hear GOOD and BAD???

Help me make a decision as to whether I should keep going! We have about 5 really nice parlors in about a 10 mile radius and they are all offering great deals right now!!!

THANK YOU!

 

[mrsg00fy]

Why age yourself before you have to? Tanning parlors are just like the sun...they dry your skin up and make you look older. Why take the risk?

 

[summerrluvv]

Why age yourself before you have to? Tanning parlors are just like the sun...they dry your skin up and make you look older. Why take the risk?

I'm 29 and people think I'm 10 years younger than that, too bad it's not working for me LOL

Seriously though...I tan off and on. I think moderation is key. Usually a few times during the winter. I found that it helps my excema a bit. I have a neighbor that is ALWAYS tanning and amazingly she doesn't look like a handbag yet

 

[ChrisnSteph]

I go to the tanning salon right before I go on a big vacation, like a cruise. I'm fair skin and I tan well, but I also burn easily. Having a base tan helps keep me from burning in the strong Caribbean sun. Plus having a tan hides things! I do it maybe every other year, and I'm very careful about it, so I don't worry too much. Here it's about 19.99 per month, unlimited. I don't go for more than two months, 3-4 times a week.

 

[mrsg00fy]

I'm 29 and people think I'm 10 years younger than that, too bad it's not working for me LOL

Seriously though...I tan off and on. I think moderation is key. Usually a few times during the winter. I found that it helps my excema a bit. I have a neighbor that is ALWAYS tanning and amazingly she doesn't look like a handbag yet
__________________
summerrluvv
my husband is only 43 and has had skin cancer many times.
i'll admit that a tan looks great...but at what price?
at some point, it does catch up with you.
i would like for my husband to not die of skin cancer and to see our wonderful boys grow up!
it is most unfortunate that we are both very fair skinned...and at risk.
i look young...very young for my age and i attribute it to my LACK of suntanning in my youth and young adult years.
anyone who has done a lot of sun and not had it catch up yet....give it time.

 

[Dan Murphy]

.......What are all the DISer's opinions on this and I would like to hear GOOD and BAD???....

The look? Looks great. The long term consequence? Very much increased chance of cancer. Sort of like smoking; okay now, but catches up with you.

 

[MAKmom]

It takes 15 to 20 years for the damage to show. I used to go to tanning beds in my 20's hated sitting in the sun. This year at 43 I had a Melanoma removed from my face. 8 stiches down my face.....but I looked really good after I would tan.

 

[pearlieq]

Remember Magda from There's Something About Mary?

That's enough to disabuse me of the notion of tanning--ever! Seriously, is it really worth getting all leathery? Are you doing to think you look so hot with those surgical scars from removing the cancer?

 

[mrsg00fy]

Again, please be careful. My husband has had several scares. He is Irish and Scottish with very fair skin. In our youth, it was considered "healty" to have a tanned look. Every time he goes in to get another biopsy....I am sick. Please be careful!

 

[parrothead365]

If I tried to use one of those beds, I would look like a hunk of blubber on a Goerge Foreman grill.

 

[disneyaggie]

Tanning beds are bad for you -- period. But I tan and here's why: I tan to get just a bit of color (just a few times a week). I find that when I did this before I went to WDW last time, I did not burn at all compared to when I did not get the base tan before.

Also, living in Texas, it is absolutely way too hot to sit outside, even for just 10 minutes. Heat stroke is not favorable either.

Plus, I only tan for a few minutes each time, not the full 20 minutes you can work up to.

Also, I moisturize like crazy. I put on lotion before and even more after I tan. Sometimes if I get up in the middle of the night I apply just a bit more lotion to make sure my skin stays moisturized.

 

[Micca]

A dermatologist told me that tanning is skin damage. Based on that, I would say moderate damage is better than severe damage.

 

[Teacher03]

My younger sister went to tanning beds occasionally as a teen. Every now and then. At the age of 21 she had a cancerous growth removed from her lip, a direct cause of using a tanning bed. She has a hole and a scar on her upper lip. She has had several other growths removed since. Is it worth it? I personally don't think it is.

 

[Jynohn]

I used to go tanning in my late teens/early 20's. I've been maybe 10 times tops... before an upcoming prom, wedding, vacation, etc. I'm 33 now and have had surgery 3 times on my nose to remove cancerous lesions

Definitely not worth it!

 

[RadioNate]

With things like Mystic Tan and natural looking self tanners there is no reason to UV tan.

 

[Martha7]

I used to work at the first Tanning Salon in California! (The FBI didn't know what the store was, and investigated us for prostitution!) I don't tan anymore now that I'm 48 and no longer feel invincible! If anyone has any questions about longterm sun damage, just google some recent pictures of Brigitte Bardot and Farrah Fawcett!

 

[littlemuffin]

CLIMBING ONTO SOAP BOX


For about 8 years starting in mid-twenties, I went to the tanning bed 10 - 15 sessions before vacation. I used all the normal excuses. I didn't want to burn when I go on vacation, it looks so much better, I'm only doing it moderately etc.

At the age of 34, I was diagnosed with about 5 basal cell carcinomas. I have now - 2 years later - had over 20.

I always tanned beautifully even though I'm fair skinned. I never blistered. As far as moderate goes, I think I was very moderate in the use of the tanning bed.

Now however, I can't have any sun. My dermatologists says if I had just stuck with regular sun this would never have happened to me. The tanning bed is what caused it. I'm just hoping that by the time I'm fifty and all the damage starts showing up (HAHA) it won't be in the form of melanoma.

Oh by the way did I mention all the lovely scars from having the basal cells removed. Plain white skin would certainly be much more attractive without all of those.

Kathy

 

[CheshireVal]

Well, personally I've always thought tanning salons are pretty cheesy.

I don't care how nice people think tans look, it's really not worth getting skin cancer for. Not to mention how much all these women will regret it when they're 40 and look 60.

Of course you can say the same thing about people who choose to smoke, so, you know, everyone has the right to make these kinds of decisions.

But, personally, I wouldn't do it! My skin has never tanned-- it just burns. I prefer to slather on sunblock and stay pale year round.

 

[ilovepcot]

Did any of you who use the tanning salons ever see a notice about people with lots of moles? There's a warning for people with many moles to avoid use of tanning beds, booths etc. I have "some" moles but not enough to feel this warning applied to me. After only 2 sessions in the bed, I discovered several moles had "sprouted" in just a few days time!!!! This scared me nearly to death! *Anything that can cause cellular changes this fast is BADDD*! I never returned and never will! I prepaid but money be damned!

Sure wish my scanner was working. I'd post (with her permission) a picture of a dear friend who was warned (repeatedly) by those who cared for her, to STOP going to the tanning salon. She's a month younger than I but could easily pass for my mother. She's considering a face lift but that can only do so much. Sure, it can lift the sagging folds and pull them back into line, but it's the tiny little hairline-like cracks that can't be removed. Sad and sooo needless.

 

[Trish Bessette]

I tried them once, went about 5 times, and hated it!

I'd much rather slop on some of the self tanners and let that do its job if I want a tan.

It's not worth the risk to me, there is way too much in my life worth living for!