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do you 'real' tan?

23 posts, 19 members
trudijoy
8375 posts
this is something that I was thinking about today lolling around in the sun! I have a family history of cancer and a close family member very ill with it atm, but I still tan. I do it safely, for the most part. I try not to burn badly (don't mind the pink glow that has faded to brown by morning) with 50+ spray and all the rest of it, but i still think I personally look better and healthier, and feel better about life in general if I've been exposed to sunlight.

For me, it's like everything else I enjoy - I'm going to go with it, because life's too short.

How about you though. Do you tan? Why or why not?
Kimrose
1419 posts
Im a bit like you Trudi, I love the look of a nicely tanned body. I do the natural tan, but try really hard not to burn.  The fake tan, well, really looks fake so I just cant bring myself to do that.
MareeB
5244 posts
I love to soak in the sun too Trudi, but I'm verrrrry fair skinned and got sun stroke when I was 15, so shouldn't do it! I kind of don't do it now because there's no good private spot for sunbathing in the house I live in at the moment, but if I move and there's a hidden area, well, I'll probably be naked or close to it, and lying out there with the BeeGees....
itsclearascrystal
2056 posts
I fake tan. My skin doesn't tan very well no matter how long I spend in the sun.
Thebeautycontext
1768 posts
I tan naturally but not intentionally. Due to my skin being naturally dark, I can go outside for 5 minutes and come back with a huge tan line wherever my skin has been exposed. No joke, it sucks! 
kirstyj
1732 posts
BinaryBeauty that is an amazing point of view I had never thought of before! I had no idea that tanning easily could be an issue. I can't tan at all so I don't even bother, just plenty of sunscreen for me. I always miss a wee spot though which is annoying. No matter how much I slather on the sunscreen there is always an area that gets missed like a circle on the back of my arm.
trudijoy
8375 posts
Interesting Binary! I can pick up colour in about 20 mins but i like to build a deeper tan over a week or two then support it with fake.

Kim there are some amazing natural-looking fakes out there!
kknz
82 posts
Nope not at all, I do enjoy the sunshine and being out in it, but working in a skin cancer clinic has put me off for life of intentionally sun tanning :)
Amyxxoo
1155 posts
As a teen I used to tan really easily by spending a bit of time in the sun, these days I find I don't tan as well and burn easier so I stay pale lol....I don't fake tan either.
Macs
5351 posts
As soon as the sun hits me I instantly tan. I have shorts lines already lol I need darker foundation I'm tanning so fast. Its not helping that I keep forgetting my sunscreen.
MareeB
5244 posts
I'm so jealous, I'd love to have olive skin. Even the white kids at school teased me about how white I am. I've gone around covered in clothes all my life because I am so self-conscious about it.
ragingfrog
1289 posts
5 years of working nights wrecked any sun options for me. 15 minutes and I'm fried these days. It's not a pretty look.
Sarahbeautynz
1031 posts
Haha, Kirsty! Missing a spot is the wooorst, but o so real! 

A natural tan really can look amazing, but after experiencing the negative impacts of 'safely' tanning in the sun (gaining those gigantic wrinkles I had on my forehead) whilst already being covered in freckles and having skin cancer run in the family, I've finally accepted that I just can't. I love having a bit of colour on me but I avoid the sun like the plague these days. 

As much of a pain fake tanning is sometimes, I've realised I spend far less time applying it compared to the time I would spend laying out in the sun a few arvos a week to get a 'real' tan'. There are a good few fake tans out there these days that look pretty natural, I definitely wouldn't fake tan otherwise. Haha. But each to their own!
 
Rezee
1964 posts
My skin has two shades- very white or very freckly! My mum is maori, so tans very easily and every summer she would go outside and get super dark, I assume she still does as she lives in aus now. Oh actually my feet tan, I have dork marks already from my jandals lol. I think my skin would look great with a tan but I've never ventured much into fake tanning and obviously the sun doesn't help me!If you tan, do you guys keep an eye on moles? I have a few that I watch. I have one on my chest that I try my hardest to keep sunscreen on at all times as I'm sure it would turn into skin cancer at some stage.
Mumof3Munchkins
2718 posts
Interesting thread hun.  I don't tan for a couple of reasons.

Reason 1 - Our family has a high rate of cancer and have already lost a few members of my family because of this so I try to stay safe and apply protection all the time.

Reason 2 - I'm also not one of those lucky gals that when in the sun goes brown or tanned.  I usually burn or go red and then peel and back to my normal white milk bottle look lol, so I guess I have just stopped trying.  

I also can't figure out those fake tans either, I always end up looking like the Tango Orange dude on TV lol
trudijoy
8375 posts
i totally understand the cancer reasoning (and we have a terminal situation in our immediate family atm) but i've also seen it strike indiscriminately and at will, so I guess I just come back to 'do what you want' and I want to lie in the sun :)  I can understand why others wouldnt, though. 


Fake tan has come a long way; there are so many I love :)
SooziesWorld
2999 posts
I would recommend getting regular mole maps if you enjoy tanning. I got one done a few months ago as I had so many bad sunburns as a child. In the 70s you only used sunscreen once you'd been burnt and were about to go out in the sun again. A bottle of Coppertone lasted my whole childhood! My mum just used to rub olive oil and vinegar on herself (the smell of vinaigrette always reminds me of her!)

I just started laser hair removal so can't tan, real or fake at the moment. I now realise it is the wrong time of year to start doing this, lol. 
Mumof3Munchkins
2718 posts
Thats right Trudi, totally.  Its a catch 22 situation aye, because someone can get cancer even when they are taking all precautions.  Sorry to hear that you are going through this with someone at the moment, hugs hun xx
jessickaxnz
1176 posts
I used to 'real tan' but nowadays I tend to get tan without trying in the summer. I always wear sunscreen ons my parts of my skin that are exposed and I tend to get tan just from being in the sun. I'm pretty lucky in that sense but I don't go out of my way to tan at all anymore. I don't want cancer or to damage my skin lol. My very few experiences with fake tan have been horrendous (my fault, I suck at applying it), so I just have pale skin in the winter. 
4545
1139 posts
I always try to apply sunscreen if I'm going to be in the sun, but my skin darkens up a lot in the summer without me even trying. I guess inheriting that trait from my parents makes up for the awful crooked teeth I had as a child lol 
mallomiss
569 posts
I don't do it intentially, it just kind of happens on my face, shoulders & arms. In those areas I look almost olive but in reality I'm lily white... The places that never see sun are almost translucent haha

My legs are a strange one. They're quite white even though I have bare legs alot in summer! I guess I do real tan those but in very small doses. 
If I'm popping out for a ciggarette (yes I know.. tanning will be the last of my issues) I'll put my legs in the sun for that couple of minutes... But mostly they just get fake tanned as it takes all summer to gain any real colour & in winter they just go stark white again! 
chelseaadelaide
703 posts
I personally have very fair skin and I don't leave the house without sunscreen on my face - and on the rest of my body if I'm going to be outside. I don't sit in the sun for longer than half an hour, even with sunscreen on. I love being tanned - I feel SO much more confident but I 100% prefer to fake tan. I get a much nicer tan, year round and it's safe. I am very aware that my skin is already prone to skin cancer so I don't take any risks. I don't think that people realise that skin cancer is CANCER - treated the same as other cancers, not just lifted out of the skin and vanished. I have met people through work with skin cancer and the cosmetic impact alone is more than enough to put me off. I am also so shocked at how many people spend 1000s of dollars on anti aging skincare but don't wear sunscreen?! Oops - certainly a subject that I could rant about (and probably just did). 
Pifithrin
1243 posts
I have olive skin so I go brown in the summer quite quickly if I sit outside - but I don't do it often. It's still damage and I deal with melanoma every day - it's an aggressive disease.

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