Are Tanning Salons Beneficial or Harmful?

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Discussion Overview

This thread explores various personal experiences and opinions regarding the use of tanning salons, including the perceived benefits and drawbacks of tanning beds and alternatives like spray tans. Participants share their histories with tanning, their current practices, and their views on skin health and aesthetics.

Discussion Character

  • Anecdotal
  • Opinion-based
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant mentions seeing a new tanning salon opening and questions why they still exist if they are considered harmful.
  • Another participant shares that they primarily tan through tanning salons since they find it difficult to tan naturally after having children.
  • Several users express concerns about the health risks associated with tanning, particularly the risk of cancer.
  • One participant reflects on their past tanning experiences, noting a shift in priorities and spending habits since college.
  • Another participant humorously describes their preference for remaining pale, associating tanning with negative long-term effects like wrinkles.
  • Some participants share their experiences with tanning beds, noting discomfort or dissatisfaction with the results.
  • One participant discusses their use of spray tans for events, emphasizing a desire for a natural look without overdoing it.
  • Another participant describes their routine of using tanning beds, highlighting a careful approach to avoid overexposure.
  • Several users mention the societal pressures and beauty standards related to tanning, with mixed feelings about the desire to tan versus the health implications.
  • One participant shares a personal story about their family's history with skin cancer, reinforcing their commitment to sun protection.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Views differ significantly among participants regarding the benefits and risks of tanning. Some express a strong aversion to tanning due to health concerns, while others share positive experiences or preferences for tanning as a beauty practice.

Contextual Notes

Participants' experiences vary widely based on personal history, skin type, and lifestyle changes, with many referencing their past tanning habits and current attitudes toward sun exposure.

Who May Find This Useful

This discussion may be of interest to individuals considering tanning options, those reflecting on their tanning habits, or anyone curious about the diverse opinions within the community regarding skin health and aesthetics.

Have you ever gone to a tanning salon?

  • No

    Votes: 21 23.9%
  • Yes

    Votes: 63 71.6%
  • I would consider it.

    Votes: 4 4.5%

  • Total voters
    88
Jilleysue said:
I use to , I like the spray tan for an event now...lightly of course. I wouldn't look like pumpkin...LOL
A golden glow looks nice

Where do you go for the spray tan? I would love to try it but am SO afriad I'll come out orange!!
 
  • Thread starter
  • #32
I have been thinking of that, too.... how long does it last? Do they look good?
 
I've use the Neutrogena spray-on that you can get at the drug store or Red Dot Boutique (Target). It works pretty well. Like any fake tan, it works best when you've exfoliated, so invest in a good body scrub (I like the Spa salt scrub from The Body Shop) and use that before you spray it on. The spray is nice because you don't have to rub it on, and it's more even than the creams.
 
dannyzmom said:
Where do you go for the spray tan? I would love to try it but am SO afriad I'll come out orange!!
... or uneven!
 
jasonmva said:
I am a religious tanning bedder! I take off the winter months but starting early Spring right through until late Fall. Which reminds me, I need to start going because my cruise is in 5 months.

BTW - My BF hates it if we start going at the same time because I always get darker than he does. What can I say, it is the Italian in me. (No comment KG)


BWahhhhhhhh ROFLMAO!! You are a hoot!!
 
I love to go to the tanning bed. I always go in the spring to prepare for the summer months. Like everything else, you have to be smart about it. You start with a few minutes and work your way up to the full time. I usually buy a unlimited package and tan as much as I have time for for 1 month and then I am ready for baseball season and the swimming pool. The salon I use has 10 minute beds. I start at 5 minutes for several days and then move up to 6, then 8 and then the full 10. I don't burn and then later, when I am in the sun I don't burn. You just have to tan in moderation. Too much can leave your skin looking like leather...and you can get too dark. I have been tanning for about 25 years and everyone still says I look younger than I really am. I depends on the person and whether or not you abuse it.
 
I went a couple times in high school before spring break or something, but it did make me smell funny, plus it made me ITCH!! It was weird. I burn like crazy and there's really no way for me to get "tan." That usually happens once the burn fades a little, but then the peeling starts. Ick. I'll be glowing with whiteness as well in Atlantis! Luckily my kids didn't inherit the degree of my whiteness. My husband is Indian, so they've got some protection in terms of not having glowing white skin. My daughter is a little darker than my son. My husband is pretty light-skinned, but at least they got some of it. You wouldn't know they're 1/2 Indian though unless I told you.

I loved the comment about the world not being ready for fat AND white. LOL!!:D That totally made me laugh and if I had more time to myself, I'd try to tackle both of those things in preparation for Atlantis. Oh well. The world will have to deal with it (and me as well!).
 
Shawnna said:
I love to go to the tanning bed. I always go in the spring to prepare for the summer months. Like everything else, you have to be smart about it. You start with a few minutes and work your way up to the full time. I usually buy a unlimited package and tan as much as I have time for for 1 month and then I am ready for baseball season and the swimming pool. The salon I use has 10 minute beds. I start at 5 minutes for several days and then move up to 6, then 8 and then the full 10. I don't burn and then later, when I am in the sun I don't burn. You just have to tan in moderation. Too much can leave your skin looking like leather...and you can get too dark. I have been tanning for about 25 years and everyone still says I look younger than I really am. I depends on the person and whether or not you abuse it.

and

jodistrauss (quote)I love going tothe tanning bed. The kids can't get to me, the phone can't ring....... Besides, I think I am part plant and get really depressed in the winter time. Even a dose of "fake sun" helps me out. Besides, I am allergic to the real sun and break out in a rash. Probably TMI there, huh? Oh well, we're all 1 big family, right? (quote)

I agree with both of these. I do feel better when I have a tan. Getting ready to start going soon. I never go enough to get too dark though.
 
I've never been to a tanning bed. Back in high school my friends all laid out and got beautiful tans. I laid out and got . . . nothing. No tan. No burn. Nothing. I gave up pretty quickly. Lying in the sun for hours on end gets boring. Now that we're older (mid-40's), the years of tanning are catching up with my contemporaries. We ran into a high-school friend the other day. When we got in the car my DH said, "You look a lot younger than her." Actually, I do tan a bit. The problem is I'm so white no one can tell unless they see where I'm not tan. A male co-worker once observed that "those places must glow in the dark." I told him it makes it easy for my DH to find me. I have been known to use the spray-on tan occasionally to keep from blinding people. Most of the time I figure it's a good thing if the blinding reflection keeps people from really looking at my legs.
 
I have never used a tanning bed.... nor do I want to start..... Growing up in Alabama I always had a nice tan... people used to ask me if I was wearing nylons all the time... i said no that's just my skin color... So tanning for me is shorts and a t-shirt and being out side on a ncie warm day...... makes it more fun...... I am not a person that likes to lay out in the sun.... though to get some sun I just go out and play with my daughter... :D
 
raebates said:
Actually, I do tan a bit. The problem is I'm so white no one can tell unless they see where I'm not tan.

Oh Rae, that is totally me! I will often take off rings or pull a shoulder strap down, just to prove to people I have tan lines!

I have been to a tanning salon a few times......but I'm not one for just laying there....I start feeling claustraphobic, and like I really need to get up and walk around. Even when we go to the beach, I need to be doing something even if it's just people watching.
Plus, I have all of the "warning signs" for being susceptible to skin cancer, so I tend to be careful with sun exposure.
The signs are:
Blonde Hair
Light Skin
2 or more bad burns before the age of 16
Light Eyes
Family History of skin cancer
 
I just went for a spray tan on Thursday. I'm as pale as all get out. I went to a hair salon and it looks really good - I was pleased. It only took about 3 minutes for the girl to apply and they say it last up to 7 days. I forgot how nice it is to at least "look" tan. It's Sunday and I am definitley still tan and I even have tan lines. I also use self tanner during the winter on my face and chest. In the summer I use on my arms and legs too. For even application, it helps to thin it out with a little moisturizer.

Susan
 
dannyzmom said:
Where do you go for the spray tan? I would love to try it but am SO afriad I'll come out orange!![/QUOTE

Debs Tan by the mall in Coral Springs. She does a good job. You wear a thong and topless...well I do but its up to you. They determine how much..just very light.

It comes out nice. I have done it before:D
 
chefann said:
I've use the Neutrogena spray-on that you can get at the drug store or Red Dot Boutique (Target). It works pretty well. Like any fake tan, it works best when you've exfoliated, so invest in a good body scrub (I like the Spa salt scrub from The Body Shop) and use that before you spray it on. The spray is nice because you don't have to rub it on, and it's more even than the creams.
You that French place? Targeaux? (Tar-ghey.) We used to make a day of it, starting there then buy clothes at Jock Penay and later, have lunch at Chez Renaldo.
 
I have tanned before. The longest I have tanned was for a month or so. It just helped me relax and make my complexion look better.
 
chefann said:
Except that everything causes cancer, so you might as well do what you want and die happy.

My belief is that cancer is just evolution at work.



Well said Anne,

toothpaste, chicken, plastic, and the sun also cause cancer
 
AJPratt said:
So I was driving home the other day and saw a Grand Opening for a tanning salon. I'm not sure why if these are so bad for people why they still have them? Has anyone ever gone or do you still go?

The same reason that people tan outdoors. Everyone knows that tanning is bad, but people still do it. It feels good, it makes them feel good, they think they look "better" with a tan, etc.

All I know is that I have been religious about sunblock on my face and at the young age of 50, my face hardly has a line on it. And none of those nasty brown spots.

Never could handle laying out. Too boring!
 
I love going to the tanning bed, but I only go once a week. It's just enough to give me a little color, but the main reason I go is because it clears up my dry skin patches (I forget the name for it!). It gets so bad in the winter!! I didn't know the tanning bed could clear it up until my brother told me about it. It is so nice not to have the bleeding red spots!! So worth it to me!
 
PamperChefCarol said:
The same reason that people tan outdoors. Everyone knows that tanning is bad, but people still do it. It feels good, it makes them feel good, they think they look "better" with a tan, etc.

All I know is that I have been religious about sunblock on my face and at the young age of 50, my face hardly has a line on it. And none of those nasty brown spots.

Never could handle laying out. Too boring!

Do tanning beds at least give you Vitamin D?
 
I will be going soon!The last time I went to the tanning bed was when we went to Hawaii over 7 years ago.

But, I will burn if I don't at least have some sort of base tan. And BURNING is the leading cause of Melanoma. Living in Wyoming, there is no way I will be able to get any sun before Atlantis! It is supposed to snow today!! YUCK!!!:eek:

And yes, white and fat do not mix! :D :D
 
I tan. It's my 20 minute therapy......relaxingly warm and NO KIDS!! Otherwise, I have a farmers tan.....dark from the biceps down and from the thighs down. Looks funky if I were to wear anything less, so tanning bed it is.
 
Paige Dixon said:
Do tanning beds at least give you Vitamin D?

I don't think they give me anything except for the satisfaction of having a good tan! :D I am outside enough to get Vitamin D and I know how to tan reponsibly and not fry myself in them.
 
I love to tan...it's soothing, relaxing, addicting. I haven't done it in years,though.
The mystic tan spray is the way to go! It's done professionally, evenly and no orange. This is what all the health-conscious 'celebrities' do these days.
 
I go in the winter....probably about 10 times when I get really depressed. I'm one of "those"! It really makes me feel better! I do a lot of camping in the summer so I get the natural sun but I'm not one to get real dark....I also go just before summer (I hate to burn!) so that I won't burn. I don't like to put sunscreen on so after tanning a couple times...I'm fine to be in the sun! I did used to go a lot when I was younger (when nobody really spoke about it being so bad for people!) and once I started having kids.....they take my time up now so it's rarely that I get to go anyway.
 

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