I searched to see if this question has been asked in GQ; couldn’t find anything and since this isn’t a factual question, per se, I thought I’d ask y’all MPSIMSers.
El Hubbo and I just paid off our first real vacation. We’re going on a 7-night cruise to the Western Caribbean in February. We’re not sun worshippers. Shoot, neither of us has owned a bathing suit in over fifteen years. Also, I’m aware that doing this at all is not the healthiest thing in the world, but I figure that it won’t kill us, either.
Anyway, we would like to get a nice tan at a tanning salon before we go. Experienced tanners, our questions:
How long before our trip should we start tanning?
What’s the recommended number of times per week and number of minutes per session?
Do the answers to these questions depend on the type of bed? If so, would the tanning salon person be able to answer these questions?
well I will answer #3 first…
Yes… It all depends on what kind of bed you are in, If it is a nice tanning salon, they should have different kinds of beds and amounts of times to stay in them.
#1. I would try to start about a month and a half in advance. Seems strange, but that way you can go for the weaker beds and gradually get darker instead of going for 1 week, and looking like you just stepped out of a tanning bed.
You need to just see how it works for you.
#2. I went anywhere between 1-3 times per week. 15 minutes per session in the weakest bed.
The stronger beds are less time btw.
also, I was pretty happy with the “mystic tan”… it is a spray booth you stand in for about 10 seconds… and 4 hours later, you are really sticky, but have a decent tan.
Hi Gazelle - Mr. Cricket and I did a Western Carribean vacation in May and loved it (Carnival Cruise - Grand Cayman, Costa Maya, Cozumel and Belize City).
Please consider the Mystic Tan option - it’s SO much healthier. I know you’re aware of the health issues with tanning, but I had to repeat it again. The Mystic Tan is a tanner, but it’s not exactly dying the skin - you can find more info. on this thread: http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=212311
Mr. Cricket and I aren’t sun-worshippers either, but didn’t want to look ghostly pale. We had pretty good results just with Neutrogena Sunless Bronzer from the corner store. It’s colored so that helps you see where it’s going (which means less streaking…)
If you go the spray route, I’d guess that you can still burn as the spray is only a dye and the UV rays are still reaching your skin. You may want to try a little of both.
The length of time in the bed will depend on the type of lamps used. Start off with less time than you think will do anything - you’ll still be tender and pink. If you tan in the nude, you’ll be tender and pink in some new areas for you. IIRC, I started at 7 minutes and did that for about a week (every other day or so), then gradually moved up in exposure.
Yeah, I wasn’t clear about this in my response. Regardless of whether you go with a sunless tanner option, or a tanning bed, you MUST wear sunscreen at all times or you risk burning and other very unhealthy things.
Mr. Cricket and I wore spf 40 and 50 for our whole vacation but since we’d done the sunless tanning thing, we didn’t look like ghosts.
Sounds like you’re going to have a wonderful vacation! We were very happy with our choice, but I had wanted to choose an itinerary that included a stop at the private island (I think nearly all the cruise lines have them these days.)