Who here goes to tanning salons or uses the sunless tanning lotion and who avoids the sun completely? Why do you do what you do? If you tan, are you afraid of having leathery skin and looking “old” before your time? (Look at George Hamilton… his tanned skin could be used for a set of luggage!)
With tanning, I’m more afraid of getting skin cancer. I don’t tan–never have–so I always slather on the sunscreen and try not to stay in direct sunlight. Didn’t a study come out recently about an increased risk of getting different types of skin cancer with greater frequencies of visiting tanning salons? I don’t have a cite; someone please help me.
I vaguely remember seeing a comedy skit in which George Hamilton was made into a suitcase (his face was still poking out the side of the valise, and he was talking)…
Anyway, I don’t really actively DO either, but I tan quite quickly and easily (and when I was on Accutane, Honey, I could go from Ghost to Toast in less than 60 seconds), and I don’t use sunscreen (I know, I know…), so all I have to do is mow the lawn or walk the dog in the summer time, and I become a walking Ban De Soleil ad…
And, quite honestly, I believe that I (and most other people) just look 89.2% better with a tan. I’m a child of the 70s, what can I say?
However, I don’t “lay out” (it bores me), and I tend to keep my lower half covered better than my upper half (I don’t usually wear shorts, but I’m all about tank tops and so forth), so after about two weeks of hardcore summer, I look like two different people when I’m naked.
Last summer, then, I went to a tanning booth to help my legs sort of “catch up” with my arms (used a tan-acceleration cream on my legs only–it stung!), so that I wouldn’t look like a freak if I wore a skirt (I tried sunless tanning lotions, but all I got from that experience were Tabby Cat legs). Eventually, though, it just felt wrong.
Not because of the George Hamilton factor.
Not because of cancer.
Rather, because I was a BLACK PERSON going to a TANNING BOOTH.
There oughtta be a law. 
I avoid the sun as much as possible by covering up, SPF 30 waterproof/sweatproof sunblock, etc. I used to tell people “I cultivate a pallor.”
Mainly because I burn very very easily and every time you get a sunburn you increase your chances of skin cancer. Plus, people who tan too much end up looking all leathery and gross.
I don’t particularly think a tan looks good or even healthy on most people.
My skin burns pretty easily - and it doesn’t tan underneath, just burns and then turns white again. So I don’t try to tan, and I do try not to burn.
i don’t tan. i burn. i avoid the sun as much as humanly possible, because i’ll just turn bright red and itchitchitch. so i slather on spf50 when i need to be outside (and still burn); but otherwise spend my time indoors or in shade.
as a result, i’m pretty much the whitest person i know. it’s rather irritating, because it’d be nice to be able to say, “what a nice day! i’m gonna go outside and enjoy it!” without thinking “make sure you have your sunblock on, don’t wear shorts, make sure there’s a shady area, and come back within a half-hour maximum”. 
I get puking migraines from the sun, so I don’t go in it if I can avoid it. I have really good skin and almost no wrinkles (even though it’s extremely pale - translucent, almost). I’ve been mistaken recently for being in my late 20s. I just turned 37 last month.
I wear sunscreen on my face and neck (don’t forget about the neck! There’s nothing more “old-looking” than a crepe-like neck) every single day of the year. I haven’t laid out simply for the purpose of laying out in about 20 years. If I go to the beach, I wear SFP 30 and only stay out as long as I can until the SPF is up.
I enjoy having pearly-white skin. I have one very tiny wrinkle near my lip and that’s it. People do tell me I’m glowingly white but that’s okay - I like being “different.” Plus, the reams of compliments I get on my skin far outweigh the “My god, you’re a ghost!!” comments.
Despite my username, I actually was blond for most of my life and have milky-white skin and blue eyes. But, I used to bake myself regularly in undergrad because I do actually look better w/ some color.
Lately, I’ve become wrinkle-conscious and skin-cancer-conscious so I do this new thing at the tanning salon. Here they call it “Mystic-Tan” and it sprays the sunless tanning lotion on you evenly. It’s a god-send. It lasts a couple of days full strength. I’d recommend it to anyone looking to be tan w/o the risks!
I avoid the sun altogether.
I seem to be in the minority so far, but I love the sun. I don’t lay out for the express purpose of getting a tan, but I do enjoy just laying on the beach, so a tan generally follows. I use a minor sun screen to avoid getting burned (I really, really hate getting sunburned) but I don’t use SPF 95 unless I expect to be out doing stuff, and just don’t want to worry about it.
I think a tan is healthy looking on most people, but some people look fine pale. I guess it depends.
I avoid the sun. When I went to St. Thomas on vacation several years ago, I brought SPF 45 sunscreen and applied it liberally. A friend who was on the same trip got a nasty burn and spent a day or two in her room whimpering, and was feeling some pain the rest of the trip. I barely had any color change at all but better safe than sorry, I think.
I just don’t see the point of trying to tan. I’m concerned about skin cancer, wrinkles, and so on, plus I don’t care about my skin tone. My husband is naturally darker in skin tone (Italian ancestry), while I’m very pale. He works for the post office as a letter carrier, I work in an office. No matter how much I would try to tan, I’d always look pale standing next to him anyway. 
there is - it’s called ‘common sense’.
some people want to damage their skin anyway.
Whatcha gonna do…
PEOPLE:
News Flash! UV is BAD FOR YOU!!!
history:
until the early 1950’s, the ‘perfect’ skin tone (whites only, please) in the US was ‘peaches and cream’. Then a sexy-looking latin crooner came along (don’t remember the name), and whites wanted to look dark. enjoy the irony.
I Love the sun and feeling the warmth on my skin but when I was younger I got burned many many times even to the point of blisters. My skin is still good but I do have a lot of moles so now I make it a point to put sunscreen on and wear a hat outside as much as possible.
…and fell in love with again 25 years later died last year of skin cancer.
She chased the sun, and I hope she found it.
Ich vermisse Dich , Ilona!
Sorry if this is a downer.
Quasimodem
I am outdoors a lot. A lot! And I am a redhead (although not one of those redheads who burn if they get near a window.)
I can’t remember the last time I got sunburned. I don’t really tan too much either. I just get sort of freckly. If I am going to be out all day (like on a river trip) I put sunscreen on my exposed skin, but other than that, I rarely wear the stuff.
But for someone who likes to be outside so much, I do dislike being in full sun. The beach? Pure torture! I did a 13-day Grand Canyon river trip in July, and I did fine, but mostly because I wore a hat religiously and sought out shade wherever possible. (Interestingly, I didn’t put any sunscreen on my face or neck for the whole trip, and I didn’t even get any color. My hat took care of it all. Love that hat.)
I would never use a self-tanner or go to a tanning booth. I don’t care at all about being “tan.” I do look better with a bit of color on my face, but regular activities, like walking the dog, keep me in color year round.
I always wanted to try that - just to see what it would be like and to freak out the people running the tanning salons…
But never did. Couldn’t justify spending money on that when I had better places to fritter it away.
Still, I don’t really avoid the sun. Then again, I’m in Seattle, so it isn’t a big worry that often. I only wear sunscreen when I’m going swimming in the lakes (to avoid swimmer’s itch which I really don’t want), and I probably should be more careful about that. And I will lay out once or twice a year, and read. I’d do it more often, but I just never seem to find the time - the elusive combination of sunshine and a weekend. When I was younger, I did it all the time.
Big yellow ball bad. Stay in cave.
I’m a redhead with a pallor - women say it’s cute, because I blush at the drop of a hat. I personally can never tan, even if stuck in the reactor core of Chernobyl for a few days - I only burn, my freckles grow for a few days and then recede as if nothing happened. It’s a painful experience - I’ve had second-degree burns before from only a half-hour in the middle of the summer. To top that off, my eyes hate direct sunlight - outside, I’ve got a Clint Eastwood squint. It’s just too darned bright. I’d wear long sleeves, but I live in Florida and don’t like dehydration.
I’ll just shack up with Gollum. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind the company.
I have had just over twenty skin cancer surgeries to date and I will almost certainly have more. I also had to have a course of twenty-one radiation treatments for a skin cancer on the top of one ear–the alternative was to slice off the top 1/4" of the ear. So, although I learn the hard way, I did learn: Don’t deliberately tan yourself as the potential for damage far outweighs the benefits.
I never understood the appeal of lying in the sun all day - even as a teen, I preferred to be swimming or boating. Still, I spent lots of time outdoors, and I got a few burns, but mostly I just tanned.
These days, if we’re going to the beach or boating, I’ll slather on the sunscreen. I haven’t bothered with it while working in my garden, so I’ve got a Hank Hill tan - when I take off my T-shirt, you can see that I always wear a T-shirt.
Just last week, I had an atypical nevus removed from my right shoulder. Neither my doctor nor the dermatologist mentioned sun exposure as being the cause. Still, I’m very aware of the various and sundry moles and differently-colored areas of skin all over me. I refuse to avoid the sun - I enjoy being outside too much - but I’m trying to be more conscious of exposure during midday, and I need to put a bottle of sunscreen in my car.