Sunbeds

[sugarcult]

I never tan, and I went on sunbeds once but never really regularly and it didnt seem to work, but Ive read some things about going on regularly helps

So does anyone know about this. I really NEVER tan I get a light colour if that I mostly burn, but I really want a tan and if this works it would be great. Should I use a tan accelerater? Go on for a short time?

Im also worried about damage to my skin.... skin cancer, getting all wrinkly sooner, ect, but theres a bed at my local salon which is the safest one, its stronger and the rays are more like the suns then a normal bed. Would that be the best? Help I have no idea what Im doing.

[pastafreak]

I agree.....stay pale and interesting!!.....I am like you....NEVER realy tan. Now,at 60....I have very few lines or wrinkles> People always think i am much younger.....and i LIKE that-lol

[SRH]

I've never had a tan in my life and heard my friends banging on about how going on a sunbed would help. I went on every day for two weeks before on a two week beach holiday (stupid, i know, but I was only a teenager at the time).

I went on the sunbed and tried accelerators (which left my skin red raw and feeling like i'd been burned). Went on holiday and fried on a sun lounger... and came home with more freckles but my usual white skin.

Worryingly, I developed a black mole on my leg a couple of weeks later. My mum's a nurse and ordered me to go to the doctor - the day before I shaved my legs and took the mole off! Owch! It never grew back, thank God, but suspect it was a dodgy one.

I've just had to accept I'll never get a tan and with my skin colour trying to get one will be fruitless and will do me serious damage. If you don't have a high amount of melanin in your skin no amount of accelerators or sunbeds (or sun) will increase it.

I now whack on the factor 30 in the sun and use a good self-tan in summer (the best are St Tropez for a dark tan, Elegant Touch Crackle for a medium tan, and Asda Sun System for a paler tan that you can build up - very cheap for under �3 a tube and it never streaks).

And you can be happy in the knowledge that you won't age as quickly as your friends - I'm in my 30s but look five years younger while all my sunworshipping friends are getting wrinkles already and look older than me!

[sue11]

I agree with the answers given here. Sunbeds are just as dangerous as roasting yourself in the sun for hours, more so if you overuse them. Also I understand that you build up no resistence to burning when you actually go out in the sun if you attempt to build any kind of a tan on sunbeds before going on holiday etc.
I would suggest that you use a good fake tanner, perhaps try St Tropez or Fake Bake or other professional fake tanner.You can get these professionally applied at a salon or buy a bottle and do it yourself. I applied two coatings of St Tropez before my last holiday and my partner told me that he had never seen my look so brown at the start of a holiday before! I carefully applied sun cream whilst out in the sun and avoided burning on holiday. The only downside was that the fake tan wore off before I managed to build up any real tan and I ended up looking paler halfway through the holiday than when I started!! That can be avoided by taking a bottle of St Tropez or other tanner with you when you go on holiday for a crafty top up if you need it!!
Cheers Sue

[tarapa]

If you use sunbeds in moderation and at a good knowledgable salon not only will you get a colour but the latest research shows that they can actually be good for you. They give you vitamin D3 which we cannot get enough of from our diets. They increase the immune system and prevent some cancers.
You should not do too long or too often and find a salon that belong to the Sunbed Association.
Dr Holick has written a book on the subject and I am sure you may find some of his research on the internet.
Also a mole, especially one which is dangerous would not just come off when shaving your legs!