How Do You Tan?

on March 30, 2009 at 12:30 PM

tanning An old work colleague of mine once admitted to me that she was a tanorexic. There was a time when I had a problem too. Back when I was a teen, I used baby oil during a sun-filled week at the Jersey shore. My seriously bad sunburn helped me stop that bad habit.

I used to tan the old fashioned way -- by laying out. I've been on a tanning bed once, but felt too claustrophobic. Now I just use some self-tanning lotion to add some color to my nearly translucent skin.

CafeMom Tiasmommy posted a poll in the All About Hair And Makeup Group asking moms how they tan. The answers might surprise you.

When I last checked, there were 91 responses:

36 percent said they use a tanning bed.
19 percent lay out in the sun.
18 percent said they use tanning creams or lotions.
7 percent said spray tan.
17 percent said other.

Most of the "other" responses said they don't tan at all and keep their skin their natural color.

Tanning for hours in the sun without sunscreen isn't good for you -- it isn't even good with protection from the sun for long periods of time. We also know tanning beds aren't that safe either. Maybe that's why Lindsay Lohan (perhaps a tanorexic) has a spray tan line coming out.

How do you tan?

About the author Michele Zipp

loves vintage and will defend skinny jeans to the death though she is highly superstitious and "death" is probably a bad word choice. She has a touch of the hoarding disease and enjoys sleuthing, the worst reality shows, and wearing high heels, even at the playground. She's an AP mom of twins, slightly crunchy but with a pedicure.

Filed Under: beauty, body, skin, lindsay lohan

Comments (18)

qtmomof2

on Mar 30, 2009 at 12:47 PM

I don't go out of my way to tan but I don't use sunblock either...so if I'm out and I catch a good tan, hooray for me! My Mom is a nurse and worked in the dermatology field for 5 yrs and the stories she told me about sun tanning and tanning beds were not good! I make sure to keep my kiddo nice and sunblocked at the beach though. I can't afford any spray tans so natural sun it is ........without over doing it :)

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Imaginaryfriend

on Mar 30, 2009 at 1:10 PM

I don't tan. People in my family are very prone to skin cancers. I stay nice and pale.

LibraryLady200

on Mar 30, 2009 at 1:33 PM

I stay out of the sun. My family is full of melanoma.

LuminousMom

on Mar 30, 2009 at 1:37 PM

My mom has had cancerous skin growths removed over and over since she was 20 years old.. she used to lay in the sun with baby oil... so I wear SPF everyday, and I try to stay out of direct sun as much as possible. Salt Lake City is a very hot, bright place in the summer, pushing 100 all summer is no shocker.. so I get very tan anyways, despite the SPF.. I do my best to avoid it though.

teenagemama19

on Mar 30, 2009 at 2:02 PM

i put sunscreen on my face, and nothing, or some banana boat spf 15 with oil.

sheilabug

on Mar 30, 2009 at 2:06 PM

i like to get in the tanning bed a few times before it starts getting hot outside (bad me!) & ill get pretty tan after that then, i will lay out maybe once a week and when we go swimming, & i dont have to alot bc i get & stay tan.

IHAVE6

on Mar 30, 2009 at 2:31 PM

yepper im a tanner...faithfully after work in the a.m. 3 to 4 times a week...i do it cause i burn in the summer and if i get the burn out if the way my tan in the summer is great

che_bad

on Mar 30, 2009 at 3:10 PM

everything about me is shades of brown other than my eyes. i have a lot of melanin & i don't use sunblock and have never had a sunburn. i don't try to tan, it just happens.

sunshine06

on Mar 30, 2009 at 3:11 PM

I don't tan. Indoor or out. No fake tan either. And the memory of a horrific sunburn I had as a child makes me protect my kids too. Some say I go over board, but I do everything I can to keep the little ones from getting the slightest bit pink. As for me I wear sunscreen every day. Even if the sun isn't out and it's freezing. The sun ages you. You may not see it now, but you will later. I don't plan on looking 60 when Im 40. Take a look at someone with skin cancer. It will make you think twice before jumping in a tanning bed.