Do you continue to tan even though it's bad for you?

No. I don’t tan. I burn.

I avoid the day-orb as much as I can. It’s always sending its EM radiation beating down on me, trying to cook my flesh. *shakes a fist *

I seriously hate sunburns.

Growing up in FL, we used to put baby oil on to lay out in the sun. I cannot believe how tan I used to get. Now, I usually will “bake” for about 20 minutes to get some color before putting on 30+ sunblock. I’ll take pale over tan any day.

Girls, let me tell you what awaits, eventually, particularly if you have fair skin. The DERMATOLOGIST. (and odd things- known as pre-cancer- that have to be removed on a regular basis.)

He tells my sister and me (we are there often) that all it takes is a few bad burns when one is a teen to pay for it down the road. i am going on Friday to have a few unsightly blobs zapped w. nitrous oxide and I am taking my mother on Monday for same. At her advanced age, she grows pre-cancerous lumps every several months. She too fried herself as a young woman.

I used to chew sugary bubble gum and ended up with a mouth full of fillings by the time I graduated from HS. No longer do that, either.

I actually cherish my paleness. I would not give it up, even if I could.

The boyfriend says I’m getting a ‘computer tan’.

My friends of my age who have beautiful skin are those who never went out in the sun, or smoked (so very few wrinkles around mouth and at edge of eyes.) They are few and far between.

@gail: yikes…I guess being pale is a bit blessing in disguise, because during the summer I can’t really spend more than about 15 – 20 mins in direct sunlight without getting my burn on

@Z; shirt, hat and sunblock and shade unless you are in the water. You want to look beautiful decades from now. Altho from the avatar, I might guess that your skin is already in trouble. (I will enlarge it to be sure.)

I’m tan because I work outside and play outside a lot. I like being tanned enough that I don’t have to constantly worry about burning and blistering. Between that and the smokes I will be a cancerous prune.

Being Southern, I love being outside at the lake, beach or anywhere. I also love the way a tan looks but hate how bad I know it is for my skin. I am religious about
using sunscreen on my face every day now.

I tan to kill the psoriasis that builds up on my knees and elbows. UV rays can slow the build up of the skin cells. Plus it makes me look all tan and good.

i still tan. i do wear sunscreen most of the time, but i do try to get some color. i’m pretty white otherwise…. though i did just meet a girl my age (late twenties) who had already gotten skin cancer so we should all be more wary!

I still tan and I don’t believe the sun is all bad. In fact I think a bit if sunshine is good for you. My rule is: if the sun is out, then so am I!

My tan is pretty permanent so I’m not quite as susceptible to the sun as fair skinned people, but this is kinda bad because, although I don’t specifically go out to sunbake, when I’m out and about I think “oh I don’t need sunscreen it’s alright”, and I’m probably gonna end up looking like a leather bag…

I am very particular about taking care of my skin. I’ve only got one, and my boyfriend absolutely worships how soft it is. I don’t ever want to lose that. (I live very conservatively when it comes to doing things to my body.)

@Delirium: I am the same way! I haven’t intentionally attempted to tan in over 20 years! I suffered a couple bad burns back then when I started taking birth control pills—they didn’t warn you about the increased burn risks in those days!

Now in my 40s, people always say I look much younger and my beau adores my “luminous” silky skin. :-D

I’m half filipino, so when I walk out into the sun for 5 mins I have a tan. (Very frustrating when you think about all the crazy tan lines I develop)
By the end of the summer I look like an entirely different race!

I do still enjoy laying out by the pool and tanning, although I wear SPF15 tanning spray.

I’m sure I do plenty of things that my body hates, but I try to make up for it in other ways.

Here’s a (bad) news bulletin that touches on this: http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/07/01/sunscreen.study/index.html

“The Environmental Working Group says the SPF rating on a sun product is only part of what consumers need to know, and one of the biggest problems with sunscreens is that they don’t fully protect against sunlight.”

“Oxybenzone is a a popular UV filter in many sunscreens, one evaluated by the FDA as safe. The Environmental Working Group says its analysis of hundreds of studies of more than a dozen sunscreen chemicals finds oxybenzone can penetrate the skin and pose health concerns—anything from hormone disruption to cancer.”

I stopped sunning 15 years ago, but because I lived on the beach from dawn til dusk as a child, I’m afraid it’s too late for me.

tanning is not bad for you! if you burn yessss if you burn while tanning it causes cancer but if you just tan its actually good for you.

No. I tan very easily though…I’m Asian and have a medium skin tone though. Anyways, I tried laying out in the sun with my sis and cousin on the beach and I didn’t like it. I’d rather get a spray tan. My sisters got them and it looked natural!