Do you like to get a tan and why?

Exposure to the sun is also good for you. It’s overexposure that’s the problem. I’m not the type of person who refuses to use sunscreen or uses tanning beds, but I do tend to tan well, so I like it when it happens. (And I’m a blond freckled Slav). Nothing wrong with that. I’m not a heliophobe.

I can’t. I have never been able to tan. At least now it is fashionable not to, because of the dangers of melanoma.

I’ve been blessed (~) with lily-white Scottish skin. I tend to burn a bit, then I tan. In the summer, I tend to use those tanning sheets on my legs which gives them a bit of color (shorts). Really, though, I’m careful in the summer. I try not to get too much sun. My Mom had my coloring and she took good care of her skin (protecting it against UV rays). She always looked 10–15 years younger than her age.

The overly tanned look, to me, is not attractive at all.

I have an Irish complexion so would burn and freckle when I tried to tan in my youth. I decided to stop trying, and then it turned out my complexion was smarter tha I was.

I have light olive skintone and you’d think I’d be able to tan nicely but I just end up with a burn or worse, yucky peeling skin so I avoid going out without sunscreen on. Tanned skin hasn’t ever had the appeal to me it seems to have on other people, I could care less if I’m browned or if my partner is.

Exposure to sun has it’s good and bad effects. You will get a nice tan and your daily portion of Vitamin D, but too much exposure will eventually lead to skin cancer.
I live in Hawai’i, so it is kind of impossible to refrain from sun exposure. I on the other hand, wouldn’t want a nice tan. I like my fair skin :)
But I heard that those with red hair and that so called “Irish complexion” as @MagsRags mentioned, have a higher risk at getting skin cancer. I noticed those with very fair skin such as Caucasians become red/pinkish instead of tan.

I spend a lot of time outdoors when it is nice out, and I must admit that I feel better with a little color on my face and body from the sun, especially since I don’t wear makeup. I like a natural look. I agree with @jmah, the overly tanned look, or a fake orange tan from tanning beds is very unattractive to me.

I wish I had taken less expsoure when I was young, and more when I was older. I think moderate exposure your whole life is the best way to go. I have some extra wrinkles and some marks due to sun exposure before the age of 22. During my later 20’s and 30’s I was always protected. I learned a few years ago I am severely dificient in vitamin D, severely, and I do think it has affected my health.

My husband has said to me that my wrinkles plateaued. When he met me at 23 he thought I had a lot of wronkles for my age, but he says now at 42 I barely have any more than I did then, if any.

Tanarexia is awful though. People who are superdark all of the time don’t look good, get leatherly after a while. Obsession with the sun, like any addiction, looks ridiculous to outsiders.

Not anymore. I got a natural tan already :)

yeah usually those of Filipino, Hispanic, and Indian heritage have natural tans. Some turn out to be really white though.

I have made a point not to tan since about the age of 14; 22 years. I’m a freckly girl with moles so sun exposure is not a great idea for me.

I must say, at the age of almost 36, I can still pass for 25, sometimes younger. Sure it’s genes, but I think lack of tanning has kept the age off of my skin.

I like to be kinda tan in the summer, mainly because the colors I like to wear in the summer look better against my skin when it’s a bit darker (like yellow or bright teal). I also enjoy being quite pale in the winter since I like to wear darker colors that look great when I have pale creamy skin with my dark hair (navy, bright red). I do tan and almost never burn despite having very pale skin, so I should probably wear sunscreen more than I do… I haaaate the feel and smell of all but the really expensive ones, so I don’t use a lot of it (being a poor grad student.)

All I can say is that I used to love to get tan, but when my father died recently after an 8 week battle with metastasized melanoma I decided to cover up and use sun screen daily. Nasty disease and not worth the risk of tanning in my book.

I grew up in australia and am blond and blue eyed. I had wierd growths burned off at age 35. I remember no one paying attention to sunscreen when we were kids. when I go home I am shocked and amazed how old women my age look now.

Well, I like it when I’m tan, but being rosy white Scottish, it doesn’t happen very often. The only time I ever tan is if I’m in the sun (slathered in sunscreen) for like an entire summer. Basically, this has happened all of twice in my adult life. I would never, ever go to a tanning bed because my grandfather died of melanoma at 39 and I don’t dare tempt the fates.

I am careful about sun exposure and I look a lot younger than my age. At 33, I still get carded for cigarettes and alcohol.. even when I’m at a restaurant with my parents!

Well. I’m really lucky. I haven’t ever gotten sunburned. I really don’t know how it feels. So I tan really easily. I like having tanned skin, but I don’t spend a whole lot of time outside during the summer (which I plan to change this year – I’m gonna get in shape!), so sometimes I don’t really have the tan I like.

I quite like my pale skin. Yes, this is pale for me. I can see blue veins in my arms and legs lol. I’ve never had a sunburn, but my boyfriend (who is several shades darker than me) burns all the time :(

my skin is naturally really pale. i don’t tan well. the only way i could potentially keep any kind of colour to my skin is if i go out for a few hours every single day – which, along with the skin damage i’d get from that, i don’t think is worth it anymore – so i stay pale.

besides, i think it’s bull that people get criticized if they get their skin bleached (darker girls obviously) because they should be proud of their colour, but girls who stay pale get just as much crap for staying the colour they are.

it doesn’t help that i’m a floridian and people are constantly like, “HOW ARE YOU SOOO PALE LOL OMG~”.

seems like everything these days causes cancer. i like to lay in my tanning bed which is just as bad if not worse. i think i look better with a little color as opposed to white as cotton. lol

I like having a fairer complexion. I feel healthier with that. When the sun is out, I like to be outside but even with SPF 45 sunblock I burn easily. I try and be careful with that. Getting some sun to just enjoy the sunny day is wonderful, but I just can’t tan.
Especially after I worked in a tanning salon and had to clean the tanning beds. Dear god. I had nightmares for a bit with that job. Sweat and body hair everywhere. I can’t even imagine going in one of those beds and feeling comfortable (even after I’d clean them).
I have some friends that are addicted to tanning… They look fine [no leather skin or oompa loompa tone so that’s good] but I just can’t do it.