frivolous poll: tans

[Guest Virginia Dawn]

Do you have a nice even tan over most of your exposed surfaces?

 

If so, how did you come by it?

 

 

Please don't answer till I finish figuring out how to set up the poll. :001_smile:

 

 

ETA: I chose two-toned. Also, I realize that this post is not going to apply to everyone, my curiousity was aroused by all the nicely tanned people I saw on vacation.

[mommylaw]

Do you have a nice even tan over most of your exposed surfaces? Yes

 

If so, how did you come by it? Three children in swim team = hours and hours poolside

[nancypants]

My nickname during the winter could be Casper. I'm pale and I don't tan well. I wouldn't dream of tanning at a booth. My Grandfather died of malignant melanoma (and my Grandma on the other side had some on her face that she had to have removed as well) so I love me some sunscreen and live in fear of sunburns! During the summer I get a nice glow just from being outside more often but I don't think you'd classify it as a real tan!:lol:

[nukeswife]

I'm one of the Two-tone people.

 

I use sunscreen but even with it I tend to get some color. I don't go out seeking an even tan. I really don't care if I get tan or not. I just tend to get some while doing yardwork or by taking the kids to the Y to use the pool.

[Erica in PA]

Our apartments have a pool, and since we've lived here I've been able to get tan for the first time in my life. I'm very freckly and pretty fair, and I used to just burn and peel in the sun. Since we go to the pool so often now, though, my skin seems to have adapted to it. I think getting older has something to do with it, too, though. My dh's redheaded aunt who has very similar skin to mine says that she never used to tan until she was in her mid-thirties, and now she gets really, really dark.

 

Erica

[melissel]

I'm a redhead and ultra-fair. I don't tan unless it's the fading effect of a burn. It stinks :glare:

[senunk]

I start out the summer with a farmer's tan. It's laughable, I guess, since my friends all seem to make comments about it. After spending some time in a swimsuit, it all evens out. Then, my pasty friends are jealous!

[Just Me]

I tan by sitting by the pool, watching my kids play. I have fair skin which burns easily, but then tans and doesn't burn as much.

 

Did anyone read the Reader's Digest article about what causes a "tan"? I thought is was very interesting.

 

http://www.rd.com/living-healthy/how-sunburn-works/article76374.html

 

According to the article, a tan is our body's defense mechanism to too much sunlight!

[~Tara~]

Farmer tan here.

Yep. If you could see my arm this very moment. hehe

[elegantlion]

I'm as pale as a ghost most of the time. We are planning some trips to the beach so I'll get a nice glow, but it won't be too dark.

[Lisa at Home]

There are actually some alternative cancer protocols that are using sun as a healing tool, not to mention obtaining vitamin D; unless you're overweight in which I can't say how long of an exposure you need (I fit that catergory).

 

Some days I don't get twenty minutes, other days I get a few hours, if we're by a pool.

 

Last year I had a great tan. I was so surprised that it didn't fade completely over winter! This year, I was tan almost immediately, in the early spring.

 

I think drinking a lot of carrot juice helps a good tan, too.

 

~Lisa

[sweetbaby]

Do I have a tan? Yes

How did I come by it? birth

 

I just had to join in on this one.:smilielol5:

 

However, all skin does tan. I've met some who were shocked at that finding.:D

My sons actually get sunburned very easily. We have to wear sunblock at all time esp. after watching a TV special exhibiting how much sun damage people of color actually have. We had always believed we were safe. No true at all. They had a woman under a special screen to display the damage done to her skin and it was shocking!

[Tracey in TX]

Tan March-October as soccer games are outside. It's a great base for pool season in between.

[Alenee]

I'm somewhat naturally tan but it's refined by some sun. I can definitely end up with a farmer's tan if I'm not careful...which I'm not most days. I've got a splotch on my right arm from sitting in the yard a few weeks ago with a short sleeved shirt on. We went boating yesterday and I got quite burned but you can still see an uneven spot on my arm.

 

We live in the NW so I'm finally considering going to a tanning salon in the winter months to combat the cloudy day blues. I hear it works great.

[Marie in Oh]

but during the summer some of my freckles connect giving the appearance of a tan. It is definitley a farmer variety, sandle marks and all. Most of my sun exposure comes from soccer games and yard work.

[melissel]

However, all skin does tan. I've met some who were shocked at that finding.:D

My sons actually get sunburned very easily. We have to wear sunblock at all time esp. after watching a TV special exhibiting how much sun damage people of color actually have. We had always believed we were safe. No true at all. They had a woman under a special screen to display the damage done to her skin and it was shocking!

 

Kysha, my DH and I JUST had this conversation a few days ago. He's Latino and naturally quite dark. He doesn't ever burn (to a point where he's recognizes it as uncomfortable), so he absolutely refuses to wear any sunscreen, even though he knows the statistics. Gah!

[dirty ethel rackham]

Mine is a baseball tan - not a farmer's tan ... from many innings watched at the ballfields. we are almost done!!

[sadiegirl]

My tan is what I get from being out with family and kids...gardening and outdoor time. I actually wish I didn't get what I do as I have more hyperpigmentation than I wish I had. My younger years are finally catching up with me and I regret those years of baby oil and iodine!

[Mrs Mungo]

I chose two-tone because I have *loads* of tan lines. I'm American Indian and tan easily. So, every time I go outside I get a different type of tan. We do spend a lot of the time at the beach but I would have to go to a tanning bed to avoid tan lines.

[newbie]

I am a faux girl all the way. Too scared of getting cancer. I burn super easy. And not crazy about wrinkles.

 

Jet

[TXMomof4]

I've always been dark. My dad is red-headed and WHITE, but my mom tans pretty easy also. I went to California with my grandparents when I was in elementary school. When we went through a border crossing somewhere (kinda fuzzy on that detail) I was asked for my immigration papers. HELLO! Texas accent out the wazzooo, but I was so dark there was no way that I could belong to my red headed grandparents. We still laugh about that 20 years later.

[Peek a Boo]

I voted "beach/pool tan", but I really don't spend much time at either.

I'm more of a "cook myself intentionally in the sun to get the cool look" kinda gal. Oil up, cook one side for 30 minutes, flip and cook the other ;)

 

I'd go to a tanning salon except I'm too cheap. Besides, dh kinda likes watching me lay out in the sun in almost nuthin'..... :D

[Riverfront Headmistress]

I have weird skin. :glare: I do tan, but its very hard for me to keep. In the winter months I get very, very pale; think Casper.

 

Right now I have beautiful bronze skin. I'm in full summer swing so that means I try to tan a minimum of an hour a day. Throw into the mix 1-2 days per week of an all day beach trip and viola....

[Sharon in SC]

I used to be a sun bather (teens/early adulthood) but my view of tanned skin turned 180 degrees after I married my dh (a physician with a strong conviction that I should lay the tanning down for health reasons - risk of skin cancer). For the first year we were married, I did it in the name of honoring him. By the end of that first year, I could honestly say I was doing it because *I* saw it as the wise thing to do. I now rue the days I spent lathering myself in something as extreme as Afro Sheen! ;-{

 

We are very careful in midday sun using swim shirts and the best sunscreen we can get our hands on. We still end up with tan lines but they're very faint. We all have to have our moles checked every year or so. It just means peace of mind to know that we're doing all we can to be good stewards of our health. :-)

[Chris in VA]

Have to agree with Sharon. I've noticed damage on my arms from years of tanning. It just isn't pretty anymore for me. All tan is damage, although I heartily agree that some sun is good for us--not sure where the balance comes in.

[Sharon in SC]

All tan is damage....

 

How many times have I heard dh say, "Any color change at all is not good!" :-} There is a reason that dermatologists and dermatology residents (dh works in a teaching hospital) wear sunscreen just to go from their home to the car to work.

 

There was a time when I would appreciate the beauty of a tan on myself or someone else and think, "Wow, that looks great!" Now, though, all a tan says to me is, "Not healthy." (Of course, I have a personal bent and this is my personal bias. :-). I am 45 and I look at the skin on my arms and think, "Where *did* those wrinkles come from!" :-{ I'm sure I know.....

[Danestress]

It's one of the few things I am pretty sure I can beat most of the WTM braniacs at. Yeah. My Latin stinks, but I can tan!

 

I said "naturally tan" but actually, my skin is sort of a pale yellowish color. But the minute I am in the sun, you could practically sit there and watch it turn "coffe bean brown." I can get REALLY tan if I want.

 

But I don't want. Tan skin is damaged skin. Period. I try very very hard to keep the sun totally off my face and mostly off the rest of me. I have a tan now just from exposure - I wear sunscrean on my body but it happens anyway. I wear a hat pretty much all summer if I am outside.

[chickenpatty]

I worked hard for this farmer's tan of mine - it took lots of hours gardening to get this kind of color. I tan, dh turns pink and then freckles. Three of our kids have my skin, and the other three have his.

[nutmeg]

Proudly Pasty!

[Danestress]

Proudly Pasty!

 

Really? Something about the name "nutmeg" makes me think of someone very small and tan!

[Ashleen]

I am a light-colored person. I stay light-colored year round. I think there is something sick about a society where the light-skinned people are embarrassed to be light and the dark-skinned people are embarrassed to be dark.

[Fourmother]

Do I have a tan? Yes

How did I come by it? birth

 

I just had to join in on this one.:smilielol5:

 

:iagree: I don't have a tan. I have a deep chocolate brown.:lol:

 

Honestly, I have never understood the whole "tan" thing at all. I think it looks strange. What's wrong with natural skin color? I guess it bugs me because growing up I was teased a lot for being "too dark". Now some of the same people who did the teasing actually risk cancer in the sun or spray on gunk to make their skin darker. Some folks even have fat injected into their lips to make them full like mine. On the other hand you have Michael Jackson bathing in skin lighteners and practically chopping off his own nose to spite his face. I just can't wrap my head around it.

:confused:

[Liza Q]

I chose two-tone because I have *loads* of tan lines. I'm American Indian and tan easily. So, every time I go outside I get a different type of tan.

 

Change American Indian to Puerto Rican and this is me!

[happyWImom]

I am a faux girl all the way. Too scared of getting cancer. I burn super easy. And not crazy about wrinkles.

 

Jet

 

I'm glad to finally see someone like me!! I do self tanner on my body, face, plain ole sunscreen, or bronzer. A little of the real thing might sneak onto my body, but I wear a huge hat at home and tons of sunscreen everywhere else.

[Ashleen]

Honestly, I have never understood the whole "tan" thing at all. I think it looks strange. What's wrong with natural skin color? I guess it bugs me because growing up I was teased a lot for being "too dark". Now some of the same people who did the teasing actually risk cancer in the sun or spray on gunk to make their skin darker. Some folks even have fat injected into their lips to make them full like mine. On the other hand you have Michael Jackson bathing in skin lighteners and practically chopping off his own nose to spite his face. I just can't wrap my head around it.

:confused:

:iagree: Exactly.

[Ashleen]

Some folks even have fat injected into their lips to make them full like mine.

 

And does anyone else think it makes them look like they got punched in the face or stung by a bee? I have never seen this procedure look natural. Ever. People think they're going to look like Angelina Jolie and they come out looking like they got mugged.

[HSMom2One]

It hasn't been sunny in Oregon long enough yet to have a tan! LOL!!!

 

Blessings,

Lucinda

[Fourmother]

And does anyone else think it makes them look like they got punched in the face or stung by a bee? I have never seen this procedure look natural. Ever. People think they're going to look like Angelina Jolie and they come out looking like they got mugged.

 

:iagree: Exactly! Add a tan and an eye brow lift to the swollen mouth, then you have the surprised victim of a desert mugger.

[Dinsfamily]

I put two tone because of my sandals...too many soccer games. This is actually the first year I've ever had a decent tan, but that has to do with our move to TX. Not much opportunity to tan in the PNW. I do use SPF 45 on me and the kids, but if you spend enough time in the pool, you'll still tan. Even if you are ultra-pale like myself.

[dirty ethel rackham]

ROFL. I almost spit my gum unto my screen! You can spot those bee sting lips a mile away.

[PrairieAir]

My solution to a nice even tan is nekkid gardening. Hey, we live in the country, right?

 

Actually, I have nice tan arms after a week at archaeology field school. I'm wearing shorts and tank tops to weed out in our wild yard (picking pigweed and leaving wild, weedy grasses other than Johnson grass) to even out my farmer tan a little. I wore short sleeve shirts with cammies and combat boots to do field work, so my legs are a bit pasty. I don't want to think about all the extra places I've have mosquito and chigger bites with the nekkid weeding plan.:eek:

[Qs3]

I currently have a farmer's tan, because I go outside about once a week. Otherwise, I'd be completely (pretty much deathly) white. I went to a tanning salon once. It was very nice, but I'm afraid to tan too often. Maybe next year... ;)

[Peela]

I live in Australia where there is a LOT of sunshine and a very minimum of UV protection. Big hole in the ozone down here. 5-10 minutes in the sun constitutes sunburn.

When I was a kid, I had a beautiful golden tan. I tanned well. And I also got badly sunburned very often. Right through my teens, I didnt listen to my mum. I always had a beautiful tan from spending hours on the sun.

 

Since I was about 18 i have kept out of the sun because I realised I had put myself at great risk of skin cancer. I dont believe in suntan cream. Toxic stuff. So I jsut stay out of teh sun, andcover myself when out.

 

I went to a skin specialist 2 weeks ago. He asked me all the questions- yes, i was badly sunburned as a child. Yes I have moles etc. Then he checked me over and said I had really excellent skin for my age (41)- much better than most people. I cna only put it down to staying out of the sun for the last 20 years.

 

When I say stay out of the sun, thats pretty impossible down here. I get plenty of sunshine. But not the type that gives you a tan. Just early morning and late afternoon sun.

[Colleen]

Yeah, it's frivolous, but I still got a kick out of reading the replies. I'm surprised so many said they're pale. I have a kinda natural olive-toned complexion and just automatically tan if it's sunny outside. So when fourmother says, "I have never understood the whole "tan" thing at all. I think it looks strange." ~ well, too bad, because that's just the natural me when the sun shines.:)

 

I certainly don't go out and "sunbathe" ~ though that was my daily routine when I was a teenager. But I'm an outdoor-oriented person and especially when it's sunny, I'm out there reading and working and running and biking ~ and in no time, I'm tan. I don't want a farmer's tan, so I wear my swimsuit top when I'm gardening ~ but I do wear shorts, so I have some lines. And my icky stomach *must* stay covered, so it's always totally pale.:tongue_smilie:

[Fourmother]

So when fourmother says, "I have never understood the whole "tan" thing at all. I think it looks strange." ~ well, too bad, because that's just the natural me when the sun shines.:)

 

I meant no offense. Please let me clarify. I do understand that skin exposed to sunlight will darken and/or burn. My skin darkens in the sun, and I've got the sandal pattern on the tops of my feet to prove it. I just don't call it tanning because tan is 5 shades lighter than my natural tone. :001_smile: What I don't understand is why there is so much aesthetic emphasis placed on the "tan." Seeing people lying in sun to darken/damage their skin on purpose is strange to me. It's the overall cultural contradiction I find puzzling. It makes no sense that brown skin and full lips are undesirable on someone who is born with them, but highly desirable on someone who isn't.

[Kay in Cal]

I do spend time in the sun, but I cover up or I BURN. Every summer we go on vacation and I spend full days in the pool. My boys and my dh tan, I burn and peel. If I'm very very careful and stay in the shade, use sunscreen, wear hats and generally hide from the sun, I just stay white without that irritating red phase. I wish I had been so wise in my youth--I'm covered with freckles from years of insufficient sun protection.

 

I have auburn hair and a very pale complexion. "White as a ghost" just about covers it. Actually, while I don't really look anything like my avatar, we do share the same skin tone...

[CactusPair]

I keep myself pale on purpose. I'm terrified of wrinkles, age spots, and oh, skin cancer. I had a lot of burns as a child/teen.

 

I've started popping Vit. D's lately, though.

 

After being indoctrinated against sun for 20 yrs. I find out there's something healthy about it afterall.

 

But I still cover up. Me and Norma Desmond.

[JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst]

When I was younger my friends used to call me "cave fish" in the summer. I just can't tan-its red or white for me. Of course maybe that means I'll have fewer wrinkles... And then there is that skin cancer issue...

[WTMindy]

I tan fairly evenly and have always had nice skin, but I'm noticing spots on my face that never used to be there and so I feel more compelled to not stay in the sun as long as I used to. I love having a healthy tan in the summer and spend a lot of time at my parents' pool but I don't want to damage my skin.

[Lorna in the boonies]

Well, the boys in my 8th grade class nicknamed me "Glow in the Dark", if that gives you an idea.