sun beds - your views

[weewdy]

I live in a small village and 2 weeks ago our local hairdressers got a sun bed put in. More than half the village is using it. I work with another 6 girls and all are using it. Everyday apart from sunday, some are using it for 12-15 mins a day. I naturally take a great tan when we get the sun and go brown very easy. I am in 2 minds whether to start using the sun beds. I dont want to be chalk white compared to everyone else, and since weight loss i am starting to take pride in my appearance. On the other hand im 30 and never used a sun bed before, i know whats for you wont go past you but cancer is a big fear of mine (both mum and uncle have had it, but fine now) although my mums wasnt skin cancer my uncles was. So how bad are sunbeds for you. Whats your opinions? Do you use them?

 

[Blah11]

I don't use them but im going to be my best friends bridesmaid in greece this summer and I really don't want to burn over there & peel etc. Im going to start going a couple of times a week

 

[Blah11]

Im not deluding myself that theyre not horrendous for you either. They are!

 

[Yo_Yo]

I wouldn't personally. It's just not worth it.

 

[TwilightAgain]

I used to use them when I was 16. I came out of the booth once and passed out from the heat straight away, I woke up naked and confused in a locked room. Whilst that scared me a bit, I didn't automatically lock down on them. I went to boots to get some kind of oil that makes you brown quicker and the woman gave me such a lecture on the dangers etc and to this day i'm so grateful that she did because i've never set foot in once since. I either stick to gradual tanner or embrace the paleness (usually embrace the paleness ) but personally i'd stay away, they aren't worth the risk.

Plus, I knew a girl that went on them so much her skin looked horrendous, really dark and peeling.

 

[Rhi_Rhi1]

I would rather be pale tbh then use one

 

[Eleanor ace]

I wouldn't. If you want to top up your natural tan a little you could use fake tan, there are some great and easy to use ones (or so I've been told, I'm the colour of milk and worried that I'd look rediculous if I fake tanned lol) which don't carry the risks sun beds do.If you do decide to use them I'd research (through reputable sources such as the NHS website) how often is too often to use them.
In this case I don't agree that whats for you won't go past you. Its like someone smoking because if they're going to get lung cancer they'll get it anyway you know?

 

[MrsPear]

Never. Think they should be banned unless for a medical reason (e.g. skin conditions that improve with UV light).

So sad that our society is so obsessed with the colour of our skin. So many skin tones in this world and I just don't understand why one tone is seen as more desirable than another.

 

[dgirllamius]

I wouldn't use one.

Since having a melanoma scare last year I'm being really careful with regards to going out in the sun and using suncream whenever I can.

Not worth the risk.

 

[lau86]

Really awful for you. I've never had one, wouldn't touch it with a barge pole and I have skin that tans easily I'm happier being pale and healthy

 

[lau86]

Never. Think they should be banned unless for a medical reason (e.g. skin conditions that improve with UV light).

So sad that our society is so obsessed with the colour of our skin. So many skin tones in this world and I just don't understand why one tone is seen as more desirable than another.

I was shocked when I went to Thailand and they were selling whitening creams! Not sure how that worked but I didn't even know such a thing existed

 

[weewdy]

Thanks every one you have all given me the advice i wanted.

 

[Rachel_C]

I think it's up there with smoking in terms of how amazingly stupid it is to use them without medical need.

Aside from the health risks, I don't particularly like how they make people look either. If you're an average person who gets out in the garden once in a while or walks to the shops a few times a week, chances are you'll tan a bit if your skin is naturally that way or you won't if you're like me and ghost white. People's hair and eyes usually go with the type of skin they have so I think it looks really weird when people change their skin like that, like when you see an Asian with blue eyes it's kind of freaky, I find wildly different from natural skin colours like that.

Luckily for me, OH and his family are all Asian (Pakistani) and there thing there is to be pale skinned. SIL didn't like the photos she had taken with my girls because they made her look too dark! So I can rest easy in my glowy-whiteness I'd look very white whether I tried to tan or not anyway.

Perhaps it's just the semi-ginger in me talking, but I hate the obsession some people have with tanned being good and pale being bad. Some of the most stunning people I've ever seen have had very pale skin.

 

[nic18]

I use them but not everyday or even every week! And I dont use them to the extent when I'm peeling or anything aklot of people use them to help with bad skin to!

 

[MrsPear]

Never. Think they should be banned unless for a medical reason (e.g. skin conditions that improve with UV light).

So sad that our society is so obsessed with the colour of our skin. So many skin tones in this world and I just don't understand why one tone is seen as more desirable than another.

I was shocked when I went to Thailand and they were selling whitening creams! Not sure how that worked but I didn't even know such a thing existed

Awful isn't it. In some cultures e.g. parts of Asia and Africa there is a huge market for skin whitening but a lot of it is illegal and contains bleaches that irreparably scar the skin and leave the user disfigured, others contain carcinogens, and others leave the skin much more vulnerable to the sun's UV rays meaning the user is at a far greater risk of skin cancer. And here we are in UK/US making our skin darker and also putting ourselves at risk of life-altering and potentially fatal disease.

Doesn't make any sense that across the world we are all searching for this ellusive 'perfect' skin colour in such a disastrous way.

It's hard not to be caught up in it just a little bit. I think it's ridiculous not to just accept the skin colour you have since it really, really does not matter and there's a million different skin colours so who is to say which one is 'better', but I still use fake tan. At least fake tan does not harm your health but it shows I'm still buying into such a ridiculous industry that convinces us to spend money (and sometimes risk our health) trying to alter our bodies from the myriad of different tones that we were given. Makes no sense but I still do it.

 

[R_x]

I used to use them. I wouldn't again and it still worrys me to this day what if the damage has already been done

 

[teal]

I'm very pale but I'd still never use a sun bed.

 

[Geebug x]

Before my op I used them 2-3 tmes a week - I love being tanned!
I know they are awful, and the reason I had terrible wrinkles on my forehead but I cant get enough.
I will probably regret it when Im older but I regret a lot of things xx

 

[catty]

I use them before I go on holiday each year, so probably 10 times a year.
I havnt used them in a long time as cant use whilst pregnant.
I personally would continue to use them before holidays for a few reasons - to get a nice base tan and I get prickly heat which I find the sunbeds help.

I would never use them all year - the health risks arent worth it not to mention the price!

My friend has bad acne and the doctor recommended using the sunbeds once a week, and its working

 

[Pearls18]

I'm as white as they come and have acne now and again and still wouldn't use them, I'm not risking skin cancer to confirm to someone else's idea of pretty, I'm more secure than that.

That said, if I wanted to get a slight tan for a wedding I would consider a spray tan.

I don't tan anyway, I burn, go red, peel, and go back to white (obviously I try to not burn, but I get caught out in march I'm so susceptible!)