The Real Tanners' Thread

[hustleNflow]

Anyone else here do it the old-school way - sunlight or tanning bed? I'm beginning to think I'm the minority here, I'm allergic to DHA so I try not to use self-tanner. :?

If you frequent the "cancer box" like I do, let's hear about it :cool: Tips? Tricks? Favorite products?

[samina]

<waiting for fasc to make her showing here...> :)

[fascination]

correct...I go once a week when I am not near a comp(to maintain a base and not burn) and three times a week two weeks before the comp...I like hot amaretto with shimmer...I think it is by swedish beauty...costs a lot but delievers...I tan easily and don't burn unless it is the first time out and I have no base...I prefer it to the other options b/c I sweat more than most folks I know so it helps me to not have to worry about sweating my makeup off and I like not having to deal with getting that crap on my dresses...and I suspect I would do a rather crappy careless job with those tanners...and yes, i know all of the risks and do not take them lightly

[hustleNflow]

correct...I go once a week when I am not near a comp(to maintain a base and not burn) and three times a week two weeks before the comp...I like hot amaretto with shimmer...I think it is by swedish beauty...costs a lot but delievers...I tan easily and don't burn unless it is the first time out and I have no base...I prefer it to the other options b/c I sweat more than most folks I know so it helps me to not have to worry about sweating my makeup off and I like not having to deal with getting that crap on my dresses...and I suspect I would do a rather crappy careless job with those tanners...and yes, i know all of the risks and do not take them lightly

Don't you just adore Swedish Beauty? :D I use regular amaretto (have used hot, but it was just too much to bear for me) when I'm in the UV-A bed, and Pink Diamond (a tingle-2 Swedish Beauty lotion) when I'm in the UV-B bed. Also use a really good John Abate face lotion.

I too catch heat from others about tanning for real, but for me it works out better than the faux variety because 1) I'm allergic to DHA, 2) I have eczema, and the tanning helps, 3) I rarely burn, 4) it's a lot more affordable and long-lasting than the fake kind. Pro does a cocktail - he tans in a bed and also uses Pro Tan before comps. Having the base actually makes the Pro Tan look less "obvious".

The two times I used a self-tanner before a comp were both nightmares. That's how I figured out I was allergic to DHA...I was itching like crazy both times, and hence got all red and streaked my tanner. Didn't end up placing well, either, because I couldn't focus from itching so bad! :shock:

[nucat78]

Nothing but natural UV here. Yes, I do have sun damage but people in higher UV exposure areas have lower incidence rates of prostate cancer so I'll take my chances.

Plus I never remember to put on sunblock anyway.

[PretzelsAndBeer]

Never an issue for me. I can get a tan from the refrigerator light.

[Chiron]

I don't go tanning per se (and I I'm a guy so I don't need to look quite as dark as the women). However, I do like to be outside in the summer. A few miles on the trail or in the pool w/o a shirt usually keeps me from looking too pasty.

[Easy]

Me prefers the beach

[flashdance]

Me prefers the beach

ditto /with optional ice cream.

I leave the sunbed for cooking steaks and omlettes :)

[hustleNflow]

ditto /with optional ice cream.

I leave the sunbed for cooking steaks and omlettes :)

I would use natural sunlight, but Indiana isn't exactly balmy year-round :rolleyes:

[nucat78]

I think the owner of my studio said he knows Corky. Want me to ask him to pass the word on to Mark?

[hustleNflow]

I think the owner of my studio said he knows Corky. Want me to ask him to pass the word on to Mark?

Sure, why not? "Hey, some random girl online says you're her boyfriend, you just don't know it yet. But now you know, so congrats on the new gf!" :uplaugh:

[nucat78]

A random EX-HOOTERS girl. That's a big difference.

[NURDRMS]

I, too, use a tanning bed, mostly to maintain a 'base' tan except when comps are nearing (then I up my attendance at the tanning salon.) I'm terribly allergic to all types of sunscreen (have had even dermatologist's prescriptions break me out in hives) so I try to keep the base for protection.

[hustleNflow]

A random EX-HOOTERS girl. That's a big difference.

Hahahah...true, but I'm sure Mark could have his pick o' the litter these days - a lotta teenyboppers have latched onto him since he's been on DWTS. I am proud to say that I liked him back when he was just another champion ballroom dancer, living in relative anonymity - back in the day, when the average person didn't know what the heck a rumba was and the hottest ballroom dancer they'd ever seen was *snicker* Swayze :uplaugh:

But anywho, I digress from the topic at hand: TANNING.

I empathize with you, NURDRMS, except I'm allergic to DHA...but they might as well be the same thing (spf protects you from the sun by creating a barrier, dha protects you from the sun by making it so you don't have to tan the real way! :tongue:) It's not surprising that you're allergic to sunscreen...I don't think people realize how chemical-laden a lot of sunscreens are, anyway...oxybenzone has been found to cause low birth weight in babies with mothers who used large amounts of sunscreen while pregnant. There have also been studies which suggest that the chemicals included in sunscreen are just as responsible for causing skin cancer as the sun itself! Makes one wonder if the only way to avoid cancer altogether is to stay indoors as much as possible, and only venture out while wearing a haz-mat suit :shock:

[danceronice]

No chance. I don't tan, I burn with minimal sun exposure. My mother, on the other hand, can get dark just being outside on a cloudy day. On the plus side, I've been mistaken for as much as ten years younger than I am because of my skin so I guess there are advantages, too. (Smelling like ProTan not being one of them. Some of us don't find it all THAT appealing.)

[Stagekat]

Starting to wish I had developed a tanning habit... Trying to prepare for a dress I want to wear this weekend that exposes all arms and part of back... (areas that haven't seen the sun in YEARS). I HATE HATE HATE the smell of spray on.... so I'm going through the tedious task of at home product... which works really well, doesn't smell awful, but doesn't really stay on for long... GRRR... all because I think I have the confidence to pull off this dress... Why is the attempt at beauty so painful?? :headwall:

Seriously considering developing a tanning bed addiction after this week... THAT's for sure!

[hustleNflow]

Starting to wish I had developed a tanning habit... Trying to prepare for a dress I want to wear this weekend that exposes all arms and part of back... (areas that haven't seen the sun in YEARS). I HATE HATE HATE the smell of spray on.... so I'm going through the tedious task of at home product... which works really well, doesn't smell awful, but doesn't really stay on for long... GRRR... all because I think I have the confidence to pull off this dress... Why is the attempt at beauty so painful?? :headwall:

Seriously considering developing a tanning bed addiction after this week... THAT's for sure!

I must admit, it's pretty nice to not have to spend the evening before a comp slathering on Pro-Tan/Selvebraun/etc. and walking around naked waiting for it to dry and praying that it doesn't get streaky. I also enjoy not smelling like a starch refinery :cool: Come over to the dark side, Laura! :twisted:

[Easy]

On Corky....last week he should have had Leachman dance her paso to something from Victor Victoria. He could have played to her acting and comedy. On Mark....it's nice to see he's matured a bit more and doesn't do those weird latin faces anymore :)

[anp73ga31]

I go to the tanning bed once a week (and sometimes skip a week if schedule does not permit going), but two weeks before a comp I tan twice a week. I'm only doing two comps a year at this time so its not a big deal (plus its int. standard so its not quite as important to be that dark...and I'm lucky to have a darker skin tone anyway that is hard to burn thanks to my dad's spanish-italian side). Next year I am going to do rhythm, though, and my sister is all excited that I have agreed that she can paint me up so that I'm quite dark. She's been into body-builders forever and knows all about the paint on tans...she's been dying to try it on me but up until now I've resisted :rolleyes:. As for doing it myself, in my pre-ballroom years I had too many handprints and other such streaks from self-tanners to even attempt to try it now! To each their own, I say...

[Stagekat]

I must admit, it's pretty nice to not have to spend the evening before a comp slathering on Pro-Tan/Selvebraun/etc. and walking around naked waiting for it to dry and praying that it doesn't get streaky. I also enjoy not smelling like a starch refinery :cool: Come over to the dark side, Laura! :twisted:


Yeah... well I've been trying all week... and not only do my shoulders repel the sun..apparently they repel tanning lotion too...

So I've decided to suck it up..be a grown up and go get a spray tan... I figure the day before should be good... give me a chance to get the smell off with as much nice smelly stuff as I can before I try and wear this dress...

[mummsie]

I live in the sun cancer capital of the world so definitely no sun for me. Tanning creams all the way. I never go out in the sun and we have about 15-16 hours of it a day for 19 months of the year. My husband is a sun cancer statistic - has had 3 really bad ones cut of. Tanning beds are just the same. Very dangerous. There was big news here in OZ a few months ago where a 20 year old died of mellanoma from using tanning beds and she had really olive skin. - mummsie

[sambanada]

what about sprays that wash off?