You want to look your personal best for a pageant. You pick out the perfect dress, all of the right accessories, fine tune your body through working out and dieting and then if you are white…you hit the tanning bed.
Or should you? In the white culture tanning is attractive. We go to the pool to tan…not swim, purchase memberships to tanning bed salons, and go to the beach and baste for a week in the hot, hot sun (of which I am definitely guilty).
Tough Facts on Tanning
“In the United States roughly 2.3 million teens visit tanning salons. According to a Swedish study, the younger you are when you start indoor tanning, the greater your risk of melanoma skin cancer. A review of seven studies revealed that your risk of melanoma increases by 75 percent if you’re exposed to tanning beds before the age of 35…Using a tanning bed more than 10 times a year made people seven times more likely to develop malignant melanoma than those who did not use tanning beds as often [6]. The risk of melanoma was increased by 300% for those using tanning beds occasionally and by 800% for those using tanning beds more than 10 times a year.”*
Help I Have Orange Skin
When you look at the fashion industry, having tan skin is not a priority. We all are different and should embrace those differences. I see girls today walking around the mall and they are orange! If you are a friend of a girl who has orange skin please intervene. Tell her to immediately stop sun tanning, laying in tanning beds and stay inside for the next week. And…forbid her to eat any carrots just in case.
O.k. so if you are a little pasty as I know we (white people) can get…what do you do? Stay out of the tanning beds! If you have to choose between a tanning bed and sun tanning then I suggest going with the sun. I believe that what God has given to us…especially if we have to be in it everyday, is not going to hurt us. Actually, I have read that the sun helps your body produce Vitamin D. Nothing like that has ever been said regarding tanning beds. Wear a similar swimsuit to hide so you do not have to worry about tan lines in your swimwear or evening gown.
Oh, and by the way I wrote this article after I finished laying out by the pool…guilty.
*http://www.healthcentral.com/skin-care/c/75934/24339/beds-fast-facts
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!Related posts:
Posted in 
[...] you are preparing for a beauty pageant, you want to feel beautiful but with all of the money that you spent on pageant coaches, [...]
ASAP
[...] Over the last several months I have been looking for the best daily self tanner so I could give you an alternative to tanning beds. [...]