The Sun Won't Always Leave You Smiling

Like most people this time of year, you probably have been sitting poolside soaking up the sun in your favorite swimsuit and sporting your wavy natural hair. It's summer, and as usual, I hear every person I know talk about how tan they are or "need" to become. I'm guilty of it too, although my pasty white self won't tan much at all no matter how hard I try.

Before I start, this isn't a blog post for me to tell you what to do. You can do whatever you want, and that's your decision. I'm no doctor either, so I did as much research as I could to simply tell you what tanning really does. From there, it is up to you what you do. 

I'm sure you've cooked some sort of meat in the oven, whether it be turkey at Thanksgiving or chicken during those cold winter months. You put it in and it's as white as snow, and when you take it out, it's a nice golden color. Sounds delicious right? Now think of yourself as that meat. That's what tanning is. 

In simple terms, tanning browns you the same way it cooks meat, so in a way, you are literally baking yourself. That probably doesn't seem so nice anymore, does it?

There are three types of rays that the sun produces: UVA, UVB, and UVC. Lucky for us, the ozone layer absorbs the UVC rays, so they don't affect us, but UVA and a little bit of UVB rays do. Here's a little bit of a science lesson for you.  UVB rays have short wavelengths which only allow them to penetrate the outer layer of the skin which is also called the epidermis. These kinds of rays cause the least harmful sunburn. In contrast, UVA rays have long wavelengths which sink into the middle layer of the skin called the dermis. Burns that are deeper are much more harmful and much more likely to cause cancer. The tan results when the UV rays oxidize (a chemical reaction) the melanin in the skin.  Everyone has a different amount of melanin which is just a pigment. The different UV rays affect the melanin in different ways which I won't get into because you've probably had enough of the school lesson especially since we are on break.

Some people may tell you that tanning beds are better than laying out...that is 100% false. They are just as harmful and since the rays are usually purely UVA rays, your chances of getting cancer just continue to increase.

So what are the risks? I know you are aware that tanning causes skin cancer even if you didn't already know that before this blog post, and that's not a myth or something to ignore. According to skincancer.org, about 5 million people are treated for skin cancer ever single year in the U.S. alone, which would be like the entire population of Colorado developing skin cancer. And on top of that, more people develope skin cancer than all the other cancers combined.

If that doesn't worry you, you will also age twice as fast as someone who doesn't tan.  I can promise that is true because I've seen people who grew up tanning and they look much older than someone else the same age.  No wrinkle cream can help you on that one! It also dries your skin out and can cause marks on your skin.

According to the American Cancer Society, you are more likely to develop skin cancer if you, "[have] pale skin (easily sunburned, doesn’t tan much or at all, natural red or blond hair), [are exposure] to large amounts of coal tar, paraffin, arsenic compounds, or certain types of oil, you or members of your family have had skin cancers, multiple or unusual moles, [have had] severe sunburns in the past, [have a] weakened immune system, and/or [are] older aged (although melanomas can also occur in younger people)."

 

Cancer is very serious, and I'm not sure why no one seems to think about that risk before they tan. Laying out, tanning beds, and other forms of UV radiation are not healthy and once you've developed skin cancer, you can't get rid of it like you do with a cold or the flu. It can be very dangerous, not to mention expensive to treat, and can turn your world completely upside down. 

Just put on some sunscreen!!!

It's funny that we would be willing to bake ourselves the same way we bake chicken just to achieve that gorgeous color. But what's more ironic is that there are alternatives (take it from the girl that matches the shade of vanilla ice cream). There are so many fake tanners to chose from it is unbelievable, but the trick is to find one that doesn't make you comparable to an orange. I've tried them all, from foams to lotions to spray-on's. You can try them for yourself so they work best with your skin, but my two recommendations are:

• Jerkins tanning lotion in medium to dark
• Fake Bake Airbrush Instant Self-Tan

In my opinion, I would much rather use a fake tan and sunscreen, and keep my skin healthy with less wrinkles or risk cancer. But hey, you do you!

I truly hope you learned something by reading this or maybe it just made you reconsider what you are exposing yourself to. Enjoy the sun, but please stay safe!

Love Always,
Bree x

P.S. I will be going to Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland to visit my friends so I will be sharing my experiences and pictures in traveling blogs so stay posted for that!