I'm just about to pop off to 'Electric Beach' for 9 minutes on the sunbed. I go about twice a month, but sometimes a bit more in run up to the summer.

My skin always feels so much better after a session, BUT I'm worried about all the cancer issues etc.

What do you think?

Like most things that are bad for us....use in moderation!!

Over exposure to the sun or sunbeds will in the long run damage your skin and increase the possibility of skin cancers!!

;)

I wouldn't risk it personally.

Originally posted by nick2
I wouldn't risk it personally.

Me neither. I tend to spend my summers hiding in front of my computer, in case I accidentally get a healthy complexion. When I do go out, my friends simply call me Nanook ;)

They do only advise something stupid like, 20 hours in your whole lifetime (and this is when you needed 1/2 hour each side). I dunno what the reccommendations are for the newer fast tan beds.

I have to admit, I enjoy having a tan but I worry too.

Get a UV light and check yourself after with it, see which bits of you glow!

I recall, back in the distant 1980s, when Sheffield women were famous for their sunbed-induced orange hue. Thank goodness the level of indulgence has dropped. Some examples looked like aliens from outer space in some low budget science fiction series. One almost expected them to announce, "Earthlings, do our bidding!", or something similar.

The Anglo Saxon-Celtic female skin tone and colouring is attractive enough, and needs no artificial 'browning'. The risk of cancer is much too great, and simply not worth it. In any case, I think the 'fake' tan has to be done very, very carefully to look as natural as possible. Many women [and not a few men] get it wrong, and the results can look rather vulgar. That is not to say all people who use the 'fake' tan, just a certain number.

Originally posted by spiffymonkey
Me neither. I tend to spend my summers hiding in front of my computer, in case I accidentally get a healthy complexion. When I do go out, my friends simply call me Nanook ;)

I wear factor 30+ sun block in Summer, mainly because sunlight is not good for tattoos but after my "mole that could have been a skin tumor" episode I decided caution was the best approach.

Under 18 should never use a sunbed http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4357689.stm

and Cancer Research http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/sunsmart/skincancer/

There is enough evidence around to illustrate the damaging effects of exposure to harmful rays from the sun or sunbeds.

You may feel and look good in the short term but in the longer term you'll look like a dried up old prune at best and have a good chance of developing skin cancer at worst.

do you use any sunblocks while on the sunbed? i know this sounds really stupid but they reccommend that you use it to filter out the harmful rays which you can get from sunbeds.. why not invest in st, tropez treatment which gives a natural colour while not exposing you to harmful rays. i have never used any of this myself cos at end of day we live in Britain so we should be pasty white!

I would honestly say - save your money and don't bother with the sunbed.

There's plenty of evidence to show the dangers to your health and the damaging effects to your skin.

I know it's great to have a bit of a tan, I must admit I usually feel a lot better too. But, I always use factor 30 sun cream and manage to build up a bit of colour even with that. I never went on sunbeds very often, but I don't go on them at all now.

Obviously 'tanned' skin is so dated, whenever I see people (there are still some around) with sunbed orange coloured skin it automatically lowers my opinon of them, I think they are probably a bit silly and vain, but that's just my opinion.

I think that tan shops will be banned before long as the skin damage and cancer becomes more proveable.
Apart from anything else, a UV tan looks nothing like a real tan, why do people want to wander around looking bright orange? It makes me think of sovreign rings and white shell suits.

I don't understand why someone would look different with a sunbed tan to what they would with a 'real' tan - surely they are both acheived by being exposed to UV rays? Maybe it's just the intensity and amount of exposure? If anyone knows can you let me know?

Back to whether you should use one or not, UV damage to skin isn't just dangerous, it's also very aging. I agree, a tan can look great, but it's so ironic that what makes you look great at the time, makes you look worse in later life.

From experience of my peers, the ones who have been sun (or sun-bed) worshippers are really beginning to look like it now we've hit our 30's. The ones who have been careful have way better complections and virtually no wrinkes. The difference really is becoming noticable. One unkindly male aquaintance referred to one of my sun-baked friends as having a face like a 'dun-dried tomato'! (Not to her face thank-god).

Well, whatever you do, go steady.

Originally posted by muddycoffee
I think that tan shops will be banned before long as the skin damage and cancer becomes more proveable.

What then, ban people from sunbathing? The "List of things That Should be Banned" is long enough already. :(

my mum goes on the sunbed all the time and it has never harmed her she looks lovely with her brown tan lol

Well I've never sunbathed on a beach in my life.. ok maybe once.. but i have been on a sunbed.. about 3 times. All it did was bring out my freckles, which is the same as the sun does, so yes i think its the same tan as they are both UV light! But hey i work with radiation so its going to get me anyway i think!!

lucifer109- just make sure your mum isn't too brown to notice any brown areas of damaged skin, remember skin cancer doesn't just show its self in a raised mole on the skin!.