Archive for the ‘Self Tanning’ Category:
Ok all you tan bed-aholics, July marks the beginning of a 10% tax on your tanning bed services, from your beloved federal government. This means that every salon that offers tanning services will be charged a 10% additional tax over what they already pay for proceeds received from this often controversial, health questionable service. Who is ultimately the winner here? Why, the federal government and their ballooning deficit of course!
Honestly, I don’t care that they are taxing indoor tanning myself, I think that the price may be more on the people who own these salons, and may put even more pressure on a lot of female small business owners, since most of these types of services are owned by female small business owners. That, and the fact that the consumer will end up paying the tab in the end most likely.
Of course, one could argue that tanning is a nonessential luxury, but so are many of the things that make up the free market and ultimately make the American economy as strong as it is – or was, before this disaster situation happened.
The federal government, in an effort to help pay for the numerous stimulus programs and the massive bailout package that happened to prevent global economic catastrophe, has been looking for ways to save money. One of the proposals also included a tax on plastic surgery and Botox. I believe that both of those proposals were not picked up, but the tanning tax was.
I guess this means more and more people may be reaching for the self tanners, which could be a good thing, but it’s also still important to at least get some natural sunlight on your skin and get that vitamin D in.
Hopefully the government won’t ax any other “non essential” beauty needs, but I do think the tanning tax is fairly minimal and if it an help keep our deficit down while also not damaging businesses too badly (hopefully they can pass this on fairly easily to the consumer and that will be that), I’m ok with it.
Remember to protect your skin from the sun, but also try not to totally avoid the sun all together. More and more evidence is showing that responsible sun exposure is a good way to get vitamin D, which helps keep your immune system healthy and also may provide a host of cancer prevention benefits as well.
While I was vacationing in South Carolina and then Virginia for a few days, I was in a lot of drug stores, snooping around, seeing if they had anything different in the way of beauty products that I don’t typically see here in Ohio. I found one that is in Ohio, but that I thought was an interesting concept in self tanning and hair removal or at least in minimizing shaving your legs that I bought. The product is by Nivea and it’s called Sun-Kissed Beautiful Legs Shave Minimizing gradual self tanning moisturizer. Quite a mouth full!
But that describes the product in a nutshell. It is supposed to help cut back on hair growth on your legs, and also gradually self tan them with a subtle self tanner. The bottle is ten bucks, and it is almost 7 ounces. If you use it on just your legs (I used it on my whole body the first time), it will last you quite a few tans. It’s a white cream, which I like because even though I do like the instant tan of a tinted self tanner and the instantly dewy look it gives your skin, I don’t like those types of self tanners when I’m planning on putting it on right before bed time.
It will stain your sheets, especially if they are lighter. Here’s the kicker about this product thought. I do think it helped my leg hair, maybe it made it softer, but I don’t think it actually inhibited it’s growth. I think their selling point may be that since your legs are tanner, the hair is less noticeable, because they don’t specifically claim that there are any hair growth inhibiting ingredients in it on the back label.
It says that with daily use, your hair will look less noticeable and you’ll have a beautiful tan. But I did notice there was some sort of starch in the ingredients list, and I did notice that it had a different feel to the cream itself when I put it on my legs, so I wonder if that was somehow supposed to soften the hair that was there. I’m too impatient to put it on several days in a row, so I would skip a day or two in between, which may have defeated the purpose of the shave minimizing part.
It does give a nice, subtle tan though in a few uses, and it doesn’t get splotchy at all, so I’d recommend it for your legs. As far as the shave minimizing part, you may need to use it every day to enjoy those benefits a bit more.
In what promises to raise a lot of teenaged eyebrows if it goes through, the FDA is currently mulling a decision on whether or not they will introduce a new ban on teenage tanning salon visits.
They had previously spoken about banning them except where parents gave signatures, but I believe this one will actually ban their use until the teens become of an age where they can make “better” decisions for themselves. I’m not sure this is really consitutional, but maybe they are looking at it like they look at putting an age on buying cigarettes and alcohol.
Tanning beds are dangerous, and I think the concern is that teenagers just don’t have the life experience to be able to know that this is really bad for their health. They also don’t understand that repeatedly visiting these beds is really what the problem is, it’s not just the fact that they go in itself.
It’s sure to raise some serious questions if it is ultimately decided on, that’s for sure. I think even some teen parents might be a little dismayed. But hey, that’s better for the self tanning industry, right? Then everyone will have to go to the bottle to get a good tan!
There is a new self tanner on the market that I will be reviewing soon. I’m going to try it first and let you know how I like it. It’s supposed to be formulated to look very natural. It’s a gel form, which is different than what I’m used to using personally, which are creams and sprays, so that should be interesting, and it’s supposed to also last long and be ideal for people with very pale skin.
Other than that I can’t tell you much, other than that there are a few good natural self tanners that I like to use, and some of them work better than others, so let’s hope this one is worth the price tag, which is a bit higher than some of the cheap shelf names you can get at your drug store. I’ve used everything from high end to low end, so it certainly doesn’t bother me to spend the extra money as long as I’m getting good results from a self tanning product.
It’s the middle of the winter now, but I still use self tanners as a means to improve the way I look. Self tanning makes you look thinner, makes your face look more evenly toned, healthy and vibrant, and gives you a definite pickup when you’re not feeling so attractive during these dreary, depressing winter months. I love to have a little color, it makes me look ten times better.
Heck, sometimes it makes me look like a whole different person. It’s just that I’m not willing to damage my skin to attain that color, and self tanners are perfect for those of us that look a lot better with a tan, but who don’t want to ruin our skin with ultraviolet exposure, which not only can lead to cancer but also can lead to premature aging of the skin.
After the World Health Organization announced last year that it was definitively saying that the use of tanning beds significantly increases the likelihood of deadly skin cancers like melanoma, and the less dangerous but still attention-needing squamous and basal cell carcinomas, there has been increased scrutiny on the indoor tanning industry and the warnings that are displayed within them, warnings that they particularly want younger people to notice.
Why? Because in our teens it’s the cool thing to get a tan, but you’re not necessarily thinking that this can ruin your health, you’re more so thinking about how good you’re gonna look on the beach, and they want to get the point across to teens and people in their twenties that this is potentially life threatening, since there are more and more cases of early diagnosed melanomas.
You are hearing a lot of stories about girls in their twenties and teens being diagnosed with melanoma, which quite frankly should scare the hell out of regular tanners. The FDA is mulling ideas now to impose tougher restrictions on how they need to display warning signs. Right now, the warning signs are fairly evident, but they may require them to be larger, or to have stronger, more explicit wording that would be more likely to scare people off or to at least make sure they are not over using these beds to get tan.
Here’s the shock too, apparently a study was done that showed most people can get the same tan by going to a tanning salon just once a week that they get when they go three days a week, sparking further worries that people are unnecessarily overdoing it in these beds because they are addicted to them.
I for one, do believe that a little bit of UV light is actually healthy, since it produces vitamin D naturally, but you cross the line when you burn the skin or you expose yourself too much to sunlight. Experts say that even getting a light tan though is triggering the process that causes cancers to form, so even getting a tan is not supposedly safe.
You are especially at a higher risk for melanoma skin cancer if you burned a lot when you were younger, but tanning bed users risk increases by about 75% from the non-tanning population, so these statistics are quite convincing that UV exposure is bad for the skin. Stick to the self tanner, and you’ll be alright!
If you’re a fanatical self tanner as I am, then you undoubtedly have experienced that not so pleasant part of self tanning that occurs a little while after the product begins to work it’s self tanning magic and develop. You know, that smells that sort of resembles a dank smell that you can’t place, like maybe dirty socks mixed with something metallic?
Everyone has their own explanation for what it smells like and it’s never a good scent to anyone, that much I know. Well, I’ve been fortunate enough to have tried out a new product called Summer Glow by Antidote Skincare that I believe has the least smell of any self tanner I’ve ever tried. In fact, you’d be hard pressed to smell it even after it’s been developing for a few hours.
This is huge for those of us that really can’t go tanning and need to minimize our time in the sun, which by the way should be all of us since there are cancer causing UV rays that not only damage the skin and lead to early aging, but also can lead to serious and life threatening forms of skin cancer.
This product is a Godsend for those of us that rely on self tanners to make us look healthier and give us that glow we’re looking for, and yet have the common sense to achieve it the healthy way, but can’t stand the smell of ourselves after application. You know, all these products go on smelling like something good, like coconut or bananas, but they all end up in the dirty sock realm, and it’s just not fun when you can smell it wafting off of you all day long.
The company is offering you a 20% discount if you use this coupon code 09BLCSG when ordering, which is quite a nice discount for a great product. For this product, you pretty much apply it as you do any other self tanning product, but you may want to add a little bit of thin lotion, as the product is pretty thick, that just depends on your technique for application and your preference. It has an instant tint, so you can apply it for an instant tan as well, and then the color develops to give you an even deeper earthy glow later on when the natural sugars that make up DHA start to pigment your skin.
And, you don’t have to feel like you smell, to me that is the best part.
Well, this is certainly no surprise, but tanning beds have been confirmed by the scientific community as being a cancer causing agent. In fact, they are saying that those that have used tanning beds before they are 30 years old may have as much as a 75% greater chances at getting skin cancer than those who did not go to tanning beds, or do not currently use tanning salons.
This is scary, especially since many people, just like me who are now in their thirties and have wised up and stopped going to tanning beds, did used to go in our youth. I mean, I don’t know about you, but I’m a heck of a lot more concerned about my health over my vanity now than I was when I was in my teens and just trying to get a tan to fit in with all the other girls who were doing it. One thing that has changed since then is that some states have banned young women from using tanning beds, even with parental discretion and signatures, which is definitely a controversial move, but one that some states considered important enough to enact.
Self tanners may become all that much more popular now that the “news” has come out about tanning beds being compared to arsenic and mustard gas as far as cancer causing capabilities. Not only tanning beds are cancerous, but they are saying that ultraviolet exposure of any kind causes cell mutations that often result in skin cancer.
The studies in mice confirmed that those exposed to aritficial UV rays showed genetic mutations indicative of cancer, which was all science really needed to confirm what everyone already kind of knew. Until now, the scientific community classified tanning beds as “probable carcinogens”, while the latest conclusions move them to a list of definite carcinogens, a big step.
Big enough to land this news on the front pages of all major news outlets. I hope that this news really strikes a cord with the younger ladies who are using these beds, and they ignore the propaganda that tanning can be safe when occasional use is indulged in. The problem with that mentality is that, especially if you are very fair, it doesn’t take much exposure to UV light to cause cell mutations and the beginnings of cancer.
It has been said that any skin coloration by the sun or artificial light is indicative of cell damage, so even a light tan indicates that you have damaged your skin. Like I said, all the more reason to explore what your favorite self tanner is and get started fake bronzing instead of fake baking in beds.
You may have seen the Sheer Tan self tanner package before. To my knowledge, it’s only available online. I haven’t seen it in retail stores, although I think it would do really well to be marketed that way with the popularity of self tanners these days. Now that we have sprays, creams, gels and even mousses to help keep us glowing all season long, not just in the summer, it’s really eliminated the need for spending time in the sun or getting in a tanning booth, which I think has been demonstrated as bad for your skin with the increase in skin cancer diagnoses, especially in young women.
Let me say though that I do think some sunshine is needed, you shouldn’t just avoid it like the plague. You just need to have the proper protection applied before you go in the sun, or make sure your time spent in the sun at it’s strongest hours is very limited, since it’s cancer causing UVB rays are strongest between the hours of about 12-4 in the afternoon, give or take a few depending on which expert you listen to. That being said, let me share my review of the Sheer Tan self tanning package.
First off, it costs about $35 for the applicator and the first bottle of the stuff, which comes in a spray can form. It’s big deal is that it comes out in a super fine mist, which is better for a more even application, and less pooling and streaking of the product. It’s nice to apply something that you don’t feel like it’s going on really unevenly for once, because most of the sprays I’ve tried are like that. It goes on with a nice smooth banana scent, but of course, you still get the signature coppery smell as the product develops, it just smells really good at first.
I love when self tanners claim they don’t smell, because that’s never true, they all smell as they develop, they just might be very well masked at first with other scents, but the DHA that makes the skin cells turn brown ALWAYS smells when it develops. Sheer Tan is a little different application than other self tanners. What you do is you spray your body parts with the product, and immediately after, they want you to moisturize. It’s ingenious really, because what you are doing is spreading the product around so you get a more even tan, immediately before it totally dries, so this is part of why it gives an even appearance.
One coat of Sheer Tan will give you a nice color, even if you’re pretty pale, and for me, one can lasted about three tans on my whole body, so you’re definitely getting a better deal than if you do the Mystic tan!
I’ve always been curious about these so called “tanning supplements” that I’ve seen here and there for a couple years now, so I did a search on which ones used different methods other than a phoney colorant that is not good for you since it supposedly can deposit orange color into your organs (yeah, talk about a bad idea). I was looking for something that claimed to help the body up it’s protection against getting burnt, maybe something that could help increase your melanin production, at least temporarily if you are a person who is pale and needed to be in the sun.
I’m personally interested in this because I know when I take my honeymoon some day, we’ll be going to Hawaii or somewhere else tropical, and I’m certainly not avoiding the sun the whole time, and wouldn’t mind having a little tan – not burn – TAN. So through my search I found a supplement that is called Tan-Aid. Tan Aid is a tanning supplement that is supposed to help your body increase melanin production immediately before you will be out in the sun fro any period of time. It does not specifically claim that it protects against suburn, but some of the women who used it claimed that when they would have normally been burnt, they instead tanned while on this product.
As far as whether it does provide any sort of protection, obviously that’s a dangerous statement to make, but if it truly can help your body produce more of a defense against burning, that’s an added bonus. It’s primary ingredient is L-Tyrosine, which is supposed to be an intermediary chemical to melanin production in the human body. It also contains a few B vitamins and some other ingredients. I’m not sure how those ingredients are supposed to synergistically work together to help you tan rather than burn though.
As an aside, these days it is hard to know what you should do. Avoid the sun like the plague? Use sunscreen but still go out in the sun? Of course tanning beds are a no no, but there is a lot of evidence coming out that complete avoidance of the sun contributes to vitamin D deficiency in a big way, and may even make you more prone to certain cancers, and less able to fend them off should you get them. I believe that a little sun is fine, just DON’T GET BURNT. This is the mechanism that causes cells to multiply irregularly and leads to skin cancers.
Believe it or not, studies have been done that show people who are out in the sun regularly, such as construction workers, since they are more accustomed to sun exposure, may actually be more protected since their skin is used to the exposure. Talk about conflicting messages. Prudence is best. Use sunscreen, but I don’t think anyone, especially women, should totally avoid the sun since we are susceptible to breast cancer if vitamin D is deficient. And always test out the latest self tanners to get a nice, deep, natural looking tan (with my help in application tips of course), and you can still be tan without all that sun exposure.
When I first read about this, I thought well, why did her parents allow her to go to a tanning bed in the first place, at the young and naive age of ten years old? But then I realized that there may not be the same rules of having attended tanning salons over in Britain as there are here. That is where this occurred by the way, in Britain.
I still had to wonder about the parental oversight here, but when I read the whole story, it was revealed that the young girl went to the salon, which was unmanned, out of curiosity and without her mother’s permission or knowledge, on her way walking home with a friend. At any rate, this is a terrible story of how tanning beds can really ruin the skin, especially if one overstays their welcome in them or is extremely fair to begin with.
Looking at the picture of the ten year old girl who was burnt after 16 minutes in a tanning bed, she is very fair, and should have never been in a tanning bed. Here in the US that would have never happened because you have to be of the age of consent, or at least have a parent sign a consent slip for you, to go tanning. All responsible tanning salons also will not let pale people go in over a certain amount of minutes, nor will they let you go in without goggles.
Apparently after her 16 minute stay in the tanning bed, her mother says she came home and said she was not feeling well. At that point her cheeks were just pink. She began to get progressively more red, and said she felt cold although she was hot to the touch. Her mother took her to the hospital immediately out of concern, where it was discovered that the young woman had burns on over 70% of her body. The medical staff were even horrified that this poor young woman suffered what she did, and there is now an outcry to man all tanning salons so this does not happen again.
The girl has been advised to not go into direct sunlight for at least the next ten years because of the damage and trauma done to her skin. This is exactly why I love my self tanners. If I could just go back and in time and take away all that tanning I did when I was younger and didn’t really understand the consequences to both my health and my skin’s appearance…..I guess there’s no use crying over spilled milk, it’s just from here forward that counts now.
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