Impossible to tan?

[Lost]

ALright before i start... im egyptian.. but im not real dark skinned(cuz i never really lived there... altho i have been there).

Anyways.. it seems like the most tan area is my legs and the top part of my forearm. It seems like the bottom always stays MUCH lighter.. and lately i dont know if ive really been getting a tan.. it seems like i just get a sunburn. Like on my face i get a sunburn and on my arms.
So are some places impossible to get darker? like ur feet or underarm?
And is it impossible for some people to tan?


o btw.. i had just been putting this lotion on that has spf15 in it(altho it may not be water proof?) .. before i went to the beach to go surfing. the last 2 weeks i got a sunburn. the place its the darkest is always my nose(my nose and cheeks are always somewhat red tho.. regardless)

 

[Shiftkey]

It is impossible for some people to tan, but if your heritage is Egyption you're not one of those people

I can't give you any advice about tanning at the beach because I was never able to. If you went to a tanning salon for a month you should be able to build a base tan easily.

 

[Lost]

well i dont see myself going to a tanning bed...
do they use sunblock in those lol? its harder for me to tan cuz i gotta try to not get moles. normally iwould use spf 30 and i wouldnt really get any tan.... but lately ive just used that lotion w/spf 15... and seems like i just get sunburn in face.
whats best and safest way to get a tan in the face?

 

[Shiftkey]

whats best and safest way to get a tan in the face?

At a tanning salon. Relative to the sun, a tanning salon is much safer because it limits the amount of radiation that causes sunburn, which is the cancer causing radiation. Your risk for skin cancer increases when you get a sunburn vs just a tan. Tanning at a salon is also the best because it's quick. I've been butt white for years and unable to tan in the sun - 4 10 minute sessions over the course of a week and a half at a tanning salon and I had a tan that everyone was noticing and commenting on. Typically now I just go twice a week for 20 minutes to maintain my tan.

If you can afford it, the best alternative is to get a fake tan in those mist booths. It actually changes your pigment like a real tan would without actually damaging your skin like radiation does. Those usually run about $20 a session vs $2 or $3 for regular tanning. The tan lasts 4-7 days depending on the person.

I don't recommend fake tan lotions you can buy at drug stores. In my experience even high quality lotions don't look natural, they stain the palms of your hands orange, and rub off on your clothes.

 

[California Love]

The tanning bed is more safe because you are controlling the UV exposure. However, the sun is more effective. Beds are only UVA, which bring the melatonin to the upper layers of the skin. Therefore, you're skin will look more "full."


If you want to look "darker" you need to go into the sun and get the more harmful UVB rays.

 

[Shiftkey]

UVB doesn't make you tan, it only burns. And sunburn does NOT turn into tan (though it may seem that way). You can get darker under the sun only because you're not legally limited to 20 or whatever number of minutes like you are in a tanning bed.

Also, tan beds are not only UVA. They are mostly UVA and 3-8% UVB.

 

[Lost]

tanning bed is only 2 dollars a session???????????

 

[California Love]

Originally posted by Shiftkey
UVB doesn't make you tan, it only burns. And sunburn does NOT turn into tan (though it may seem that way). You can get darker under the sun only because you're not legally limited to 20 or whatever number of minutes like you are in a tanning bed.

Also, tan beds are not only UVA. They are mostly UVA and 3-8% UVB.

UVB has longer wavelengths and penetrates deeper. The burning causes the melatonin to become darker, instead of just bringing it to the upper layers of the epedermis.


BTW, 2 dollars is cheap as hell for one session. Make sure it's 20 minutes and they don't give u a bed with broken bulbs.

 

[Shiftkey]

I have a plan for $36 a month for unlimited use. If I go every other day like I was in the beginning it comes to about $2 a session. Now I go every 3 days so it's closer to $3 a session. The place I go is very clean, with up to date equipment and excelent business practise, so don't worry about me.

 

[Tweek_1984]

20 minutes per session? What kind of sunbeds are these?

I went on sunbeds last year and I eneded up getting burned over a period of three weeks and I was going on the beds for 7 minutes twice per week.

I think there must be different strength beds or something?

 

[diablo]

20 minutes would be a low-pressure, lie-down bed. You'd want to use this bed to build up your base tan before heading into a medium or high pressure bed. If you're burning at 7 minutes with low pressure, cut back. When I first started tanning, I was see-thru white. 3 minute sessions for about a week, then 4 for a few days to see if my skin would burn... then 5 for a good while... then 7 minutes... then 8... then 10... then 12.... 15... 17... back to 15.... back to 17.... then to 20. It's a long road, if your natural color is "HONKY", but the end payoff is great... now I'm up to 10 minute high pressure stand up beds every day, and I'll probably have skin cancer by the time I'm 30.

Oh, and USE LOTIONS! i.e. California Tan... you get what you pay for. Expect to drop 30 bucks for a halfway decent one on ebay, and around 60 in a salon.

 

[Tweek_1984]

Bump.

Whats your tan like now?

I'm thinking of starting again. I'm pretty much see through-white like you said.

I'm gonna check it out tomorrow anyways.

 

[Silquee Smoove]

Alright people, based on my observations it goes like this:

If you're white with no ethnicity in your background and are a WASP (including Irish and English descent), you will never be able to properly tan because it's not in your genetics.

A. WASP white descent - you'll turn red (foolishly) and then it'll peel off...

B. Asian or Middle Eastern descent - if you're on the whiter side but your relatives (parents) were from these areas you'll tan and it will have that natural "bronze" look. You're the lucky type, you'll tan for a little while and then it'll fade back to your color, if you want to maintain this tan you'll have to work on it because very little of the skin pigment stays changed once the skin starts healing itself.

C. Indian (Native American) descent - you're already a red color and a tan for you means you're getting closer to a brownish color.

D. African - let's be honest, you don't want a tan because too much sunlight on your skin and you start to get uncomfortable.

I fall into category B. because I'm quarter-filipino so I can "tan" and it'll look natural without the excessive redness.

Another thing, I get so tired (this is when I lived at the beach in Jax.) of seeing white girls who came in out of the sun from "getting a tan" and complaining that it hurts and they look like a boiled lobster.

The only thing you've succeeded in doing is giving yourself borderline 2nd degree burns and...you're still not going to tan.

Please make more people aware of this.
Thank you.

 

[MixMaxster]

Well I wonder about that,

I've been tanning for less than a month now and I'm getting a nice tan. It's nothing like other people you see, but I come from a REALLY WHITE family. Our heritage is German/Ukrainian and most of my family is like SUPER white compared to a lot of people.

As for tanning, my face would go red for the first few weeks but it slowly stopped after a while.

Some things to know is that most tanning beds SHOULD come with a switch that turns off the UV bulbs aimed at your face. I know the tanning beds I use have that option and when it got too hot I could turn it off and it will go back on 2 minutes later.

Another thing is that UV rays are HORRIBLE for your body, they're one of the rays of "energy" or whatever you want to call it that gets absorbed into your body. The UV rays will cause damage to cells, your body develops more melatonin to stunt absorbtion of UV rays into the body and prevent damage to cells thus why your body looks tanned. BTW I believe melatonin is like a type of pigment for your body, the more of it the more darker your body. So in affect that's why you get a tan.

Although there ARE some people that CANNOT tan and nothing they do will ever produce a tan.