I was wondering what everyone else here does about tanning. It's not something that I ever really thought about before, but I've lost quite a bit of weight recently and its become an issue. Now, I'm exceptionally pale-skinned - I don't mean just 'average person without a tan' - I mean _really_ pale. I live in England which isnt exactly the best place in the world for tanning anyway, and on top of that, I have red hair, meaning my skin generally goes red rather than brown. As such, I was considering using some all year round 'fake tanning' product - I don't want to look really brown or anything like that, I'd be happy if my skin was only slightly darker than the average person's.

Does anyone know of any products that would be good for an 'all year round' tan like this? Most of the skin bronzers I've read about make your skin look far too dark, and the fakeness would be noticeable to almost anyone you met (especially in winter). Is there anything a bit more discrete that just makes you look 'not pale' rather than well-tanned?

Cheers.

My wife discovered something about "tan in a can" after the cat snagged her leg.

Peroxide completely removed the tan from that spot.

I´m pale to mate.
But I like it that way, to tan and sun is a waste of time for me. Just try to like yourself when you are pale, works for me :)

Check out www.sunless.com for some help with sunless tanning.

It's mostly 40yo housewives, but the information is definitely good! :)

Neutrogena self-tanner with a bronzer (the bronzer will come off in the shower right away, but lets you see easily where you've put the tanner) is what I've used and my wife has used. They are surprisingly good. They are cheaper than tanning beds, and much better for you. Needless to say, getting a natural dark tan in england is difficult and requiers some really consistent effort (like going out on the 4 days/year it's not raining :)).

You can slowly build a base tan, then move to sunless tanners. Use tanning beds. Start slowly, 5 minutes, 6, then 8, 10. Your skin will adapt and you will build a base. Then move to sunless tanners.

There's some things to consider with sunless products. Most of them have a tendency to rub off - don't wear any lighter colored clothing and beware how and where you sit. They don't usually stain (unless you spill the tanning liquid itself) but it can be a pain to watch out for. Another thing - areas of "dead skin" or callouses will die darker than the rest of you. Areas such as knuckles on your hands, where skin is tougher and thicker, on your feet, elbows, etc... will die darker than the rest of your body will. Some of them have a tendency to turn you a bit orange until the die sets in your skin, then you'll bronze a bit. But it still tends to look unnatural. It's obviously healthier than a full-on natural tan, but it does do the trick.

I have some great blackmail pictures of the wife when she was prepping with a sunless tanner for contest. If I can dig them up, and I have power later... I'll post them so you can see the various stages of sunless tanner application.

-R

I've used that neutrogena only for my torso and it went well. I didn't bother with legs or forearms (they were already dark). I would not use one of the face either, since any problems will be easily seen.

You can slowly build a base tan, then move to sunless tanners. Use tanning beds. Start slowly, 5 minutes, 6, then 8, 10. Your skin will adapt and you will build a base. Then move to sunless tanners.

if he's a classic milk-white freckly redhead then training-wheels tanning in a bed won't help him much. been there done that. I don't have red hair but I got the skin. after regular tanning-bed sessions in the 80s all I had to show for it was very very slight coloring. looking back now it certainly wasn't worth all that UV exposure and it probably accelerated the sun damage from a couple of really horrific sunburns I got when I was a kid.

I hate to sound like an old nag but please be careful with this tanning-bed and sun-tanning stuff especially if you are fair-skinned. I've had about ten "things" burned off my hands and arms, not skin cancers but precursors. I get skin-cancer screening every year now. in the 70s before anyone knew better my mom would baste herself with coconut oil and sun for hours. she had a great tan, but in the past few years she's had countless small cancers carved off her body. if that's worth a nice tan, knock yerselves out :)

if he's a classic milk-white freckly redhead then training-wheels tanning in a bed won't help him much. been there done that. I don't have red hair but I got the skin. after regular tanning-bed sessions in the 80s all I had to show for it was very very slight coloring. looking back now it certainly wasn't worth all that UV exposure and it probably accelerated the sun damage from a couple of really horrific sunburns I got when I was a kid.

I hate to sound like an old nag but please be careful with this tanning-bed and sun-tanning stuff especially if you are fair-skinned. I've had about ten "things" burned off my hands and arms, not skin cancers but precursors. I get skin-cancer screening every year now. in the 70s before anyone knew better my mom would baste herself with coconut oil and sun for hours. she had a great tan, but in the past few years she's had countless small cancers carved off her body. if that's worth a nice tan, knock yerselves out :)I was born in the late 70s and spent some of my childhood in the sun before people really cared much about skin cancer. I still recall my parents not putting lotion on us and returning from beach trips with a burn so severe my skin would peel in slabs bigger than a quarter. At least it was in England and didn't happen that much. To this day I hate even the most mild burn because I know what damage it does. I do tan a bit in the summer, but nothing too severe.

I've got a friend who's mother has already had cancer, and this girl has very freckly skin but 6 months out of the year has a killer deep tan. She's really going to pay for it later.