Tan lines... Ugh

Why not tan in a booth?

I'm going to have the same issue. I'm planning on layering sunscreen all day long in the summer! Maybe a spray tan closer to the wedding to try to even it out.

Purplekitten, I'm not doing a booth because why do something that causes skin cancer? There is a much higher chance than tanning outside.

Yup, don't do indoor tanning. Or any type of tanning. Skin cancer (not to mention wrinkles and premature aging) just aren't worth it. I'm a runner (and I've done a few tri's, whoop whoop) so I feel you on that one. My sister made me pinky swear that I would only run in long sleeve shirts until the wedding.

A spray tan should fix it up though! I did that for my sister's wedding that was in August, so I had the ugliest tan lines. Like my arms were the darkest, then lighter where short sleeves would be, and then I had the running tank tan lines too. It was awful. Find a good person who actually sprays (NOT in a booth) and they should be able to even you out. You couldn't see any of my tan lines in pictures. You might have to pay for it, but that's my plan!

When I was in highschool I was a traffic control person, which meant we wore shorts, tank tops, hard hats and steel toed boots. For prom, grad, and pageant, I had the WORST tan lines ever. Jergens (I am pretty sure) had this spray on tan stuff, that my mum sprayed on me two days before each event. I just couldn't shower that night after the spray, but worked really well. It lasted from Thursday night until it started to fade on Sunday. Worth looking into at the drug store. (And I am sure they have way better stuff now, this was 10 years ago!)

Well, if you're gonna get tan anyway, finishing/evening it out in a booth seems a lot better to me than having someone paint you.

I'm a fake baker. I don't have time to tan outdoors.

I am tanning in a booth to get rid of my tan lines. I tan quick so just 3 sessions has gotten me almost perfect. Just 1 more and I should be good to go !

Purplekitten, it seems silly to do something that you KNOW causes cancer.

ETA: Also, it's unavoidable for me to get tan during the summer. I get tan when I am walking around outside for an hour.

I would like to stay away from boothing it for obvious reasons... Like I said I do protect my skin but I can't handle the heat of a long sleeve. I'll try some different things over the summer and see if I end up streaky lol

@FutureMrsWalton - If your salon is using good bulbs, you're no more at risk tanning indoors than outdoors, and she's already tanning outdoors.

I think if you do a couple short times in a booth your not going to kill youself from cancer. IMHO I hate when people jump all over the tanning beds being cancer causing. Well yeah anything to the extreme could cause cancer. I am not a fake baker but I will go a couple times to even out my skin for the wedding. I can't go topless since my girls would hit my knees so I know I will have tan lines. The spray tan I was thinking about until I heard girls talking about it running if you get warm and sweaty.

I'm going to be a vampire this summer. If anyone invites me to do fun things, I'm not going until after dark. If there are things I HAVE to go to (i.e. bachelorette party) then tube top dresses/swimsuits! All of my running will be at night or indoors.

Bummer because I live in SoCal but that's how it has to be. There will be other summers.

I'm just going to leave this here: http://www.skincancer.org/skin-cancer-information/skin-cancer-facts#indoor (the sources are at the bottom)

Particularly these gems: More than 419,000 cases of skin cancer in the US each year are linked to indoor tanning, including about 245,000 basal cell carcinomas, 168,000 squamous cell carcinomas, and 6,200 melanomas; More people develop skin cancer because of tanning than develop lung cancer because of smoking.; and, my personal favorite: One indoor UV tanning session increases users’ risk of developing squamous cell carcinoma by 67 percent and basal cell carcinoma by 29 percent.

All three from a meta-analysis of 88 published, peer reviewed studies on indoor tanning. International Prevalence of Indoor Tanning A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis, if you're interested in reading the whole thing. It's available if you do some creative googling.

I'm really sorry, I don't get on my soapbox for a lot of things. But my mom was recently diagnosed with melanoma. She has since broken down in tears because she feels so bad for taking me tanning when I was in high school. It's just not worth it people.

Sorry for the threadjack, OP.

This is one of my regrets, I had some really light tan lines that I didn't even notice but they did show up in some of the photos (yay for photoshop). I hope none of the guests noticed, though

But, hey, I don't have skin cancer!

Try a spray tan! I'm also running outside a lot, so I'm going to try a spray tan (for the first time ever) before my boudoir shoot, to test it out...then hopefully, for the wedding if I don't come out orange for the trial lol

@Lori -- I, for one, am really glad that you're on that soapbox, cause someone's gotta be! And you don't need to apologize for it -- you could do worse things than share information that could potentially inspire life-saving changes for others

@Lori - There are 3.5 million cases of skin cancer diagnosed annually. That means that 89% of cases aren't related to indoor tanning.

While i sympathize with your family's trouble with tanning, my family has had trouble with tanning, too. My mom's tanning salon went out of business while my sister and I were in college and bankrupted the family, leaving us nearly half a million dollars in debt.

I will be going tanning to make sure I don't have tan lines, and will most likely get a spray tan on my face/top half to even things out before the wedding. I always go to a salon for my spray tan (with a person) and not the mystic/booth spray tan

I am of the opinion that unless you are the type that wears sunscreen every day in the summer, wears a hat, covers up etc. then you can't judge people for using a tanning bed a few times for an event. Using them regularly to have a tan just because, or overdoing it, sure judge then, but it seems like a bit of an overreaction sometimes. It's like telling someone who has tried smoking once or twice in their lives that they're going to die of lung cancer.

That's just my two cents though.

I'm all about the spray tan. FH is a ginger and therefore has very fair skin. He prefers me fair over tan but I'm not about to walk down the aisle with tan lines. I already told him I'll be using spray tan to even out skin tone and to give myself more of a glow.

If you have tan lines I don't see how spray tan will do anything other than make your darker skin darker and the pale skin not as dark. I suggest looking for a swimsuit that is made with material that doesn't block the sun. Check out www.tanthrough.com.