Fake Bake

Now that those gams are smooth, it’s time to get them bronzed and the envy of the town.

Golly it’s hard to catch a ray with all this cloud cover, and it just doesn’t feel like summer without a tan.

That’s why science and the aesthetics industry teamed up to create synthetic sun (get it? Science + sin + aesthetics= synthetic). The best of the outdoors at your indoor convenience!

Fake Bake

Around this time of summer we usually make comments like, “Hey, you look great! Spending a lot of time out on the lake?” At least that’s how Minnesotans talk. Or, “I’m so jealous of your tan! I can never seem to get away from the office.”

Why do we celebrate a tan as if it’s an achievement or compliment someone’s “healthy glow”, but freak out (oh no, I’ll get skin cancer!) if we get sunburned? Tan is exactly half way between white and black, so sure, pat your pale brethren on the back (gently, it’s damaged) for getting only 50% charred.

Tan skin means damaged skin, warns the Skin Cancer Foundation. The destruction from UV radiation will likely pop up years down the road, after we’ve stopped caring about prom photos and started to care about our quality of life and longevity. It could hit as early as 21 years old. A beautiful blond who used a tanning bed throughout high school posted her cancer-disfigured face on Facebook as a warning.

Tanning indoors poses a 75% higher risk for melanoma skin cancer, especially if started younger than 35 years old, reports the International Agency for Research on Cancer. A 2011 survey found that 29% of white high school girls are indoor tanning. Nearly a third of the demographic with the highest cancer risk for their age and skin color are ignoring that danger in the name of vanity.

In the months before prom–the biggest beauty pageant event in a high school girl’s life–not a single teacher or parent warned us against tanning. In my high school health classes the topic of tanning never came up. Please help that change if you have a young daughter or are involved in the education system.

Prom was held in April, after a good long six months of covering every inch of skin against frostbite. We lived in the flat midwest, not even a bunny hill around to get sun-kissed on the slopes. When and where were we supposed to get tan? Who were we trying to kid anyway? Well, the other kids.

You could easily spot the booth-tanned girls, these little dots of butterscotch in a pasty white classroom. Odds are that you could pick them out with an aerial view, since all the bleach-blond heads usually tanned too.

It begs the question: why do we want to turn our natural white skin into fake brown skin, but our natural brown hair into fake white hair? The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, I guess. Who would want half-dead brown grass though?

Tan in a Can

I admittedly once tried to get a spray tan before prom night. Since I had never practiced, I had crazy orange streaks, like I had pureed carrots and the blender exploded all over my body.

Sunless tanning eliminates UVA or UVB exposure, but that doesn’t make it safe. Tan in a bottle contains the color additive dihydroxyacetone (DHA), and a study shows DHA may harm our DNA.

The FDA is dragging their feet on declaring this genotoxicity and only advises people to cover their lips, nose, and eyes when spray tanning because the risks of inhaling DHA are unknown.

To my teen readers considering fake tanning, here’s a quick quiz. Would you rather be:

A.) inside a coffin-like enclosure all by yourself with no eye candy to admire
B.) under the sun next to your bestie to poke you in the side and check out the hot guy at 3 o’clock

The real deal is always better. Okay, but don’t go run out and spend all day under the sun. Like all good things in life, take it in moderation and with protection. We’ll talk sunbathing next week.

CarrieCarrie is an environmental educator, anthropologist, and translator. She took her passions for ecological, health, and women’s rights advocacy from the offices of Washington, D.C. to the streets of South America. Now in Colombia, she is slowly opening women’s eyes to the wonders of “la copita de luna” (Moon Cup) and Keepers.

 

 

 

 

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