50 Shades of Tan

One of the things I would like to accomplish with my little blog is to change the attitude many people have about tanning and tanners. There is an overwhelming amount of comments I see with snide remarks about how people who tan are vain, that they should “love the skin they are in” and “embrace being pale” which clearly shows the misconception of a typical tanner.  There are many reasons to tan as I have pointed out, and there are many shades of tan.

I am fair and even at my tannest, I am what people would consider pale. My Vitamin D level is higher than the majority of the US population though. I see people come and go from the salon where I go, and they all have perfectly natural skin tones. They are not leathery or old looking. Those are typical tanners; some are tan, some not so much. Tanning for whatever reasons they have, some to get a base tan before a vacation (like the couple that were in the salon tonight) some to clear up a skin condition (like my son and brother) some to raise their Vitamin D level (like me) or just to chase away the winter blues (several people I know have told me this is the reason they tan). There are people that over-tan, of course, there are people that over-do things in all endeavors. People who abuse tanning are the minority, yet public opinion is that they are the norm.

When I see the comments like what I listed above like pale is beautiful/ love the skin/ if you are tan you are vain, I am so tempted to smack them with a reply, get your Vitamin D levels checked, you may be kidding yourself about pale being beautiful, pale can be more dangerous than you realize. I’ll admit, I don’t want to say these things in a courteous manner. But I just try to do what I do here; I try to tell my story so people will see there are good reasons to tan. I share what I have learned through this process. Will it sink in? Not with everyone, but maybe someone will get it. Someday they will get what a healthy Vitamin D level means or about the many diseases and health risks it prevents.  I guess that is where I come in with my desire to accomplish the change in attitude. Even if it reaches a few people, if they tell two friends and so on, and so on…. (if you grew up in the 70s and 80s you know what I am referring to there.)  ;P