I don't tan, but I want to. It makes me feel sooooo good, as if I am warm to my bones.

Once in a while at the pool I will lie on my stomach in the sun for just a few minutes. I don't really tan though, but it feels so nice.

As a darker skinned person, I have never understood what's so great about being tanned. I love my shade, but what's wrong with fair skin, even if it's pale? A clear, smooth complexion trumps a tan anyday.

My dad is a doctor and he was very indulgent of us. He made very few demands on us. One of them was, sunscreen is not negotiable. So I wore sunscreen from the minute that he read the medical literature about skin cancer on. As an adult, I wear sunscreen daily. I do sit out at the pool and the beach but always with a hat and in the shade. I am over 40 and have had several people over the past 3 years ask me how old I was when I had my ten year old and one woman younger than me said recently that she knew that I had to be older than she was, but she thought I was 35ish. She is my new favorite person.

I have so many scars from burned off cut off skin cancer. I have a standing 6 month appointment with my dermatologist. I am always covered from head to toe, as are my children. And, even covered up, i sit in the shade. I don't even open my car's sunroof. I tanned (at the beach) probably until I was in my mid twenties. Never again.

Anonymous wrote:A good tip to finding a mate is to avoid the fair skinned women and go for darker skinned because they won't age.

My sister only dated darker skinned men because she didn't want her kids to have our pasty while skin. She married a man from Madrid. Her children have golden skin. Worked for her.

No - but I still get color in the summer from being out with the kids - even with applying sunscreen religiously. i guess i need to start wearing a hat.

Anonymous wrote:I know everyone looks better w/a tan, and I admit in my younger days I used to lay out on the beach or w/friends by the pool during the summer to "work" on my tan. Lots of people did it back in the day before spray tans.

Totally disagree! After age 40 it just puts on years. Tans look awful on pretty much everyone. Yeech.

Nope. Stop tanning in HS when I got skin cancer.

I never started. I'm reaping the rewards.

I know everyone looks better w/a tan, and I admit in my younger days I used to lay out on the beach or w/friends by the pool during the summer to "work" on my tan. Lots of people did it back in the day before spray tans.

Lucky for me I didn't over do it.
As a woman in my 40's, I see a lot of women who look terrible because they spent too much time in the sun. Their skin has that dry leathery look now.

I would NEVER tan intentionally at this stage of my life. If I really wanted to look tan, I would use either a self~tanner or get a professional spray tan.

I look young and want to enjoy my youth as long as I can.
Also, the fear of skin cancer {or any cancer for that matter} resides in me and at this stage in my life, I acknowledge that life is really too short...it is not some cliche. I want to live as healthy as I possibly can.

The two most drastic agers are too much sun and smoking.

Don't wear much sunscreen, don't tan on purpose

I can't believe anyone would tan. The only tanning I did was when I was too lazy to wear sunscreen religiously as a teenager. I especially can't believe that a woman in her 30s or 40s would purposefully tan their skin. Ugh.

Anonymous wrote:A good tip to finding a mate is to avoid the fair skinned women and go for darker skinned because they won't age.

Yes, great tip!!!

If you are still tanning at 39 you may as well continue because the damage is done ... That said, as I get older I have gotten a little laxer about sun protection because I do think vitamin d is important too.

I never tanned. Melanoma and saggy, leathery, aging skin are not a goal for me.