How to get the Primal TAN? page 2

[Chanda]

I'm bringing this topic back up because I also have freckles, and I'd like to know if the almighty tan is possible for me. I'm light skinned (so light skinned that the lightest foundation shade is still too dark to match my skin tone), dark-haired, light eyes. And I tend to avoid sun like the plague, but since I started primal, I guess I better get some more of it.

[eKatherine]

I have freckles, and I've gotten tan from being in the sun. It depends on your skin tone. My mother has peachy skin with pale freckles and never was able to get a tan, only pink. Her freckles never really darkened up much. Her dermatologist made her stop after removing something from her face. I have darker skin and my freckles can get quite dark.

[Louisa655]

I wasn't aware that vitamin D would make you tan.

I use tanning beds/booths occasionally, typically in early Spring before it's warm enough to sunbathe. If you don't over-do it, and moisturize properly, this can work just fine. I typically only go once or twice a week at most. I'm probably going to buy a package at the beginning of March. I also find that a few trips to the tanning salon before summer hits gets me "primed" for summer so that I don't get a bad sunburn the first time I'm out in the sun too long.

Tanning beds of any kind are extremely dangerous and directly contribute to higher risks of skin cancers and melanoma. Thankfully, tanning beds are becoming illegal to youth under the age of 18 in many areas.

Indoor Tanning: The Risks of Ultraviolet Rays

Discovery Health "How dangerous are tanning beds?"

Tanning bed - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

There's so much information available on this topic on the internet, but have provided just a few links.
/lu

[BellaPorter]

I tan regularly. I live in Seattle and we get crap for sunlight. My Vit D level was 23 and doc gave me super vitamin but it doesn't do it. Tanning does though. I go two times a week in a medium bed for 12 minutes. I use great lotions too. I am a quarter native american though too. I tan fast. I can still burn and do it rarely on accident. Tan smart and your cancer risks diminish. If you are super fair skinned I would just go sit in the sun for a few minutes each day. I would if we had sun here.

[Ghâshûl]

I have also been considering doing a couple of tanning sessions before summer, but I haven't quite made the leap yet.

I think my problem is that I've been overweight, and thus never being outside without at least a t-shirt and shorts. Now when I go out in the summer sun, even without a t-shirt, I still only get tan outside of the t-shirt area. It's as if the skin normally covered by the shirt isn't 'used' to having to produce a tan. So I worry about burning, even as my lower arms and face/neck get a nice tan.

My skin is quite light, my eyes are blue, but my hair is very dark (some people say it's black, but I say not quite).

I don't want to be very tan, just enough to actually allow me to be outside and not blind people Especially I don't like the difference in tan from the t-shirt line...

It'll be a few months before the sun gets any warmth at all, so there's still time to consider

[Kochin]

You don't need a tan in a cold climate. Get as much sun as you can, take vit D if you're deficient and don't worry. If your body needs protection from UV rays, it'll tan. If not, it won't.

Besides, getting a tan in a cold climate can INHIBIT vit D absorption. High-melanin skin is less efficient at making vit D3 from sunlight (I can't remember why, just that more melanin = greater chance of D3 deficiency in the North -- and I assume far South too). Think about it: if you live on the equator you need better protection from sunburn and skin cancer (more melanin) and you don't need to get as much sunlight to make vit D (as there's more sun). It's why a number of drs have suggested that some ethnicities should be recommended to take D3 pills once they're living a certain distance from the equator (especially expecting mothers and the elderly). If you want your D3 to come as naturally as possible in a cold climate: let your skin go as pale as it likes. Then supplement when you get low.

[sbhikes]

If you want that Primal tan then you need to move to the 'bu and do beach sprints and stand up paddleboard like Mark.