How Do You Get Tan?

I sun myself - never had any success with self-tanning lotions - they make me look like an oompa-loompa

I don't tan, and I really don't understand why it's considered so beautiful. I live in an area where women love to be tan. They start as kids, and continue. I can tell you there are A LOT of twenty somethings walking around looking 10 or more years older then they are (and not in a good way,) because of tanning.

I'll take being pale and looking 10 years younger then I am. pretty and pale for me. I've had PLENTY of "you look so young" comments, from people who have great tans and look awfully old.

I do not tan - I am Pasty and I'm PROUD. However, upon occasion when the mood strikes I will use the Jergens Glow lotion and I do notice a touch of color added to my skin. When I use it I exfoliate my skin and apply it when my skin is still damp from my shower (pat towel dry my skin) and allow it to soak in before getting dressed. I too have skin cancer in my family and I have to be careful as well - so again GO TEAM PASTY!

I stick to pretty and pale :)

I don't :) I'm a redhead with green eyes ... after numerous sunburns (some that blistered and literally made me sick) I finally gave up on being "tan". I'll live with being my natural color thanks :)

Besides the process of turning cow hide into LEATHER is called ... TANNING. Thanks but no.

If you want to go with a sunless tanner that you can get on your back look for the spray on ones that are a micro-mist.

BE AWARE THAT SUNLESS TANNERS DO NOT GIVE YOU A BASE TAN AND YOU STILL NEED TO WEAR SUNSCREEN.

Good luck ... I just live with being shake the white sheets to find me in bed pale LOL I'll take that over leathery skin and/or skin cancer ANY day of the week.

There are a lot of self tanning products that don't leave streaks. The key is the process, exfoliate, apply and make sure it doesn't pool in spots. If you google it there are tons of articles.

Me I am happy with my ghostly white skin. :p I did tan last year before my wedding but I didn't want anyone confusing me with a corpse on my wedding day.

I'm super white and live in AZ and I stay out of the sun, or as much as I can. Last summer I started using the Jergen's brand of self tanner, its not orange, is even and works really fast and looks great. I got compliments on how tan I was. Good luck!

The thing about not getting a tan is, your skin looks great in your 40's, 50's, 60's and beyond.
The skin damage accumulates and there's no un-doing it.
A tan isn't worth it.

Ideally, the sun and I have a date.

I have weird skin. It's sorta hypercolor (goes from very pale to very dark very quickly). Up here in the perpetually damp forest, I'm blotchy, reddish, green. Constantly breaking out, sickly colored, and kind of ashy.

Afternoon in real sun (California, Florida, Pacific Islands, etc... where I spent most of my childhood) and I'm luscious. A week and I'm finally feeling like myself again.

My skin gets velvety soft, smooth, completely clear, and red toned brown the color of a mahogany crayon. No breakouts, no blotches.

I have desert skin. It is VERY melatonin reactive to real sunlight, and has the perfect oil level that I'm never dryskinned in the desert. Heck, even my wrinkles I get out here smooth out (because the oils moisturize all of my skin instead of clogging up my pores).

I've tried beds and sunless tanners. Both will get me color, neither actually get me my natural color or healthy sun skin.

The best sunless tanners I've used are the MOST expensive ones. We're talking $60+ for a bottle (Guinot is a fav that's on the lower end). The come out of the bottle dark, so you can actually see it as you're applying them. Never had any problem with streaking.

I grew up in So Cal and for me I would lay in the sun. I would put on some tanning oil with spf 15 and just bake. That was when I was younger. I don't do that anymore though. Now I am just pale white

I don't tan. Haven't you heard? Pale is in.

My beautiful grandmother taught me best...protect your skin now and enjoy fabulous skin for years.

I run/walk, bike, and swim at the beach or pool. Lying around is too boring, sorry. I just vary the tops/straps I'm wearing while doing outdoor things and I've ended up with decent tans the last several years.

Whatever you do, don't use a tanning bed/salon. They are really dangerous. Several states (including WA) are trying to ban anyone under 18 yo from using them.

I mixed a self tanner lotion into my regular moisturizer. Half tanner/half lotion. I put it on all over except my face after every shower. It keeps me just a bit tan. Just tan enough not to be embarassed to wear shorts. When I'm going somewhere hot or wearing a swimsuit I use more tanner and less lotion. It gives me total control of how dark I want to be.

I go water skiing every chance I get. But I use sunscreen and wear a 50 spf swim shirt. This year I am also getting the spf 50 leggings.
If I feel I need some color, I use the Jergen's natural glow. It has never streaked like the others.
Even though I am careful, I had to have 2 precancerous (melanoma) moles removed last fall.
Please don't use the beds!

Self tan only. How would you feel if you were diagnosed with melanoma?? Not worth it. I am tempted to bc my paleness is gross but don't get any color, too risky!

I don't normally tan I burn. Sometimes if I get a really bad burn it once it goes away i can tan after that but if I get that burnt I get sick so I persure my purly white. It's hard though for me not to get burnt if I go out to long in the summer. I have to re apply sun screen like once an hour or close to it since it's so hot. If I were you I would do a spray tan. That's the safest!!!

I tan the natural way by playing outside in the summer with my kids by the pool!

I apply the sunscreen but by the end of the summer I have built up a nice golden brown and as a freckled face girl, I am proud of this accomplishment, it is not always easy not to burn when you have the freckly skin but somehow I managed to get enough of my father's heritage (that we don't really know, his Mother would never tell who is real father was, so sad) and I am thankful for it!

Growing up on the beach, in the summers, my Father would get SO dark...

If you go to a tanning salon they can give you the spray tan. Then it's even and looks better then home tanning lotions. But I also lay in the sun. yes I know that's bad but it feels so good. I don't do it all summer long, just a few times here and there through out the summer to keep a pretty glow.

I wait until my son is napping and I lay out in the backyard in my bikini. I rub baby oil on my arms and legs and lay for about 30 mins on my back then another 30 mins on my belly and I do this for about 3 days and then once I have a nice tan I lather my body in sunblock to avoid getting any darker or sunburned :-)

I don't tan on purpose, but my kids are on swim team and I run, so I'm out there a lot. I do use sunscreen, but when you're in the sun that much you're bound to get a little color!

Last Spring I was running outside a lot. I wore a tank top so my shoulders got some color but my stomach did not. When I went to put on a bathing suit in May my stomach was a much lighter shade than the rest of me - it wasn't a pretty sight. So I found a really good self tanner - Jergens! It seemed just like lotion when I put it on. I don't think I was particularly careful, and it didn't streak at all. The color is gradual, so this year I think I'll begin the "stomach tanning" process a week or so before I'm actually putting on the bathing suit. I highly recommend Jergens! (cheap too, at Walmart!)

I am angelically pale. But when I need a tan, I use a tanning lotion. They are MUCH better now than they used to be, less orange streaking and all that.
Lots of good reviews on the best ones online.

Of course, I do go swimming or yard work in the summer and get a natural glow, but I am always careful to put on lots of high spf sunscreen, and not to be out in the worst time of the day.

I don't tan. (*sigh) I just get a little pink or just a tiny bit "tan" (noone else would know it's a tan, but it's tanned for us).

What we "do"? We play outside at least 30 minutes every day, even if rainy. We are at the beach 3 days a week, but we don't "lay out" because when I was young it was incredibly boring and with kids, I'm too busy. We run the beach, fly kites, fish, throw a football, play soccer, build castles, play in the water a lot. Just "doing stuff". It's never going to be a perfect or even "tan" that way, but we're having fun and getting our vitamin D on.
To protect ourselves from damaging rays, we do play in the mornings and early evenings unprotected....but if going to the beach or staying out for an hour or more, we always use sunblock. And we aren't out generally outside at all from 12:30-3:30 (lunch, naps, heat of the day, blech).

I play outside. With sunscreen spf 15 on my face. I'm pretty dark so I get a tan in spite of the sunscreen. Cannot stand to lie in the sun for color. Too many fun things to do outside.

the real deal. sun. no sun beds or lotions or anything like that.
i can't wait for summer so i can go to the beach. i look 'healthy' when i have a tan. otherwise, the rest of the year i look sick.

I am a blonde hair light eyed girl. I do not tan, just burn! I hate it! At the same time I love it! I have tried the self tanners but sometimes they can be orange or streak. I have tried mystic tanning, sometimes it can make you splotchy. I have done custom airbrush tanning and I love it. The only thing is you stand there naked or as I do in a strapless bra and panties and someone actually sprays you. It turns out beautifully. I think I like my light pale skin the most though. I dont have to worry about cancer or spending a fortune at the salon for the airbrush tan. Flaunt your natural beauty, it's how you were meant to be...don't fake it!

I'm with you, am 34 and although I've only used tanning beds a few times an have used at least 15 sunscreen since I was a teenager and am always the palest, I still have tons of moles and a huge sunspot on my cheek, so I am a self-tanner now. (am a little bitter that a lot of friends tan year-round and have perfect skin!)
Used to do Tan Co Mystic tan ever week and was very happy, just on a budget now. Liked Loreal Sublime on my legs but now use Jergens Natural Glow and am AMAZED. NO streaks and the color came on fast. Doesnt have the weird smell either that Mystic Tanning had. Good luck!

I'm pasty and proud. :) Being blonde and fair, sunless tanners just look weird. I get sun in my outdoor activities, but I stopped laying out when I was about 20 years old.
Do people really still go to tanning beds? I'm interested to hear!

i have used Hemp Lotion that you can get at Sally's Beauty Supply, they have one that has a tanning agent and it will slowly tan your skin.

im pale too.. i know this is horrible for your skin but i get one good burn in.. once it fades a little bit i tan on top of it.. after that first burn i use a higher spf lotion and lay out in the sun as often as possible.. my fiance on the other hand absolutley couldnt get a tan if he tried.. unless it was a spray on one i guess.. no matter what he does no matter how much lotion or how high the spf he he ends up looking like a lobster.. the whole it will fade and turn to tan thing doesnt work on him .. in the past i bought this great lotion, it wasnt a tanner just a lotion with a shimmery bronze tint to it.. after using it for a while u do look tanner

I use Loreal sublime bronze self tanner. I love it. It gives an instant glow and a nice shimmery effect also. You should exfoliate your skin first especially the dry areas like elbows, knees, ankles and such.

What I do is mix half a drop of self tanner with my regular lotion and apply it where needed. It helps to make it more subtle and gradual and I never see any streaks or funny looking dark spots that way. You can keep doing this every day til you get as dark as you want, and then maybe once or twice a week to maintain.
As for your back I just rub it in as far as I can reach, or have hubby or someone help you.

As for me, I just burn and peel.

I occasionally get a farmer's tan, but that's about the extent of it. I've given up on getting a hollywood tan.

Good luck to you and yours.

I have always tanned, I've done natural in the sun and in tanning salons too. I love being brown. I have also used sunless tanners. Coppertone has a great one that my daughter and I use. I have not found it to streak either. I have also gotten spray tans. They last around two to three weeks. If you suppliment with a sunless lotion it lasts longer. Venetian Tan and Celcius have great spray tans. They actually have someone that sprays you so it is really even and streakfree. If you want that sunkissed look but not be in the sun, go for the spray. Groupon has deals sometimes and I think Venetian has a special going on right now too. I hope this is helpful. Good luck and God Bless.

Normally, I'm just really, really white, and I figure people can like it or not look at me. If I am wearing something where I feel like I need to look tan, I use Sally Hansen Airbrush Legs. Basically, it's kind of like makeup, but it stays on until you scrub it off with soap and water. Anyway, I use it on my legs, and also on my arms. If I need it on my back, I make my husband help me. I can never get the self-tanning lotion to go on right, and on me it is always streaky. But the Sally Hansen stuff has always worked well for me!

I use sunscreen, but live in Texas and have several acres to mow each week. We're also in the water all the time because it's so crazy hot all the time. I get dark, and worry about skin cancer even with using sunscreen. I never, ever burn, but still worry. What's a girl to do?

As to your question, pretty and pale sounds lovely. :)