What made you start???

[Tropical Image]

Hey all,

I thought it would be interesting to find out how everyone got into tanning and why??? Describe ur first time!

_________________
[ This Message was edited by: Tropical Image on 2003-05-18 15:17 ]

[njchica]

great question! I got into it in a September when I had gone back to college... I didn't want to lose my color. that was 4 years ago and I haven't been pale since!

[Momtowolf]

All my good friends were tanning to get ready for a Las Vegas trip they were going on....I didn't want to be the only white one!!! LOL

[Tropical Image]

haha.... my first time was very scary..... i remember my hairdresser was twenty -one and I was only 15, she was sooooo tan and told me about the tanning salon... I asked her every question I could think of... I thought the bed closed all the way shut and locked u in it I then finally begged my mom to let me because my boyfriends senior prom was coming up and she caved in!

[Anya1976]

i started tanning cus of a vacation to vegas too my mom and i decided that we wanted some color b4 we went so when we wore shorts we wouldn't blind anyone lol i have been tanning since. only in the past couple years i've been tanning year round

[tr0nado]

Why I got started using tanning beds and why? Ummm...
For one, if you wanna tan naked you can (this doesn't apply to nudist colonies & beaches obviously).
2. No tan lines (goes with reason 1) if you so desire.
3. No flies or stinging insects to bother you while tanning. I know how much UV I'm getting. With the sun, its always a guessing game.
4. No baking in hot & humid air to get tan.
5. No spying from neighbours (unless you're an exhibitionist or something, lol).
6. Tans you more evenly than the sun.
My first time was back in 1991 or 1992 in a plain jane 24 bulb sundash bed that the town's Gym had. I enjoyed it. Off and on through the last 11 or so years, I tanned either in the bed or outside. I prefer the tanning bed vs. the sun any day.

[luvyatan]

I first started tanning for my Jr prom. That was like 12 years ago

[newtanner27]

Well im not a skinny minnie and i think tan fat looks better than white fat so im trying very hard to make myself look a little better.

[Anya1976]

Quote:
On 2003-05-18 20:04, newtanner27 wrote:
Well im not a skinny minnie and i think tan fat looks better than white fat so im trying very hard to make myself look a little better.
lol i so agree

[colorgod]

I started for a prom that I was taking my girlfriend to 2 years ago.

I love it.
[ This Message was edited by: colorgod on 2003-05-18 20:31 ][ This Message was edited by: colorgod on 2003-05-18 20:33 ]

[Laurel]

The first time I ever tanned was back in '88 and then again in '91 for my wedding. I got so dark then and want to get that dark again.

[pb3wb]

im going to mexico in a few more weeks wanted to build a base. Now im getting compliments quite often. I think tanning makes you jump up a full point on the ten point scale. I will finally be a 3! just kidding. I also workout, a tan makes you look leaner and more muscular. I just wish it wasnt bad for you or I would be tanned year round.

_________________
[ This Message was edited by: pb3wb on 2003-05-18 21:26 ]

[sunbunny]

I don't remember not being tan. Whether from the sun or a bed. My first time tanning in a bed was in 1986. Being in a bed for 20 minutes was a lot easier than being outside roasting for a couple of hours.

[nitrooverride]

Was adopted by Chunn. I don't know how he got started.

[nikptbo]

i got started because one day a friend and i decided hey, lets go for a tan... and iloved it so much i was hooked(even though i burned my first time)

[LavenderFleur]

Hmmm...I don't really remember how I got started. I think some of the girls at work were tanning and I wanted to be tan too! I definitely prefer tanning indoors to outdoors. Especially with this Texas heat and bugs! Eeeew!

[CarolinaSizzle]

I started back in 1986 when I was competing in body building comps and using the orange in a bottle with a sponge applicator wasnt working too well......back then I was tanning for 30 minutes as that was the max time allowed .....wow....ya know....I always bought 3 month unlimted packages for $29.95 too.......I have continued to tan since then ..... only took time off when I was pregnant!

[Bonnie]

I guess the first time I used a tanning bed was high school. I grew up on a ranch in Central California so always got some sun just normally. I remember when I was about 14 tanning nude behind the barn with my best friend! it seemed so daring! The hair salon in the nearest town had an old 24 bulb Wolff bed I used in about 10th grade. I really got into it seriously when I went to LA for college; I wanted to darken out for my fitness competition, and my summer job preferred I have minimal tanlines (actually I had a really prominent thong tan line at the time which is now gone)

[lilmountaingrrl]

I got into tanning just by going to a salon right before i was going back to nebraska to see my parents. I ended up going each summer after that right before vacations, and now i do it because i enjoy it, and it helps my eczema. Not to mention i look better tan.... i dont feel so blah, and it puts me in a better mood.

[Bonnie]

I'm gonna kick this back up for our new members!

[camarolynn73]

I've been very white all my life. This spring a guy said he could see my veins in my legs(not veracose veins) mispelled that! I have not had good results from tanning beds in the past due to peoples advice on how to use them.I've even gone to the doctor twice. This year I said one last try. I studied on it this late time, with very good results so far. Even if I don't get any darker but I probably will, I am happy!

[palefacegirl]

I just like how I look and feel when I have a little color. Tanning relaxes me. I don't like to tan outside . It is too hot in Texas to lay out and bake. The bugs are horrible.

[brandibit]

Well I started tanning because I was so darn pale. Natural red head here. I would burn outside so started tanning. First visit only was for 4 minutes :lol

I also lost quite a bit of weight and started feeling good about myself again. I joined a gym and tanning all to make me feel good about ME.

[ladyboss]

I used to always lay-out in the sun about 4 years ago the Hair Salon I went to got in a tanning bed and the owner talked me into giving it a try-I was really nervous at first but after 1 session I was hooked and she gave me unlimited tanning for a month for free! I was there every day! I don't tan year round I start in May going every other day for about a month now I'm going once a week to keep my tan-

[scout]

My sister went and she got wayyyy dark! So I started to go... Now I'm the dark one!

[Kristygal]

There was a tanning place at the end of my parent's street, so I could just walk there (I was only 15).

[TravisMT81]

Well I remember it was in high school and my family and a couple other families were going on vacation to where else Disney World. Anyway they were going to the tanning salon so I had to go to. And I became addicted.

[BrownJen]

I started tanning about 6 years ago because I hated being pale. Plus, I really hate tan lines. To me there is nothing worse than having whatever didn't get in the sun be white.

[sherlynn 01]

2 years ago me and my husband was going on atrip to vagas and i did not want to be goast white.

[BriansBunny]

I got sick of running inside everytime a Wasp flew by me while I was tanning outside..

[DaniX]

I started when I got laid off last June. I had the greatest tan ever from spending my time outside and I didn't want to lose it. Not to mention, a Holloywood Tans opened up a half mile away from my house about 3 weeks after I was laid off.

Being tan made me look and feel so amazing when I was in such a low place after being laid off. It's definitely a morale and confidence booster!

[LilSurfGal]

Well i work as a lifeguard during the summer and im always outdoors and at the beach so i use tanning beds in the winter to up keep my colour.

[Pandora]

I started working at a tanning salon, so free tanning for me! (No, I had NEVER tanned before i started working here!)

[jayell79]

I’ve always been tan and I love swim & lay out in the sun. Nothing better than that to me. I like the way the warm sun feels on my skin. I can remember my first time tanning indoors, I was 16 or 17 and dragged there by a terribly freckled light skinned friend. She always burned in the sun, but wanted a tan. She played it smart and went little teeny amounts at a time & waiting for me to finish my 15 min. drover her crazy. After that, I didn’t tan indoors much at all. Then several years ago, the pool by us closed, I started a major re-modeling project on a 2,000 sq. ft. 100+ year-old house AND I started a new computer job. Needless to say, I was indoors all the time and my color faded fast! & what didn’t fade (arms & face) made for nasty tan lines! So I’ve been tanning indoors to try to keep what color I had left and to get rid of nasty tan lines. But if we had a pool nearby us again, I would be there everyday. I would take the real sun anyday over lamps! I get much darker outside.

[imnoho]

I used to be so white. I had two nicknames - Snowball & Powder. My friends pressured me into tanning, and it was graet because one of the girls owns the tanning bed, so I just go over to her house. I'm totally addicted. Now I'm darker than all of them.

[jestek19]

When I moved to TN, I noticed EVERYONE went to the tanning bed. I down-right refused to go. Well my best friend kept trying to get me to go. Then someone I was interested in, commented that I was too pale. So one day I finally gave in and went, I loved it, and have been goin AT LEAST once a week since.

[Bonnie]

Let's hear from the new members!

[J74]

I started about 10 years ago to prep for a best-beach-body competition.

[Tom Sederburg]

I went a couple times with some girl I was seeing back in 8th grade but after we broke up I didn't start to go again until my junior year of highschool.

My natural skin color is like soooo white.

I just couldn't take it anymore.

Later,
Tom

[California Tan]

I just wanted to get a tan.

[Scott]

I started in the mid eighties, a friend had started going and wanted me to go. I went, and have been hooked ever since. I went about 10 years without tanning and have just recently started going again. The equipment and bulbs back in the 80's was differernt. You tanned for 30 or more minutes and had to keep going almost every day to maintain. Now I tan for 12 minutes once or twice a week and maintain a great tan.

[EXTRACRISPY]

I STARTED TANNING INDOORS FOR 20 MINUTES OF RELAXATION AND THEN I LIKED BEING TAN ALL YEAR LONG,ALWAYS LOOKING LIKE I JUST GOT BACK FROM VACATION.IT ALSO HELPS ME FEEL BETTER IN THESE NORTHEAST WINTERS...

[usasungoddess]

well i strted when i was a little girl a bit for pageants and did it like 3 weeks b-4 every pageant at about age 5 and then i was 13 or 14 when i started doing it like all the time and then i quit about 2 years ago and started back up last year but i dont tan during oct- feb.

[RainCloud]

I have always tanned in the summer but laying out by the pool. This year during summer all it did was rain whenever I had some time off. A new salon was opening up near the end of July and by that time I could not take the lack of tan any longer, so I gave it a try since the first one was for free. WOW! I could not believe the color I got on the first session because the owner let me go the full 20 minutes in a 32 bulb bed. Now the 4th of July weekend was real sunny and I did have a good base tan, but I had those dreaded tan lines. The owner, her name is Kim, asked if I had unexposed areas and I said that I was going to keep them covered. Yea right!!! I hiked my shorts up to see if these tanning beds really worked, I mean I had those pearly white butt cheeks, so what better place to see if the beds produced any real results. At first after my first session I did not see anything, I thought “I didn’t get a thing.” WRONGGGGGGG!!! My butt was beat red in about 3 hours, and I was hooked. I could not believe the results and have been going ever since. It took at least 3 weeks to finally get rid of those tan lines, needless to say, I keep my butt covered for the next 10 days after that. OOOOOOOOOOOOuch!!!

[Blondie41280]

I got tired of being so pale and people makin comments to me asking if I was sickly or if I wore white makeup to make myself look whiter. Riiiiight.

[Sc0tt]

I've always been really tan in the summer as a kid, just from being outside and as I got older I wasn't outside as much in the summer. Now I can get dark inside too, even though i spend a lot of time laying out.

[TanSugar64]

I got into it because I'd always gotten a nice tan in the summer when I was younger by laying outside. But as I got older, and went to school and got a job...no time to lay out like I used to. So I started using self-tanners, which was a lot of effort. It didn't occur to me to try tanning indoors, but when I finally did, I never stopped. I remember beng afraid of getting claustrophobic in the bed, getting burned, etc...but it was a totally positive experience right from the start. I loved the lotions, and how quick it was, and how tan I got. Now I tan all year round and I laugh when I look at pics of me ghostly white...never again!

[Val]

I started tanning indoor because of this board! Last summer I was tanning outside and did a search for the lotion I had and found this board. After that I had to try indoor tanning

[Tpsyduck]

I think I was about 16 when I started indoor tanning, and I did it because I wanted to be tan all the time, and I hated laying outside LOL

[dancetan4ever]

for a science project tanning vs. self tanners, and i have tanned ever since

[Vikingdotter]

I grew up on a farm in Värmland, Sweden, and I've always been really tan on the whole body in the summer as a girl. Just from my "outdoor-lifestyle" and I do a lot of swimming in the neraby lake, usually nude (not uncommon here) and make trips to the sea (Kattegatt, the strait beween North Sea and Baltic Sea) as often as possible. Later I made vacations to the south: France, Greece, Turkey and the Canaries - if possible on nude beaches. I discovered indoor tanning some years ago as preperation for a summer vacation on Lanzarote (an Canary Island, exaclty a pice of Sahara thrown into the ocean ) - and the pretanning really works!
I prefer tanning on a nice nude or clothing optional beach, but vacations are only a few weeks, the summer isn´t exactly long here in the north, so I tan indoor the (long) rest of the year.
________________

A good harvest and peace![ This Message was edited by: Vikingdotter on 2003-11-07 00:36 ]

[LucaBella]

I have always been really pale and I used to like it, but then my sister started working at a really good tanning salon and she got really dark, and looked really good. I didn't go for at least a year after she started but I finally did because my graduation was in 3 months and I wanted to look really good (and I did lol), so that was my main reason, and now I will never go back, I love it!!

[MizzBunnay]

i acually used to tan outdoor only, but my friend went to a tanning salon and asked me to come with her, since then im addicted lol

[CaramelSpice]

I started tanning when i was 15.I got a job at a hair/tanning salon where i live as a receptionst. well we got our services and tanning for free so I gave it a shot! well turns out that me and tanning get along well ....and i quit that job for another salon and then I quit that job, now i'm working at a tanning salon that i love! i like helping people reach their tanning goals with lotions etc! I also like that people i work with and i love being tan!

[light my tiki 72]

confidence reasonS. I was the super pale white girl wasting my beautiful italian skin on being pale!! It definitely makes me feel better to tan!

[BronzedBunz]

I'd always loved to tan outdoors (I remember my mom baking outside coated in baby oil, with a drop of iodine, of corse, lol). I started indoors when a couple of girls from work wanted to get a head start on their summer tan. So I wanted to try the tanning beds. I asked my friends a million questions, and then finally went for the first time. I absolutely loved it. Then I started getting into lotions and upgrade beds. Now I can't live without tanning. I love the way I look tan, the complimentsI get, plus, I usually go tanning after work, and it's just sooo relaxing!

[wannatan]

I was started at the beginning of this summer actually, after finishing my second year in Uni I was into like a fresh start or something new as in self-improvement, and I was trying exercise, learning to drive etc., and I was always kinda shy about the idea of man-made tan by actually going to a salon (my uni town is really small and because of my boyfriend, lots of people I don't know even know me, and I'm on the contrary shy and self-conscious!).

At the same time I had always been really pale, always paler than the other palest person around, and I really wanted a tan; I had mystic tan once when I was in London and it looked really good but expensive, so I really wanted a tan that may even make me look better!

So I crept into the salon and signed up, I must have seemed wierd 'cos I had so many questions... but I tried it at least and decided to try the programme of building up a tan. My first session was 4 minutes in a stand-up booth, and I had no lotion because had no idea about tanning at the time! I learnt a lot on the way though. So once I started, I didn't want to stop, I was intent of trying to get a tan! So... that's my story.

[rocker-tan]

I was a junior in high school and had been a lifeguard in the summer. I had a great tan and it faded. i got a job at an exclusive gym that had free tanning for employees. I got addicted to tanning! I felt great. My self esteem was much higher, and I recieved alot more female attention. I met my girlfriend at that gym and I have been with her ever since!

[Kay]

When i was 12 till i was 22 i was a model and wasnt allowed to tan. It got to be too demanding, and with the birth of my daughter, i wanted to have a steady job, so i stopped. When i was modelling, i wasnt allowed to 1)tan 2)die my hair anything crazy - like blonde (as i'm euro-asian, they didnt feel that the blonde wasnt marketable) 3) get any additional piercings. When it was official that i was going to stop, i kind of went through this rebelious stage of doing everything i couldnt do before. I started tanning, went and got my belly button and 3 cartilidge peircings and died my hair blonde... My hair is brunette again right now, but i still have all my piercings and i have not, and will not stopped tanning

[voom]

Last year, at the beginning of the summer I went to the pool and this guy that had been after me all summer looked at me and goes "oh my god shes a GHOST" and quickly told his friends (which are my friends and they told me later) that he had lost all attraction for me. So, basically inspite of that meanie i decided to not be a ghost at the beginning of this summer lol.

[kgushanas]

My friend introduced me to indoor tanning about a year ago when I was 21. I had no idea what to do. I didn't even use a lotion when I went the first couple of times!! I didn't even know there was lotions to use to accelerate your tan. honestly, I've learned most of my info from this website. Thanks!

[SassyKat]

When I was 15, my friend and I tanned for the junior prom. I have tanned every year since then and I am now 30.

[Misty]

I started tanning for prom too sassykat! I have been tanning every since.

[Ringman]

My last landlord offered me free use of her tanning bed. That was over 3 years ago. After moving from there, I have been going to tanning salon ever since. I just enjoy the relaxation of tanning and the 'feeling good about myself' I get from being tan.

[BrownBabyDoll]

I started when I was 15.I was super pasty and burned if I was out in the sun for even 15 mins.I didn't really become tanorexic until I was about 17.

[cmaacm]

let me first say that i hadn't had a tan in 10 years(i know wow!!) i have lived in minnesota all of my life. i met my husband when he was on an extended vacation here, and he ended up staying here with me for 5 years. he is from jamaica and thats where im moving on june 17th. i started tanning, so i wouldn't look like a lobster when i went out in the sun there. i always burn in the sun,i was pleasnatly suprised to not burn at all in the bed. i am in love with tanning now

[ashleywinter]

I was just really tired of being so pale. And as a small child I was always outside and was tan all the time. But over the last 10 years I would say, I always wear jeans and never go outside so I was very pale. I've got some good color now and if I can ever figure out how to work my little digital camera then I'll post some pics.

[SOCALTAN]

Last summer I did the Mystic every 4 to 7 days. Then I found this site and decided to try the tanning bed. With all you guys help I felt OK about doing it.

[pb3wb]

did it to look leaner and more attractive. Thats it. Everyone looks better with a tan, but there are many that take it to far.

[dudebrown]

Living in Alaska I didn't realize how white I was then I went home to Florida and I stood out like a ghost been tanning ever since

[_bikini012]

Im naturally VERY pale, and people at school kept making fun of me and my whiteness and I was getting sick and tired of it. I begged my mom to let me tan, at first, she wouldn't even give it a second thought, it was a firm NO. I kept begging and eventually she said she would take me, but she told me all of the dangers and stuff and to just be really careful. I've been hooked since. Im glad she gave it, nobody says anything anymore =D

[havnfun]

I live in a very small town and some friends of ours got a tanning bed and put it above their hardware store. My husband bought me a 3 month unlimited last summer and it became addictive. I said I would never go to a tanning bed, oh well....

[arussell]

I am very pale and got tired of never wearing shorts or wearing dress with panty hose which I hate!

[readyformycloseup]

I started indoor tanning a few months ago. I tanned all last summer at the lake and the beach and I was so dark. I noticed I was losing a significant amount of color over the winter and it made me sad. I decided I wasn't going to wait for Mr. Sunshine to come around so here I am! I really enjoy not having the goofy bikini top tan lines

[tanningobsessed]

at first it was because i was so tan now i just love the indoor tanning lifestyle and the relaxation i get.

[summergirl]

lets see, it was at the end of march this year and i was so sick of being pale. and all my friends went to the beach for spring break and they were all tan so i wanted to be too. peer pressure is a bad bad thing...

[Denise6655]

I lost 40 lbs and was reaalllllly white. I was tired of going to gym and looking pasty. So I started to tan and I have to agree with most of the people on the board tan fat looks hella better than white fat.

[ohiogirl]

I work outside often wearing polo shirts and knee length shorts as our uniform so I had a really bad farmer's tan I had to even out. Plus I think I was the only person I knew that hadn't gone tanning before. I probably looked completely lost at the salon my first day especially since where I live its rare for a HS or college age girl NOT to tan. And I was there asking how to turn the bed on lol.

[luv2tan]

An apartment complex that I moved into when I was about 16 had 2 tanning beds that residents could use. It was free so I started.

[MissIceCrmBooty]

My friends had been tanning for years, I begged my mom for nearly two years to let me go (since i wasnt 18 yet and needed parent permission) my mom is soo agaist tanning beds (she's had skin cancer 6 times). I did a lot of research on the internet about it being safe when you take all the percautions and finally before my senior prom she let me start tanning...well a year and half later I'm pretty addicted to being dark. My mom is very very agaist it I try to go when she is not home and wont notice I went...truth is she's actually just very jealous she cant even use self tanner she's allergic to it and she grew up on the beach and was always tan at my age now she cant tan at all. I understand her concern for skin cancer but she knows my skin is a shade or two darker and I do take precations. But yah thats my story!

[JerseyBlonde]

I used to be called Casper the Ghost I started tanning my freshman year of high school and haven't stopped since! Tanning just makes you feel so much better about yourself. Even on a bad day, you still look great because your tan!

[Gidget]

I was training at the health club and those new tanning cabin came out so I tried them and been hook every since but I took a break for many years. That was 1972, yikes, now I feel old!

[SexyKitty]

One of my friends tanned and I loved her color. I was kinda scared to go beacuse I didnt know what it was all about. What lotions to buy, how often to go, what type of bed to use etc...I decided to try a Mystic Tan first to give me the nice golden glow and it was great but it faded fast and its to expensive to upkeep so I said F-It Im going in the beds! It was overwhelming at first and I spent alot of money. After going and getting color I loved how it looked and now Id never go back to being pale. I just remember being such a newbie and not knowing anything and now Im like a pro *lol* This board has really helped!