With all the warnings and info about skin cancer and wrinkles, you would think that most people use sunscreen, at least when they are deliberately in the hot sun, but that is so not true! Most of the people I saw that were using sort of sun product item had the dark brown bottles of tanning oil, not sunscreen. If only there was a tanning tax on the sun – okay I know I’m crazy.

Tanning Oil
So what is tanning oil? It’s basically the exact opposite of sunscreen. Tanning oil contains ingredients like mineral oil and coconut oil that make your skin shiny in order to magnify the sun’s burning/tanning ability. Some tanning oils and tanning lotions come without SPF, but a lot of them contain a low SPF 4 or 8. Hawaiian Tropic and Banana Boat are some of the most popular drugstore brands that make SPF tanning oils (which is an oxymoron). When you slather on a slippery, shiny oil, you’re going to burn faster, so the minimal SPF 4 is barely offering you any sun protection. What really bothers me is that by offering an SPF, Banana Boat can claim they are “helping to prevent sunburn.” Sure. That’s like my friend who doesn’t think his smoking is that bad because he smokes “natural cigarettes.”

I know most people understand that tanning oils promote skin cancer and wrinkles, but when I was a teenager, I really had no idea. Because the tanning products had the SPF, I thought it was sort of good for my skin, and I thought it meant I could get tan but protect myself at the same time – the best of both worlds. Unfortunately now I know nothing could be further from the truth, but it took me 20 years to figure it out. It’s amazing how much smarter you suddenly become when premature wrinkles show up in your early 20s! I’m not the only one that is misinformed because after reading reviews of these tanning oils online, I realize people wrongly believe these products are helping them safely tan (which is impossible because tanning is always unsafe). So don’t be fooled - it may be sold in the same aisle as sunscreen, but tanning oil is not your friend!

If it has the word Tanning or Oil in the product name, don’t use it when you go in the sun. I noticed Banana Boat also makes a “protective” tanning oil with an SPF 15. That sounds like it’s good for your skin, but there’s no way around it – putting tanning oil on your skin (even with an SPF 15) is damaging when you’re exposed to UV rays from the sun or a tanning bed. Baby oil is another product that you don’t want to slather on before hitting the beach! There’s nothing wrong with using these products as a nice coconut scented skin moisturizer – as long as you don’t mind mineral oil, the products themselves are usually fine for skin.

Stick with sun products that are called Sunscreen or Sunblock – and especially use a high SPF sunscreen if you are going to be in the sun for a while. If you want to be happy like the girls in the picture, wear sunscreen! If you use tanning oils or skip the sunscreen, you will regret it later – guaranteed! And that’s the end of my tanning oil rant!

Related posts:

1. Australian Gold Tanning Lotion – Friend or Foe?
2. The Tanning Tax
3. Do You Need A High SPF Sunscreen?

So it turns out that DHA (Dihydroxyacetone), the ingredient in self tanners that gives you color, also creates free radicals, which ironically age the skin:( This information comes from one study out of Germany that showed a 180% increase in free radical formation during sun exposure after using a product with a 5% level of DHA. The increase in free radicals from the sun lasts for about 24 hours. Most drugstore sunless tanning products contain 3-5% DHA. Professional products can contain up to 15% DHA. I have a feeling spray tans are pretty high in DHA since they can produce such dramatic results.

How to keep your skin safe when wearing self tanner
Essentially, don’t go in the sun if you’re wearing a self tanner! Luckily, that’s the point of self tanners – to avoid the need for sun exposure to get tan. Of course it’s impossible to totally avoid the sun, so wear lots of sunscreen, plus put on a topical product with antioxidants to neutralize the extra free radicals. And it’s only the first 24 hours that produces the extra free radicals, and most people only apply self tanner every few days.

Erythulose, which is another self tanner ingredient, also causes a similar increase in free radicals. I’ve only heard of this one particular German study on sunless tanning ingredients, so maybe other studies would show different results, but I sort of doubt it. The study goes on to say ”…dihydroxyacetone also has an effect on the amino acids and nucleic acids which is bad for the skin.” This is what scares me the most, because I don’t know what exactly that means, and does that mean DHA is bad for your skin even if you don’t go in the sun? UGH. Leslie Baumann, a Dermatologist who wrote one of my favorite books “The Skin Type Solution” also reports on whether self tanner ingredients are dangerous.

Will this information have any impact on how much you use self tanners? Usually I am too lazy to apply self tanner regularly, but now that spring is here, I am self-conscious about my big pasty arms, and in fact I just slathered on some self tanner on them this morning. I will definitely skip applying self tanner on days I know I will be outside, but I don’t see myself giving up on them completely. I haven’t used many bronzers, but maybe I will look into those for my face as an alternative.

Related posts:

1. What Self Tanners Smell The Best?
2. Self-Tanner Moisturizers
3. L’Oreal Sublime Bronze Self-Tanner

Now if only they could tax excessive outdoor tanning – that alone could probably rake in enough money to make health insurance free! Ha. I’m not completely against going out in the sun, because Vitamin D from sun exposure (or supplements) is vital to our health, but moderation is the key!

The Botax
Similar to the Tan Tax, the Botax had been proposed also, and it would have meant a 5% tax on cosmetic procedures, such as Botox and elective plastic surgery. For now, though, it appears that tax is not going to happen. This is great news for girls on “The Real Housewives of Orange County.” The main reason they need so much plastic surgery, Botox, and fillers, is because they prematurely aged their skin with excessive tanning. Maybe Lynne could have saved her house if she had only worn sunscreen, thus not needing a facelift. Just kidding. I love that show!

What do you think about the Tan Tax? I’m sure there will be a lot of opponents to it.

Related posts:

1. Australian Gold Tanning Lotion – Friend or Foe?
2. Tanning Oil Is Not Sunscreen!
3. Good Plastic Surgery

L’Oreal Sublime Bronze ProPerfect Airbrush
I’ve never gotten a tan-in-a-can before, so using this product was new for me. According to the directions, you are supposed to spray the product continuously at arm’s length, and you don’t need to rub it in. Just spray, wait a few minutes, get dressed, and you are done. The color is supposed to being to develop in less than an hour.

Pros
I’ve used this product every day for a week, and there are a few things I really like about it. It smells better than every other self-tanner I’ve used. It smells exactly like the Sublime Bronze Gelee that I normally use, and it has a nice light pleasant scent. The product dries really quickly, and it doesn’t contain alcohol, so it doesn’t dry my skin out very much. It’s super fast and easy to use, however it’s not possible to reach every place on my body, so I mostly used it on my arms and legs.

Cons
The main problem I had with the Sublime Bronze ProPerfect Airbrush was that it didn’t do much. You are supposed to use it every day until you reach your desired color, and then maintain the results by using it once or twice a week. I really didn’t get that much darker after the week was up. Maybe I just didn’t use enough of the product? The good news is that I had almost no streaking. I did have a streak on my arm, and I think the key is to hold the product as far away from you as possible. If you do end up with any wet patches, just lightly rub them in. If I had used more of the product, I wonder if the results would have been better. But then the chances of streaking or unevenness would have increased.

The verdict
If using an airbrush tanning product intrigues you, then it’s definitely worth trying. Like any self-tanner, practice makes perfect, so once you get the hang of it, your results should get better. Since I have dry skin, after I used this product, I waited a while and then applied a moisturizer over it. Because of my need for a moisturizer, I’m going to stick with my Sublime Bronze Gelee, mixed with a moisturizer. I also feel like I have a bit more control of the product when I’m using a gel/lotion, rather than a spray, since I can tell exactly what areas I’ve covered.

Read more reviews of L’Oreal Sublime Bronze ProPerfect Airbrush at TotalBeauty.com

Related posts:

1. L’Oreal Sublime Bronze Self-Tanner
2. What Self Tanners Smell The Best?
3. Are Self Tanners Bad For Skin?

Currently I use:
L’Oreal Sublime Glow, Daily Moisturizer For Face
and
Neutrogena Build-A-Tan Face

These are good products because they don’t contain pore-clogging ingredients, so they should be okay to use if you are acne-prone. Most self-tanners smell horrible to me, but these are tolerable, and the scent fades after a few minutes.

Both the L’Oreal and Neutrogena contain SPF 15, but I kind of wish they didn’t. Neither product contains zinc oxide, which is the ingredient I look for in a sunscreen. Both products sometimes make my face sting a bit due to the chemical sunscreen ingredients. The results from them look the same, so it’s hard to recommend one over the other. They are both good, light moisturizers, which should be good for anyone with dry to normal skin.

Where did my tan go?
I’ve been using these self-tanners for a year or two and thought they were great. Within an hour of use, you have a subtle tan, and there’s absolutely no streaking, and the effect is very natural. With daily use, your tan is supposed to build to a nice, natural tan. It wasn’t until last week that I realized there was a problem with the self-tanners, and I was just too oblivious to notice. The tan washes away when you wash your face! Every morning I wake up, and my face looks just as pale as the day before. Maybe it’s ever so slightly darker, but not much. With regular self-tanners, the effect lasts several days. I exfoliate my skin quite a bit, which should help the tanner penetrate better.

I think the problem is that the self-tanner is tanning the moisturizer, which sits on your skin, and acts as a barrier. So little of the tanning product actually touches your skin. Do you have this problem? What self-tanners do you like for your face?

I’ll be looking into new self-tanners again soon, and will see what is available. I can’t remember the last non-moisturizer tanner I’ve used, since it’s been several years. I like how self-tanner moisturizers are foolproof, but I also want something that doesn’t require a daily application! Finally, in bad news, can self tanners be bad for skin?

Related posts:

1. L’Oreal Sublime Bronze Self-Tanner
2. What Self Tanners Smell The Best?
3. Are Self Tanners Bad For Skin?

The Foundation says “Fashion and beauty industry insiders have spoken.  Now it’s time for you to listen. The tanned look is no longer fashionable.  The tides have turned. Those in the know are going with their own glow.  You should too…The Foundation learned from a focus group of beauty editors  that radiant skin is the new beauty ideal.  That is what served as the inspiration for this campaign.  Tanning is undesirable – it’s not fashionable or healthy and therefore obsolete as a lifestyle.”

I totally agree! I’m all about self-tanners though. If I see a woman my age (early 30s) with beautiful tanned skin, then I assume she uses self-tanner (or has really excellent genes). When you get to my age and are a constant sun worshiper, your skin starts to look wrinkled, dull, leathery, and spotted. Faking it, or going with your own (paler) glow is the only way to go!

Check out the Go With Your Own Glow video.

Related posts:

1. Are Self Tanners Bad For Skin?
2. Self-Tanner Moisturizers
3. What Self Tanners Smell The Best?

Vitamin D can possibly prevent major diseases
The article talks about the importance of Vitamin D, stating it is essential to calcium absorption, and a lack of Vitamin D in our bodies can lead to all sorts of significant health issues like Osteoporosis, gum disease, muscle weakness, autoimmune disorders, hypertension, Diabetes, Arthritis, and Multiple Sclerosis. Scientists are discovering that sufficient Vitamin D may actually help to prevent certain types of cancer like breast, lung, colon, prostate, and stomach cancer.

Vitamin D mostly comes from the sun
Our bodies create Vitamin D when we are exposed to the UV rays of the sun. Wait a minute – we all know that sun exposure can give us cancer, so now it suddenly can prevent other types of cancer? What a paradox! In the Elle article, a doctor says that the closer to the equator you are, the more Vitamin D you can produce, and the lighter your skin, the more efficiently you can produce it. I can’t find any charts online, but I’ve seen charts that show the United States, and where you need to live in it to produce enough Vitamin D from the sun. Basically if you live in the southern part of the country – from Los Angeles, or farther south, and then straight through the country – Texas to Florida, etc., is where the line is drawn. If you live above that line, the UV rays may not be strong enough for adequate Vitamin D production, especially in the colder months. Food, apparently, does not give us an adequate supply of Vitamin D.

The doctor in Elle magazine suggests getting brief SPF-free sun exposure between 10am and 4pm, when the UVB rays are strongest. So maybe 10-15 minutes of sun exposure 3 times a week. This of course goes against the sun exposure warning I write about in my UV Index post and many Dermatologists highly disagree with this idea, stating that this would put you at a greater risk for skin cancer.

How to get Vitamin D from another source
A lot of people don’t live in warm climates that have a high UV index, so it might not even be possible to make sufficient Vitamin D. You can first go to your doctor if you are concerned, and he or she can do a blood test to check your Vitamin D levels. Then with your doctor’s advice, you can take a Vitamin D supplement of 1000 IE of D3, or cholecalciferol, the most active form of the vitamin. I’ve also seen a lot of Calcium/Vitamin D combo pills, and I would talk to your doctor about specific doses. Taking it with a meal will help with absorption.

Where I stand on the Vitamin D/Sun Exposure debate
I’m not a doctor and haven’t done a huge amount of research on the subject, but from my current knowledge, I’m convinced there is merit in being worried about a lack of Vitamin D. But lucky for me, except when I lived in San Francisco, I’ve always lived in a city that is close enough to the equator (Honolulu, Los Angeles, Las Vegas) for more than enough Vitamin D production. I also have a light skin type, which is ideal for Vitamin D absorption. I’ve never had my levels checked, though. What I personally do is wear sunscreen every day on my face, neck, and hands,  but keep my arms and legs free of sunscreen if I’m not going to actively be outside. Between walking to my car and doing errands in the hot sun, I think I’m getting enough Vitamin D just from being exposed to the direct sun 10 minutes a day every day. If I do go outside for longer than that, then I wear sunscreen on my arms and legs as well. But this way I’m protecting the parts of my body that age the fastest from the sun (face, neck, hands) but still getting a medicinal dose of Vitamin D. If I lived in a colder climate, or had a darker skin type, I would look into taking Vitamin D supplements.

Related posts:

1. Prevent Wrinkles By Tinting Your Car Windows
2. The Tanning Tax
3. What A Visit With Family Taught Me About Aging

Turns out the tv show was cancelled today, after just one day!!! Maybe it was due to bad ratings, or to the fact that the show sucked, but I think the real reason is that Lauren didn’t look “hot” because she looked old, so the whole premise of the show failed. Sorry Lauren. It’s not too late to turn back the clock by stopping tanning, getting some chemical peels and Photo Facials, wearing tons of sunscreen, and fake baking from now on. Oh, and hopefully she’ll stop at the Dermatologist to make sure she doesn’t have any cancerous lesions! Maybe then she can get a tv show that lasts more than a day!

Related posts:

1. Why Tan People Make Me Look Good
2. The Tanning Tax
3. Tanning Oil Is Not Sunscreen!

2 or less – LOW
It’s safe to be outside, but wear SPF 15+ if you burn easily, or are outside for more than a half hour.

3-5 MODERATE
Wear SPF 15+, and seek shade during midday hours. Wear sunglasses!

6-7 HIGH
Definitely wear SPF 15+, and don’t stay out during midday hours. Wear sunglasses and possibly a hat.

8-10 VERY HIGH
Wear SPF 30+ if you must be outside, and try to avoid the sun completely from 10am-4pm. Wear a hat and sunglasses.

11+ EXTREME
Wear SPF 30+ but try to avoid the sun completely. Wear a hat and sunglasses, and stay in the shade if you do go outside!

Additional info:
Sand, snow and water are highly reflective and can make you burn faster, so take extra precaution! Also make sure to re-apply your sunscreen every two hours.

I wear sunscreen every day, but if the UV Index is above 5, I try to stay indoors as much as possible! I used to have a little gadget that would tell me the UV Index, but I haven’t used it in a while.

Related posts:

1. Yikes! The UV Index Is 11+
2. The Best Sunscreen and Sunblock
3. Why Tan People Make Me Look Good

I remember going to the pool for a few hours once (the sun was overhead, which is bad), and sitting in the shade, with a hat and sunglasses on. I liberally re-applied my waterproof sunscreen with Avobenzene in it once an hour, and when I got back home, I was really dark and freckly! My skin also felt like it was burning as the sun hit it, but I wasn’t actually burned at all. I quickly gave up on Avobenzene. Avobenzene also is not photo-stable, meaning it breaks down when sunlight hits it, and there is evidence that it can actually cause free radicals, which will actually cause your skin to age faster! Yikes! Newer sunscreens on the market may contain Helioplex, which is a photo stabilizer for Avobenzene. Well, I’m still not going to use Avobenzene, even if it’s now supposed to last a few hours longer before it breaks down. Also, Mexoryl is a chemical sunscreen ingredient that was recently approved for use in the US. Unfortunately, the one sunscreen I used with it (La Roche-Posay Anthelios W Gel) gave me horrible breakouts, so I had to stop using it after a week. I wasn’t really able to tell how well it really worked. Mexoryl is supposed to be photo-stable, and it is supposed to neutralize free radicals (rather than cause them), so I may try another product with Mexoryl to find out once and for all if it’s the Mexoryl that clogs my pores, or something else in the Anthelios.

Here’s the good news! I have found sunscreens that actually work to not only keep me from burning, but to keep me from getting any tan or freckles. The secret I found is to go with sunscreens with high levels of Zinc Oxide in them! Zinc Oxide covers the full UVA and UVB spectrum, so it will protect you from burning, and from the sun’s rays that cause wrinkles and skin cancer. In the past two years, the only time I’ve gotten any color on my face is when I went snorkeling for two hours in Hawaii earlier this year. No sunscreens are really waterproof, so they will wash off, at least partially, when you swim. And the water really magnifies the sun on your skin! When I look for a sunscreen for my face, I look for the highest Zinc Oxide percentage I can find, then I look at price, SPF, whether or not the sunscreen is waterproof, if the sunscreen has pore clogging ingredients, and how good the sunscreen actually looks on my face. From my testing, my current favorite is Shiseido Ultimate Sun Protection Cream SPF 55. It has 13.9% Zinc Oxide, it’s very water-resistant, it doesn’t clog my pores, it looks good on my skin, and it’s a bit expensive, but worth it. I wear this every day, unless I don’t leave the house until after 5pm. Then I use Clinique Super City Block Ultra Protection SPF 40 because it’s cheaper, and it has a nice tint to it, so I don’t need to wear any foundation with it. It has 8.8% Zinc Oxide. On my neck, chest and hands I apply Blue Lizard Sport Suncream SPF 30+, which has 6% Zinc Oxide, and it’s a lot cheaper than the Shiseido and Clinique. I wouldn’t apply this to my face because it has pore-clogging ingredients. This is also the sunscreen I use at the beach for my body. If I know I’m going to be outside for at least a half hour, I’ll apply it all over. Otherwise, I’m bad and don’t put sunscreen on my arms and legs like I should.

I have tried just about every sunscreen I’ve found that has at least 5% Zinc Oxide in it – SkinCeuticals Physical UV Defense SPF 30, Total Block Clear SPF 65, Glycolix Elite Sunscreen SPF 30 (this one leaves a white cast on my face, but it has 17% Zinc Oxide in it. I put this on if I’m just running out to get the mail and don’t care how I look. I won’t repurchase it), and several others. I just bought Dermaquest Zinclear SPF30 from my work because it has a whopping 18% Zinc Oxide. It goes on clear, but the verdict is still out on whether it clogs my pores. It’s also not cheap, so I will probably just stick with the Shiseido.

Finally, to stay protected from the sun I try not to stay outside for more than a half hour a day, unless I’m going to the beach or pool, and then I try to avoid the peak sun hours, and sit in the shade. I always wear sunglasses, and have recently started wearing a hat to the beach. I am obsessed and don’t keep a lot of windows open in the daytime, since UVA rays can penetrate house windows, as well as car windows. I’m even more crazy because I want to switch to compact fluorescent bulbs in my house lights, but I haven’t been able to find out if they emit UV rays or not! Some fluorescent or Tungsten lights do emit UV rays. Also, certain medications can make you more photo-sensitive, so while you may not normally burn easily, if you’re on Accutane, The Pill, retinoids, or even Benadryl and several other medications, take extra precautions.

Related posts:

1. Zinc Oxide vs Mexoryl Sunscreen Ingredients
2. Sunscreen & A Day At The Pool
3. Zinka Zinc Oxide Sunblock