engfant

The deal. Does SPF help keep you from getting skin damage?

The setting, ARUBA.

3 trips to Aruba. About the same amount of sun exposure (all frikkin day long)
2 of the trips using indoor tanning accelerator (joetan IMAGE)
1 of the trips using CALTAN SPF 15

All 3 trips had the same base tan using the same tanning lamps at full time in the tanning bed.

Observations during sun exposure over a 5 day period:

When using the ACCELERATOR, skin would get red and hot and maybe a little tender but no real

When using the SPF, skin wasn't as red and hot and tender.

From that it would look like the SPF is working.

AFTER THE SUN EXPOSURE OBSERVATIONS

With the accelerator, the exposed skin didn't flake very much and I was able to start tanning in the bed at anytime.

With the SPF, EVERY INCH OF THE BODY THAT WAS COVERED WITH SPF FLAKED COMPLETELY OFF.

From what I know, anytime the body flakes off that kind of skin it's due to trama that's so bad that it's better to get rid of it all and start fresh.

CONCLUSION

If this is the case, then I CONCLUDE that the SPF did NOT protect the skin BUT kept the body from reacting to the UV exposure. When it finally realized what was going on it went nuts and decided it would be better to TEAR DOWN AND REBUILD like if it was a building fire that was too long gone to save.

With the accelerator, the body was able to react to the UV exposure AND had the necessary "fuel" to keep the skin from trauma.

WHAT SAY YOU?

__________________
"And shut your mouth pussycat e fammi un macchiato, pronto!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhHhXukovMU

unity

Ok, not much to go on here (need more people, etc) but enough that I see where you are coming from. With SPF the "repair" trigger of the skin is being held back - hence no reddening aka the much needed oxygen rich blood flow.

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DB Hottie

I can tell you that the best tan I had was as follows:

June in Destin FL.
I used AG SPF 8 on lower body and AG SPF 15 on upper body.

It was a weeks trip and everyday was spent basking in the sun- all day.

I do try to stay with lower level AG SPF, however, I don't get dark enough to spend that amount of time in the sun w/o SPF.

mjabaay

I used 30-50 spf for years trying to stop the burn, I actually turn a shade of purple with over exposure and no SPF.

I opend my salon and actually built a tan very slowly, think 4 min. then 6 min burned then back to 5 min. ect. For the last two summers I have not used any SPF of any kind when golfing or fishing or swimming. I did get a little red in FL swimming with the kids, but it was very tolerable. In years past I would swim with a shirt on, because I'd burn even with spf 50 on. I will keep my spf usage to a bare min face only, because even with a tan my face looks like a tomatoe if I am outside any length of time.

PS I did just burn and peel, I was using the magic exclusivley and went to my daughters cheerleading/football games and cooked half my face. I believe the people who say HP tanning only does not give you the UV tollerance that LP tanning does.

engfant

Here's the problem. You are preventing something that's SUPERFICIAL with SPF but "NO RED" doesn't mean NO UV EXPOSURE. If there's no red then your body isn't responding.

__________________
"And shut your mouth pussycat e fammi un macchiato, pronto!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhHhXukovMU

DB Hottie

Do you think UV tolerance varies if you use LP vs. HP?

Isn't a tan a tan- no matter how you achieved it?

unity

Yes and no. A tan is a tan but it is NOT an accurate way to gauge any protection. There are MANY factors that add up to tolerating the Sun. One big one is heat. Your skin needs to get used to heat in a way that is can better regulate its cooling ability.

Case in point, chefs and hot pans. Their hands are not tan, right? But they can handle a hot pan handle that most of us would drop. This is the same factor with tanning beds. Going in cool beds that run "cold" may get you a tan, but you are only getting part of the protection equation.

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engfant

Depends on the bed, tanning lamps, tanning time.

I can be BLACK and still not handle a trip in a LP bed filled with HITAN lamps. You have to remember too that it's not just UV that causes a burn. Infrared heat and the absense of other UV rays that may or may not be in the rays put out by the HP bed BUT is put out by the LP bed and/or the sun.

When I went to Aruba I didn't burn BUT didn't get any darker than from when I was tanning beforehand in the bed. I was just more even. Tan scalp/feet places that the bed may not hit as well.

Even the blackest of black skin will still burn under the correct conditions.

__________________
"And shut your mouth pussycat e fammi un macchiato, pronto!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhHhXukovMU

engfant

The heat my god the heat!

__________________
"And shut your mouth pussycat e fammi un macchiato, pronto!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhHhXukovMU

megatanman

I have had many customers with the blackest tans come back from vacation and tell me they got totally burnt the first day out in the real sun.As dark as they were,I would never guess they would burn if they could handle 4-5 VHR sessions a week.A spf 8 or 10 may have prevented it,but you can't tell some people anything

I have a close friend who has lived Hawaii for many years.He still uses SPF 30 daily on his fishing boat and is the most disgustingly dark person i have ever seen.They claim you have to use min 30 and some use SPF 50.