By Simi A Mira
Around the world people covet the golden kiss of the sun on their skin and spend days upon days lying outside trying to achieve the perfect skin tone. The fake tan is an option that many people choose to take but is it the right choice? From the sunless tanning with lotions and sprays to the tanning beds at saloons, more and more people are moving away from real sunlight to find there glow. This list of pros and cons will help you come to your own conclusion about sun tanning vs. fake tanning.
Pros
Prevents Skin Cancer:
Starting with the positives, there are a lot of things to love about fake tanning. The first and most obvious is that avoid excessive sun exposure reduces your risk for skin cancer. Cancer is a growing problem around the world and is becoming one of the leading causes of death. With traditional sunbathing you run the risk of overexposure causing burns and eventually cancer. Getting away from the sun and using fake tanning methods keeps you away from that!
Time saving:
Another obvious positive is saving time. Time is just as important a commodity as money and being able to quickly get a tan will save you hours and hours of time lying outside. Just a quick spray or a few minutes laying in a tanning bed will give you so much of your free time back to do with as you please.
Staying Tanned Year Round:
Those harsh winter months (maybe not for the people living in tropical paradise) make it impossible to get outside and keep that summer glow that you love. With fake tanning products, there is no reason to ever look white and pasty again! Even people in a Russian winter can stay looking like they have the kiss of the sun year round.
Cons
Fake Tanning Products May Cause Skin Cancer:
There’s no escaping it, is there? Studies have shown that Dihydroxyacetone (DHA), the active ingredient in many spray tans, may cause cancer as well. Tanning beds don’t even take away the key cancer causing agent of normal sun exposure which is UV light. So even with these fake tanning methods, they are not foolproof and can still be harmful with overexposure.
People Can Tell:
With some products, you don’t quite get the golden glow that you’re looking for but rather a more orange tone. If you don’t get a good product or professional help you could end up looking more like an Oompa Loompa than a sun kissed goddess.
Costs Money:
One thing that fake tans aren’t is free. Going out in the sunlight takes nothing out of your pocket which can’t be claimed for fake tans. Unless you get someone else to pay for you, it will always be cheaper to just go outside and have a lie in the sun. The question then is, is your money more important than your time?
It isn’t so clear cut what is the better option between the fake tan and the traditional sun tan. All there is left to do is make your own choice of getting out in the sun or spraying on your glow.
