Butt Tingles and Other "Dangers" of Indoor Tanning
Apr 22 '01
The Bottom Line Some of my experience at the tanning salon.
After spending several weeks in Florida this winter, I got quite the tan and had no intention of letting the still harsh Rhode Island weather get the best of me and my tan.
So off I went to a tanning salon to begin my first indoor tanning experience. And this brings me to the first tanning salon danger I encountered
EMBARRASSMENT
Probably worse when you've chosen a tanning salon that's right down the street from a "Gentlemen's Club" and is frequented by many of the "dancers" from said club, as I did. Seems everybody except me had a perfect body. And I felt like they were all asking themselves what I was doing there and wondering why I was even bothering tanning as I should be too embarrassed to show my body to anyone.
Solution Make appointments instead of just walking in so you can just walk right in and out.
BLINDNESS
Yes, they made sure I purchased goggles before walking into the booth for my first session. Well, I got undressed in the booth and hit the start button and ACK! BLINDING LIGHT! I'd totally forgotten about the goggles. So there I was going through the pile of clothes hurrying to find the goggles beneath them and wondering just how much damage those UV rays were doing to my eyes.
Solution First thing I do now is place the goggles on my head as soon as I walk into the booth so they're right there in case I ever forget again.
PARANOIA
I mentioned to a male friend of mine that I was doing the tanning thing. He promptly responded to my email advising me to look for hidden cameras. He was also kind enough to provide me with various links to websites featuring hidden camera shots of women in tanning booths. Wonderful! That thought had never crossed my mind but now it does every single time I'm in there for one of my 15 minute sessions of tanning and pondering random thoughts.
Solution Convince myself that it's much more likely for hidden camera pics of the dancers with perfect bodies to appear on some website for all to see.
OVEREXPOSURE
No, not overexposure to UV Rays...though I suppose that's possible...but I'm talking about something much more serious. I'm referring to overexposure to bad music.
During the 15 minutes you're in there, you're subjected to whatever music the employees have decided to play that day. You do have a volume control but not a station tuner.
Solution You could turn the music off completely but believe me, 15 minutes go by VERY SLOW in silence.
BUTT TINGLES
I was at home a few hours after my first tanning experience when I suddenly noticed my butt was tingling. Odd. When it didn't stop, I decided to get up and go look at it in the mirror. That's when I realized my butt was a lovely shade of pink as it was one part of my body that had never been exposed to the sun and I had worn a thong in the tanning booth. I was sun burned! Or would that be lamp burned? Other parts of my body that would normally be covered by a swimsuit at the beach were also a bit pink. Anyway, it was fine by the next morning but I imagine that if I was one of those people that are really sensitive to sun, it wouldn't have been such a minor thing.
Solution When tanning those parts that've never been exposed to the sun, you might not want to expose them for the full time the first few sessions. Perhaps you should try keeping undergarments off for only part of the session those first few times. Also, I started out with a full 15 minute session immediately because I already had a base tan. If you don't or you're sensitive to sun anyway, you probably don't want to start with that long a session.
CONCLUSION
I've been really pleased with the results. I'm especially happy about having been able to get rid of all the tan lines :) And 15 minutes every other day is all it takes to maintain my tan. The above dangers aside, I think it's well worth it.
Just one additional note...I prefer the tanning booths to the tanning beds. One reason for that is that the tanning beds make you feel like you're in a coffin. And also that I get kind of grossed out by the thought of laying naked on something that someone else was doing the same on and possibly dripping sweat onto. In the tanning booth, you're standing up...avoiding all that.
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Epinions.com ID:
SusanARI
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Member: Susan
Location: Punta Gorda, FL
Reviews written: 101
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