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Tanning During The Winter

Tanning during the winter? For those who love a winter break and tropical island vacations, tans can be important.

Women Tanning and risking skin cancer

For some of us, a year-round tan has no place in our lives. Just remember, it takes all kinds! So if going on vacation somewhere warm and tropical when the weather here at home is freezing is your reality, please enjoy yourself.

If a tanned look is important for you, please consider using spray tans or self tanning lotions or oils. There are many for your consideration and will give your skin a golden glow without sun damage.

This reminder should be included with all self tanning products. ” Your body may look tan. Remember that you do not have a tan. You will sunburn if you spend very much time in the sun. Applying sunscreens is important with a fake tan.” (According to Mayo Clinic)

Protect your skin. Be sure that your self tanning product is OK with sunscreen. I know, lots to remember, but read the label. It is easy.

The amount of sun that we get through the hotter months do seem to make the winter sunshine seem less dangerous. I personally think that is why we let down our guard in the cooler months.

The heat is not what tans you. The suns rays do that. It just doesn’t seem as important when it is cool outside. Protecting your skin with sun blocking clothing is an easy way to avoid sunscreen damage to your fake tan. Get your 30 minutes of sun, pop on your sun hat, sunglasses and loose fitting long sleeve shirt. Your skin will thank you.

Wow, writing is fun, you can have about 2 minutes to consider a vacation in a tropical setting and how that would be. And no one accuses me of daydreaming!

Reality For Me: When Tanning During The Winter.

Do you get a tan in cold weather? Many people who live in colder climates tan in the winter.

I’m a Mom with a guilt complex as a result of not knowing about better skin protection when my kids were little. Wintertime tanning is not something I have ever thought about doing. When I was young, farming families didn’t consider going on tropical vacations during the winter!

When I see someone who is obviously keeping themselves tanned through the winter I want to reach out with a warning.

However, I have contented myself with trying to touch base online, when hopefully you will be more receptive.

My Most Recent Grocery Shopping Effort

I saw you yesterday in the grocery store. You and your husband were getting a few things for the weekend. Obviously, you were in for the weekend. You were both dressed in camouflage pants and shirts.

You had a 12 pack of beer, a couple of bottles of wine. Some bacon and eggs, 2 big bundles of bottled water, and other assorted items to make up a weekend fare.

We have hunters, and land with hunting leases. Add to that a river, (at least to those of us who live here, to some it is probably more like a stream) with kayaks and canoes, bikers. There is lots of picturesque country. We see lots of you guys through the year and appreciate the dollars you bring into our community.

If you live somewhere with lots of winter sun,  as we do have in Central Texas, you can achieve a natural tan in January. But, think about it, do you really need to tan in the winter?

Or is it just a whim like trying a new hair color? No, your skin won’t grow back healthy as your hair does when you are experimenting.

While you are laying there tanning, use the downtime to get an appointment with your dermatologist for a skin check! If ever I were to indulge in actual tanning, I would need to move my dermatologist to speed dial.

Thanks for reading what I didn’t feel free to talk to you about in the grocery store the other day. Please allow me to share how we who live here handle the winter sun. Maybe something will help make your skin safer for the winter.

What Works For Protecting Your Skin In The Winter?

In our part of Texas, we have to be almost as careful in the fall and winter as we do in the summer. Our fall and winter bring many hours of sun. While the temperature is not as hot, the sun is still dangerous. Our skin can sunburn with minimum time spent outside.

Hayrides that happen in the daytime hours during the fall festival time is one event that has brought sunburn to our family members. Having fun in our sunnier parts of the world requires some skin protection to remain safe from the sun.

Riding their bicycles has been rough for the grandkids faces, noses and ears. They leave with a freckle or two, return with flushed cheeks and obvious sunburn. Did we remember to remind them of sunscreen? Often the answer to that is no, we didn’t.

So as we are losing our protective Ozone layers that were there in previous years to protect our skin, our kids are paying the price. They need help to remember to get the protection they need for their skin. Those kids minds are full of racing to the corner, or to the park, not protecting their skin.

Do you take the time to protect your skin when you go out to work in the garden in the cooler months? Or when you are going out for some early morning hunting?

Where will you be when you realize that you have forgotten your wide brim hat? Or to apply sunscreen to your skin? Did you wear your sun blocking shirt this morning? Your sunglasses?

Rethinking Tanning During The Winter

Winter Tan Options, A spray tan.

Your summer was filled with compliments on your lovely bronzed skin during the summer. But during the cooler months, you seem to become pale and sallow. I know, you miss the positive comments. We all appreciate compliments or what we perceive as compliments.

Now those comments have quit coming. You are seeing a different color of tan or no tan in the mirror.

You may also get a little depressed during the winter, with a chance of suffering from SAD or Seasonal Affective Disorder. But generally, this affects senior citizens, pr those with other affected disorders. Active people of any age can get enough sun to stay healthy in our part of central Texas.

How To For Safely Tannng During The Winter

Take where you live into consideration. If you live in various areas of California, Florida, Arizona or Texas, it’s probably warm enough for you to sit out and “sunbathe.” If you live in a colder climate, you may have to wait until it’s warmer out.

The sun worshippers who live among us are anxious to get out and get sun shine rays on their skin. Reminding you of the dangers of overexposure has no effect on your tan addiction. Please limit your exposure times to 30 minutes with after applying a thick layer of sunscreen.

Once you have had the sun on your body for 30 minutes slip on your sun hat, sunglasses and your sun blocking long sleeve shirt. You will also need some clothing on your legs as well. Don’t make problems for yourself by thinking that winter tanning is safe. No tan is safe.

Your Sun Risks / Tanning During The Winter

Some members of our family enjoy snow skiing. Even with their “Texas Tans.” The tan that living around our part of the world guarantees, they get a sunburn.

To me, this seems strange. Well, at least it did until I understood the sun risk that we have. With our families fair skin and some lighter eyes and hair, few are at low risk for sunburn. Skincancer.org can give you some help determining your personal risk.

Tanning During The Winter can happen faster, just like sunburn can sneak up on you. Snow is a great reflector, which is why many people get a sunburn during the winter. However, when there is the danger of reflections from snow, controlling how quickly you will go from tan to burn on your body is difficult. Don’t risk it!

Consider taking walks. A simple half-hour walk can keep you warm but expose your face to sunlight. Even this can bring some color to your cheeks and help fight SAD.

Use a sunroom. A sunroom is a patio surrounded by glass. If the glass isn’t UV treated you can lie in this room and get a nice tan. Here again, your timer is your lifeline. Make sure you don’t overdo the sun.

The Final Chapter Of Warning About Tanning During The Winter

This is where I can try to scare you with warnings about people who have spent too much of their life in the sun without protecting it enough. There is another thing that Central Texas is good at doing. We have people seeking help with their skin and its appearance because of too much sun.

While trying to warn my family about tanning beds as we realized the dangers the warnings fell on deaf ears. The girls would sneak in their tanning sessions anyhow. Even living in towns 2 hours away, they would not admit they were on the way to tan.

They both have had basal cell and squamous cell carcinoma. My son was not a tanning bed tanner, as far as I know. His sun exposure was from river rafting and snow skiing. He has also had both kinds of skin cancer.

There is danger from artificial or real sun. The UV rays do their damage.

This quote from Skincancer.org sums up the dangers of tanning in any season.

“Tanning outside or indoors can have dangerous consequences. While often associated with good health, the “glow” of a tan is the very opposite of healthy; it’s evidence of DNA injury to your skin. Tanning damages your skin cells and speeds up visible signs of ageing. Worst of all, tanning can lead to skin cancer.”

It’s a fact: There is no such thing as a safe or healthy tan. Tanning increases your risk of basal cell carcinomasquamous cell carcinoma and melanoma.

Your best defence is to avoid tanning altogether.”

Learn How To Protect Your Skin
Sami’s Take On Tanning During The Winter

Sun tanning has long been a question. With my fair skin, I wanted a tan so bad. However, I had mainly sunburns to heal from.

Then I allowed my kids to do the same thing. I plead guilty!

Slow learners, we are now paying the price of too much sun.

With the abundance of sun blocking clothing that is now available, hopefully, we can do a better job with the grandkids and ourselves as we get older.

Sunscreen was never easy to use, and because we were in the sun too long at the wrong times of day we dealt with sunburn.

If you live in eastern New Mexico or central Texas please pay attention. Get your basic sun block wardrobe going. Take better care of your skin.

With the skin cancer numbers increasing every year. We know we are not done with the skin checking and surgery to remove cancer from our skin. We will get to know our dermatologist better with each passing year!

Take warnings and take better care of your families skin. Keep them safer and healthier. It is true that the death rate is low for skin cancers. Do you know that yours will always be removable? I don’t know this.

Be proactive. Protect your and your families skin. Get good habits going and remember them in the winter.

Wear unblocking clothing and give your skin a chance to stay healthy.

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