Active discussions

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Using Sunbeds to prevent sunburn

118 replies

inmynewera · 13/05/2025 18:11

More Am I Being Ridiculous than Unreasonable.

I’ve always had fair skin.

When I was in my 20’s / early 30’s, I would thinking nothing of using a sunbed for a base tan before going on holiday or throughout the summer. Not a lot but maybe two or three times a week for a few weeks leading up to something.

Bit older and wiser and stopped using sunbeds for years now. What I’m finding though, is my skin is getting burnt more easily now. The last couple of trips abroad, I’ve religiously applied factor 50 every hour or so and burnt badly very quickly. This weekend with it being sunny, I sat outside with myself completely covered (where I was sat, there was no shade and I had a jacket with me), apart from a small part of my chest / neck was visible . I applied factor 50 and I’d say within 20-30 mins that small patch was burning.

So it’s not that I want to have an amazing tan, I would honestly just like to be able to sit in sunshine safely!

Do you think it’s ok to have a few sessions in a sunbed (stand up booths not lay down beds) to get the base tan and see if it helps my skin to not burn?

Or any other suggestions as sometimes it is just hot and sunny. My forearms felt like they were burning just from driving today!

I definitely feel like it’s getting worse too.

OP posts:
Icexream · 14/05/2025 00:36

Foostit · 14/05/2025 00:34

I have no words! Too bloody right everyone will say you’re stupid! What you’re saying is complete bollocks too. There’s no such thing as a base tan only skin damage. If you’re happy with the risk of cancer and leathery skin then crack on. 🙄

Show quote history

Yes, I'll take the risk of 120 mins pa, for a comfortable, active, outdoor summer.

Foostit · 14/05/2025 00:34

Icexream · 14/05/2025 00:24

I know everyone will say I'm stupid but I do it.

I buy one 2 hour course each spring, and do short sessions building g up from 4 min to 8 min, which just takes the edge off my very pale skin and means I can go outdoors (with sunscreen) without getting burnt.

It makes massive difference. I'm still very careful in the sun, but without that base (which you'd barely know was there tbh, will always end up with a sore patch at some point, even with strong sunscreen.

I have no words! Too bloody right everyone will say you’re stupid! What you’re saying is complete bollocks too. There’s no such thing as a base tan only skin damage. If you’re happy with the risk of cancer and leathery skin then crack on. 🙄

Icexream · 14/05/2025 00:24

I know everyone will say I'm stupid but I do it.

I buy one 2 hour course each spring, and do short sessions building g up from 4 min to 8 min, which just takes the edge off my very pale skin and means I can go outdoors (with sunscreen) without getting burnt.

It makes massive difference. I'm still very careful in the sun, but without that base (which you'd barely know was there tbh, will always end up with a sore patch at some point, even with strong sunscreen.

SansaStark90 · 13/05/2025 23:52

OliveWah · 13/05/2025 22:17

YABU, have a look at this thread...

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5316277-sunbed-shock

This was me a few weeks ago. Please don’t go on one. I was really unwell, in a lot of pain and on top of that felt like an absolute wally. I should really update my thread as a friend took lots of photos and uploaded them to her Instagram page for her skin clinic warning people of the dangers, so you can imagine what I looked like. Like a crackled, skin coming off lobster.

From this one burn, I now have three moles that have appeared on my chest that were a 1000% not there before, so the risks and damage is very real. Major regret.

faerietales · 13/05/2025 23:08

Pompomtyn · 13/05/2025 22:15

Genuine question. I tan very easily, I have olive toned skin but still pale (ish) in the winter. I tan through factor 50, I'd have to be covered head to toe from April to October not to go brown. I always see tan = sun damage on threads like this. Is that always the case even when it comes very naturally?

It is damage but I’m like you - I tan through factor 50 - I can’t go around fully clothed as it genuinely makes me feel unwell as the medication I’m on means I can’t control my temperature properly.

I just make sure I put sunscreen on regularly (never burn) and I get a mole check once a year with my GP.

Divebar2021 · 13/05/2025 23:04

We have a tanning salon in our town and I would have assumed they’d be out of business with all the information out there but no I see young women coming out and their tans are so, so dark. It makes me wonder what tales they’re telling themselves to justify it.

Gingerbreadloony · 13/05/2025 22:58

HausofHolbein · 13/05/2025 18:24

They should be illegal.

Banned in Australia for years! Can’t believe they’re still even a thing 🤦‍♀️

ItGhoul · 13/05/2025 22:57

Pompomtyn · 13/05/2025 22:15

Genuine question. I tan very easily, I have olive toned skin but still pale (ish) in the winter. I tan through factor 50, I'd have to be covered head to toe from April to October not to go brown. I always see tan = sun damage on threads like this. Is that always the case even when it comes very naturally?

Yes.

ItGhoul · 13/05/2025 22:56

Amiunemployable · 13/05/2025 22:54

Saying this, having now read some of the thread, I'm wondering if I'm actually still damaging my skin sitting out in the sun for several hours a day? As I say, I haven't burnt. Though my skin has got darker, I suppose. I don't do it for a tan, I just love the warmth and being in the sun.

Show quote history

All sun exposure damages skin. You don’t have to burn.

ItGhoul · 13/05/2025 22:56

Using a sunbed is as dangerous as getting burned.

Amiunemployable · 13/05/2025 22:54

Amiunemployable · 13/05/2025 22:50

Haven't RTFT, but I have sat in the garden in direct sunlight for hours a day for several weeks now - every time we get a bit of warm weather. I haven't yet applied any sun cream and haven't burnt once.

So I do find it very odd that you're burning after only 30 minutes with a factor 50 on. If that's the case, I definitely wouldn't be going anywhere near the sun beds. (No one should anyway.)

Saying this, having now read some of the thread, I'm wondering if I'm actually still damaging my skin sitting out in the sun for several hours a day? As I say, I haven't burnt. Though my skin has got darker, I suppose. I don't do it for a tan, I just love the warmth and being in the sun.

Amiunemployable · 13/05/2025 22:50

Haven't RTFT, but I have sat in the garden in direct sunlight for hours a day for several weeks now - every time we get a bit of warm weather. I haven't yet applied any sun cream and haven't burnt once.

So I do find it very odd that you're burning after only 30 minutes with a factor 50 on. If that's the case, I definitely wouldn't be going anywhere near the sun beds. (No one should anyway.)

IWillJustSayThis · 13/05/2025 22:50

I genuinely don't understand why people continue to use sun beds. I have friends who use them every week, throughout the year and think that they're fine because it's only for a few minutes at a time.

There are decent alternatives now in the form of fake tan and plenty of information about the risks.

Mardychum · 13/05/2025 22:42

Just fake tan and cover.

Pompomtyn · 13/05/2025 22:15

Genuine question. I tan very easily, I have olive toned skin but still pale (ish) in the winter. I tan through factor 50, I'd have to be covered head to toe from April to October not to go brown. I always see tan = sun damage on threads like this. Is that always the case even when it comes very naturally?

Renabrook · 13/05/2025 22:08

Sunbeds should be banned to save the people who can't work out why they are dangerous

Ayeayeaye25 · 13/05/2025 22:07

We all did it in the eighties but I wouldn’t dream of using a sun bed at all now.

I wear fake tan and tinted moisturiser in summer and my face moisturiser has SPF 40 that I wear year round.

We go on holiday abroad well out of season wear high factor sun cream, sun hats and sit in the shade and stay well out of the sun completely between 12 and 2. It’s just not worth it.

Waitingfordoggo · 13/05/2025 22:04

RedhairDL · 13/05/2025 21:38

Not everyone can fake tan. It irritates my skin and leaves a rash. Goes patchy over the rash and then looks awful. Not to mention it stinks. I can smell a fake tan a mile away.

And that was Sienna tan from the Salon, but I’ve also tried Fake Bake; St Tropez; Bondi Sands (the worst) and someone told me the cheap one from Home Bargains was the best and that was awful.

Some people like to be in the sunshine, and if they do surely it’s up to them. Like a pp said, alcohol, obesity and smoking all increase the risk of cancer so…

Edited

I find this a slightly strange argument. Yes, sun beds, alcohol, smoking and obesity are all bad for health, which is why I avoid all of them. (I do drink alcohol but very infrequently and in low amounts).

Spitalfieldrose · 13/05/2025 22:02

Literally how my friend got malignant melanoma and died when she was 28. She’d been doing the ‘base tan’ sunned thing since she was a teen. Please don’t.

Haappy · 13/05/2025 21:59

A sunbed to prevent burning is like smoking to prevent lung cancer.

RustyNails · 13/05/2025 21:55

Check the expiry date on your sunscreen if it hasn't worked. Also remember to reapply after 4 hours

Digdongdoo · 13/05/2025 21:51

You have sun damage and need to buy better sunscreen and use more of it.

CoastalCalm · 13/05/2025 21:45

RedhairDL · 13/05/2025 21:38

Not everyone can fake tan. It irritates my skin and leaves a rash. Goes patchy over the rash and then looks awful. Not to mention it stinks. I can smell a fake tan a mile away.

And that was Sienna tan from the Salon, but I’ve also tried Fake Bake; St Tropez; Bondi Sands (the worst) and someone told me the cheap one from Home Bargains was the best and that was awful.

Some people like to be in the sunshine, and if they do surely it’s up to them. Like a pp said, alcohol, obesity and smoking all increase the risk of cancer so…

Edited

It’s possible to both be outside in the sunshine and minimising the risk of cancer by using high spf though - I use factor 30 and go down to 25 over a week away and end up with a subtle tan.

RedhairDL · 13/05/2025 21:38

Not everyone can fake tan. It irritates my skin and leaves a rash. Goes patchy over the rash and then looks awful. Not to mention it stinks. I can smell a fake tan a mile away.

And that was Sienna tan from the Salon, but I’ve also tried Fake Bake; St Tropez; Bondi Sands (the worst) and someone told me the cheap one from Home Bargains was the best and that was awful.

Some people like to be in the sunshine, and if they do surely it’s up to them. Like a pp said, alcohol, obesity and smoking all increase the risk of cancer so…