to think that people who sneer at fake tans...

[CeQueLEnfer]

... are partly responsible for the rise in skin cancer deaths?

I read the story today of Vinnie Jones and his wife both suffering from skin cancer and it got me thinking. There is no doubt that having a tan makes you look younger, healthier and slimmer, so I can understand why people want to have one.

But when people do the responsible thing and fake it, other people can be very nasty. References to looking "orange", "tangoed" and "chavvy" and other put-downs put people off having a fake tan in favour of a proper tan, in spite of the risks.

I think people should be applauded for going the fake route if they want a tan, not sneered at. And those who do sneer should think about the damage they are causing.

AIBU? What do others think?

No way! Sun beds cause skin cancer Who knew??

You'll be telling me smoking is unhealthy next.
Health & Safety gorn mad is what it is.

Grr, stupid phone it should be mums not mum's

I am delighted at every tanning salon I pass with an 'out of business' sign on - IMO they should've been banned years ago.

My grandmother, aunt, uncle and cousin all died from malignant melanoma. My mother had it, but is in remission. Apart from my mother, all of them loathed the sun and never went out in it.

So no, sometimes "getting a tan" is not the sole cause of skin cancer. Sometimes it can be genetic.

I sort of see the OP's point. If you have to have a tan, fake tan is better than a real tan.

However as others have said, no one sneers at a subtle, natural fake tan that looks like real skin. They sneer at over-tanning that makes people look like an orange prune. If you are au fait with fake tan you must realise that there are various different ways to do it. If you choose the orange prune route you have to accept people will think you look daft.

However in the documentary Nicola Roberts made about it, there were people who were really seriously addicted to fake tan and felt the need to go darker and darker. They had a kind of dysmorphia about it and couldn't see that it looked awful. They felt naked without it.

Good on Roberts for going back to pale - as more and more famous people do this, I bet the tan craze will eventually become a thing of the past. We will look back on it one day with astonishment like we now do at things like powdered wigs and mouse-fur eyebrows.

OP do you work for fake bake ?

Ha, no. Actually I used Fake Bake once. Applied it, went to bed looking like I was covered in mud, woke up, showered, and my skin was a rather unfetching shade of green and not tanned at all .

I am not here to promote a particular brand of tanning solution, I just get fed up with all the nasty comments that people get thrown at them for using a safe alternative to the sun/sunbeds.

Im pasty white all the time and I like it.I dont think anyones to blame.Horrible things happen when noone wants them to.

Nicola robersts said on something i watched that because she is ginger and pale that fake tan never looked right on her , so she went backto pale

But she also said she made herself do it for years because she felt pressure not to look like the pasty white one.

It's not a great look. YABVU.

You're missing the point OP. We are all autonomous beings, I and I alone am responsible for the choices I make in life. If I choose to use sunbeds/overeat/smoke or drink then I am responsible for the consequences of that, not the person who mocked my fake tan. < disclaimer, I don't actually use fake tan>.
It's not my fault that some people are shallow or insecure to the point they'd risk their health for the sake of vanity.

Never heard anyone sneer at a good fake tan i.e one that looks subtle and light.

I have heard people sneer at those who have obviously been out in the sun too long and got sunburnt, those who are wearing 2000 layers of fake tan and look orange or mahogany and also at those who have pale natural skin which was unfashionable (having been fashionable in the recent past-parasols etc were used to preserve a pale complexion less than a hundred years ago).

Perhaps I am travelling in the wrong circles (story of my life). I do admit to a small snigger when I see really streaky legs, bright orange palms and in one case an obvious handprint on an ankle in fake tan. But it was only a small snigger and then I got on with my day.

But she also said she made herself do it for years because she felt pressure not to look like the pasty white one.

yeah she did which is a shame

If you use fake tan to the point you look orange - it's going to look dumb. People will think you look dumb. If you use sunbeds all the time - yes you are going to get a tan but you are also going to be at higher risk of cancer.

Either way - you made the choice. There's been so much informaiton given out in the last 30 years as to why 'real' tans are bad for your health, that I would be surprised if someone told me 'I didn't know'.

But then I've never understood why anyone would want to have a tan. I don't see it as looking healthier, I just see it as showing you either (1) work outdoors or (2) for some reason want to chargrill your own skin. It's a fad.

even with sun cream on I get a tan never understood that

i think light tans do make people look healthier, slimmer and makes your teeth and eyes look whiter. I can only achieve that with a light spray tan, because I'm generally quite pasty so if I go in the sun I either burn in patches as opposed to darkening or my freckles just appear more visible. I'd rather fake it than play games with my health.

Even if my tan is perfectly even and not dark at all, they still sneer because it is something different I do once in a while and they aren't used to it. I've even had a nasty bitch colleague trying to pull my extensions from my head on a night out to 'prove they weren't real.' They didn't come out and I promptly turned around and told her if she pulled my hair (because that's what she was doing- the hair was clipped onto my own) one more time, I was going to smack her in the mouth. The worst thing about it is that I like wearing extensions as I have mild alopecia around the top of my head and it makes me feel a bit more glam having luscious looking hair on a night out as opposed to fine little rats tails, so shoot me! Of course, some people can't just live and let live and have to pick pick pick...

I'm amazed at your restraint Tracey - I'd have skipped straight to the punching her part!

I think it is sad that people are so insecure about their natural skin colour that they are prepared to use sunbeds/turn the selfs orange/over expose themselves to make themselves look different.

Also some people are addicted to sunbeds as they apparently you get a bit of boost from it.

Don't blame people for laughing at tangerines behind their backs, they do .look terrible. luckily as a result of all the slagging off there are less and less of them about.

having a dark tan doesn't make you look thinner, any more than tying a coloured scarf round your neck does. (people believe that too) It actually makes you look older.

people who oompa-loompa up do look ridiculous. So do those who bake themselves to look like a handbag. Anyone who uses a sunbed except on medical advice deserves what they get.

none of these things stop anyone going outside, there is something called suncream. (and you usually get very slightly brown through it anyway)

if you are stupid enough to be influenced by the fashion 'industry' you also deserve all you get.

" There is no doubt that having a tan makes you look younger, healthier and slimmer"

There's plenty of 'doubt'. That's an opinion, not a fact.

Surely if a fake tan is natural looking and not orange then no one would know if it is fake or not?

If someone fake tans so much they look like an oopma loompa, then I reserve the right to laugh my ass off at them.

"Erm..the people responsible for the rise of skin cancer are the idiots who don't think they need to look after their skin. It's called personal responsibility. "

Different, that's nasty and ignorant. I grew up in the tropics before the dangers were known -- never actually sought out the sun but couldn't avoid it. I have had a melanoma removed and do not consider myself an idiot. As Mrs Schadenfreude says, it's often genetic.

There is no doubt that having a tan makes you look younger, healthier and slimmer, so I can understand why people want to have one

No, that's just the rationale people apply to what is at heart simply a fashion. It wasn't always the fashion and may well stop being the fashion before too long.

If you go to (extreme) lengths to follow any fashion, then you must take responsibility for any adverse consequences. You can't blame the fashion, or any sneering bystanders.

People who sneer at fake tans are not responsible for anything except their own bad manners. People who do have fake tans and sneer at those who don't are not responsible for depression in red heads, either.