I think a slight can looks nice. Although I know technically it is damaged skin. When I was in my late teens/early 20s, my best friend and I started doing tanning beds. After a few months, I noticed a mole on my upper thigh that would get irritated, turn into what looked like a blood blister, dry up and fall off, then start all over again. I went to the doctor who sliced it off and had it biopsied. It was pre-cancerous. So, I never went back again. My friend however, continued and now, thirty years later, is still doing it. Everyone always thinks she is about ten years older than me. I'm glad I stopped when I did.

That being said, does anyone remember this lady from a few years ago? She was taking her six year old daughter tanning with her. Is she too tan? lol

No preference really. I can't get anything more than a burn that fades away completely after a few days

I cannot tan. Never could. I'm one of those folks that will get a sunburn on a rainy day. I was bullied over it all through school. I'll admit to a kind of low vindication from knowing what the sun does to one's skin, but I won't laugh at a complete stranger because of it.

Seems kinda vain to me now that I'm older and not so obsessed about looks. My married coworker is a breast cancer survivor with a nice boob job. She bought a tanning bed and obsessively uses it year round. I wonder if her cancer will come back; I wonder how wrinkled she'll be at my age, I wonder when she'll stop bragging about her tanning bed. Sometimes the sun is so fierce here I get sunburnt just driving to work. I wonder why so many people's self esteem is tied up in whether they are tan. But if that's what you need to be happy, go ahead, you're not hurting anybody.

That tanned skin is a preference to fairer skin is a social construct that has evolved over the years.

It used to be that only the wealthy could avoid the sun, while labourers worked in the fields.

I recall an afternoon in my early twenties, while I was lying in the sun, covered in baby oil. As I went to adjust my tin foil, sun reflectors (a sign of my brilliance, at the time - *rolling eyes), a stately older woman approached me, wearing all white; long pants and sleeves with her face barely visible, under her Jackie O sunglasses and floppy hat.

She said, "My Dear, your skin is beautiful and perfect, but it must last you a lifetime. Just remember, the tan will fade and the wrinkles will stay."

I owe that woman a world of gratitude. I have not tanned again since that moment.

Of course there are other reasons to tan. Maybe you love the sun and it makes you happy. Maybe that's more important to you than a few sunspots and wrinkles, in which case, protect your skin (as the sun has its dangers beyond wrinkling) and enjoy!

I think a little tanning looks nice. Really dark tans I don't think look good on people maybe because the skin also looks damaged in other ways

While I like the look, I don't like what it does to your skin especially as you get older. We can all tell the ones who were sun tanners in their youth. But,having said that...as long as you protect your skin and you like the look, go for it. When I am at the beach, I see lots of people who enjoyed the sun and their tans and are not concerned about their appearances as much as their enjoyment.

Tanned skin is actually a sign that your skin has been damaged and is in the process of healing. Repeat that over and over and in a few years the damage will be irreparable with an increased risk of skin cancer.

"There is no such thing as a healthy tan," doctors and dermatologists have been saying for 40 years.

My little sister got skin cancer at age 22. I was 27. That was the last year I had a tan. Since then, I have worn sunscreen on my face and neck year round.

I also wear a Solumbra SPF 100, wide-brimmed hat while hiking and gardening. For hiking, I cover all exposed skin with SPF 60 sunscreen.

In September, I will have basal cell carcinoma frozen off the bridge of my nose. Again.

"Your skin damage occurred 40 years ago," my dermatologist doctor said. "That is from sun damage as a child, growing up on a lake in Michigan. All summer, I ran around in a swimsuit. Never used sunscreen or hats growing up.

My mother was addicted to tanning and exercising. She got melanoma on her nose. At 60, Mom's body was like a fit 40-year-old. Her wrinkled face looked like a 90-year-old.

At 60, Mom had a full face-lift and radiation around her mouth and eyes. After her face-lift, Mom became obsessed with protecting her skin from the sun.

Here I am last fall, glowing after a run. I'm 64.

Tanned.