FAKE BAKE

We’ve all heard that tanning beds are bad for the skin, but just how bad no one really knew. Now a study confirms that repeated bouts of exposure to the artificial ultraviolet (UV) light put out you at just as high risk of skin cancer as if you were a regular sunbather at the beach. Researchers at the Karolinska Hospital in Stockholm, Sweden, monitored more than 1,000 teenage sun-bed users. They found that the teenagers had poor sun protection habits, which contributed to their increased risk of melanoma. They wore much less clothing in the tanning bed than they would if they were outdoors – exposing up to ten times more of their skin to the UV rays. And, according to lead researcher Ulf Wester, most of the teenagers wore little to no sunscreen. Wester advises being just as sun – savry at a tanning salon as you are at the beach. At the very least, slather on a broad – spectrum sunscreen to protect your skin from the rays.

(ALLURE. July, 2000. p. 58.)