Stay SUN SAFE this SUMMER !!

We all love to be GOLDEN TANNED for the summer, it's instantly slimming, makes you look more toned, allows you to expand your colour palette to choose from clothes & makeup and gives a confidence boost. But at what cost are we paying for the perfect tan ?

As a very fair person who freckles & BURNS easily, I will admit that I tried bed tanning one summer to try and achieve some sort of glow.. Long story short, I burned, freckled and had spots showing up that weren't there before... I realize that this might not be enough for some people to stop their tanning, but it was enough for me. There have been several skin-cancer scares in my family, and I actually had a distant Aunt pass away from Melanoma on my Mom's side..

Don't get me wrong, I would LOVE to be tan all year round but it won't be coming from the sun or tanning beds. And don't worry, this isn't some post talking you into a tan out of a bottle either. I just wanted to address some myths I have come across in my personal FB news feed... "I was at Blankety Blank beach today, had so much fun and now I'm super burned but I don't care cause' it's gonna turn into an even more WICKED TAN !"

And I'm sitting there, OMG, OMG, NO NO NOOOOOOOOOOO !! This is from a GORGEOUS girl I went to school with and I had to break the news to her that what she thought wasn't true... I thought that since Sun Safety has been shoved down our throats in Elementary School and seeing all of the leather faces would make girls think twice before lathering on the baby oil and laying out for hours, but I guess not. So I gathered 3 common myths from another website who I don't want to publish their address because some of the information is 'iffy'. So here they are
:

MYTH	"I heard that you can get a better tan but you have to burn first."
FACT	A sunburn does not fade into a tan. A sunburn indicates over exposure to UV-light and actually damages the skin, leaving it inflamed (as indicated by the skin's red coloring and sensitivity), dry, chapped and visibly unappealing. In fact, a sunburn can lead to premature aging and potentially skin cancer.
MYTH	"All skin types tan or burn in the same amount of time."
FACT	Not all skin types are alike. Some people tan more easily than others or burn more easily than others. For example, a Skin Type 1 person with fair skin, red hair and freckles will burn easily, resulting in peeling and blistering without any indication that he or she has tanned. On the other hand, a Skin Type 4 person with dark hair and olive skin will tan very well and quite easily even with a minimal amount of sun exposure. It is important to know: repeated exposure of unprotected skin while tanning may increase the risk of skin aging, skin cancer and harmful effects to the skin even if you don't burn.
MYTH	"People with medium to dark skin never burn."
FACT	Although people with medium to darker skin tend to tan more easily than others, they can still get sunburns. They can also suffer from overexposure to UV-light. It is still important for these skin types to use sunscreens and avoid being in the sun longer than they need to be.

Now, it's still up to you if you want to go lay out and get that golden beach goddess look, but make sure you realize that the long term affects can be DEADLY, and if you don't have problems with skin cancer it will AGE YOU MUCH FASTER. Now I'm not trying to scare anybody, but I feel this post will be more EDUCATIONAL & EFFECTIVE by ending with some pictures of Sun Damaged skin found on Google Images. CHECK OUT http://www.sunprotection.net/ for more information on how to protect yourself from the SUN !!

Different types of malignant and benign moles. Benign are the safe. non cancerous moles.

Severly sun damaged skin.

Different types of sun damage.

Squamous Cell Carcinoma, Skin Cancer.

Thanks for reading GLAM GIRLS, I hope I have somewhat influenced you to stay SUN SAFE this summer !! And I was thinking of doing a post SOOOON on my Self-Tanner of choice with Before & Afters if you'd like me to do it leave a comment below..

& Don't forget that just because this is the time of year that we feel the most heat from the sun doesn't mean we don't need to protect ourselves all year round !! Even when you can't feel the heat from the sun your skin still soaks up those damaging UVA & UVB RAYS !!

As ALWAYS, find me on FB HERE & TWITTER HERE !!

XOXO -- GLAM <3