MYTH: Tanned skin is healthy skin

This is an extreme example, however it’s real...!

This is one of the biggest myths around. It’s true that when you get a tan, you may feel healthier. And I admit, most of us look healthier with a little bit of color. However, the truth is the color change in your skin, called a tan, is actually the body’s response to danger—danger from the harmful rays of the sun.

If having a tan is important to you, just remember you are incurring sun-time that, as you get older, will show up as sun damage. Sun damage could be anything from loose, sagging skin; permanent redness (couperose); or, worst case scenario, skin cancer. The truth is, suntanned skin is sun-damaged skin.

For more information, see:

• Avoid the sun?
• Tanning Beds—Just Don’t!
• Myths Dispelled: all links so far