“If I had to choose a religion, the Sun as the universal giver of life would be my god”
These classic words were once said by Napoleon Bonaparte. The sun worshippers, in the 20th century, used to soak up rays to get tanned as a religious ritual, which later on extended to become a beauty standard and was adopted by the pale-skinned people in Europe and Australia.
Australians still love to tan themselves. Basking under the warm glow of the sun is the favourite pastime of Australians. But this pastime can take a huge toll to your health, as it not only leads to your freckles turning nasty but causes your skin to become more dehydrated and aged before time. But the worst of all is the skin cancer that is the most likely to come as a by-product of sun tanning.
Skin cancer is a likely probability in Australia. Consider the stats given below for an example.
- Australia has the highest rate of Melanoma around the world
- Skin cancer is the most widely recognized type of cancer in Australia
- Australians are 4 x bound to build up skin cancer than any other type of cancer
- 2 out of 3 Australians are likely to have skin cancer before the age of 70
Solariums: Are you buying death for a tan?
Apart from the sun, People in Australia have also been using these machines called Solariums that emit ultraviolet radiations to tan their bodies. The ultraviuolet radiations emitted from these machines cause skin cells to make a pigment called melanin, which makes the skin looked tanned. But even these machines are not a safe way to tan as they also significantly increase your risk of developing skin cancer.
- The UV rays produced from Solariums are six times as intense as the summer sun.
- Those of you who have used a solarium before the age of 35 are at 59% more increased risk of melanoma than those who haven’t and might need to to build up a skin cancer inspection plan with your PCP
- In 2019, solariums were re-classified as Group 1 carcinogen- in the same category as tobacco and asbestos by the International Agency for Research on Cancer
So There is no such as thing as safe tan both with the sun or solariums. The irony with skin cancer is that apart from being the most common type of cancer, it is also the most preventable as reported by Dr. Sophy Shih, from Deakin Health Economics after years of analysing the evident gaps between public attitudes and behaviours v/s disease prevention.
Spray tans are becoming the new normal in Australia
People are becoming aware of the health risks of sun tanning and changing their behaviours to avoid it. But in all of this, If anything has remained constant, that is the love for tan. People are shifting towards fake tanning methods such as spray tanning now.
People are no longer cooking themselves in the sun as they used to in the 70s and 80s and using topical sunless tanning products as they are generally considered safe alternatives to sunbathing, as long as you follow the directions of use. These spray tans usually last an average of 10 days on your body depending upon how dark you are trying to go.
Benefits of Spray tanning
Apart from being a safe alrternative to sunbathing, Spray tanning has many benefits as well which include:
- Spray tanning develops a sense of feeling-better-about-yourself psychologically as it makes you feel more attractive and confident.
- It conceals the visible signs of ageing and cellulite. It gives you a healthy and sporty all-over glow that lasts weeks!
- Most spray tan solutions have nourishuing and hydrating properties as they contain nut oils and vitamins, as well as moisturizers which is additionally beneficial to your skin
- Spray tans effectively conceal your imperfections and blemishes including varicose veins and stretch makes allowing you to look beautiful all year round.
By now, you might have made up your mind about getting a spray tan. Haven’t you? What are you waiting for? contact your local Black Magic Tan Technician now to get a professional spray tanning service.
