Adventures in Tanning

Tony and I got free certificates to our local tanning franchise. Tony would like to be tan while I have come to embrace my pallor. My ancestry is primarily German with a spicing of English and Irish from Mom's family so I do not come by dark skin naturally. Even when I spent large chunks of time outside in the pool or on horseback or running around as a wild child I never really got dark, just a plesant golden color after the burns peeled away. My brother tans beautifully, though. Anyway, the though of exposing myself to UV rays in a can has never appealed. However, this was free. How could I take advantage of the freeness while maintaining my ability to be snotty about tanning? Magic Tan, of course. Magic Tan is the spray on, sugar -based (DSA, I think?) product that our local chain offers.

So, one Wednesday I made my way to one of the franchises near our house. Sadly, this particular branch did not have Magic Tan available. No problem, there's another close by. It was raining, however, and if you get wet from rain, showers or sweat within the first 5 to 7 hours after your spray you rinse part of it away and get blotchy. No Magic Tan for me that day. I went back a couple of weeks later on a beautiful, sunny Saturday after getting my hair cut. After watching the informational video I rubbed on my accelerator lotion, put on my shower cap and stepped into the booth. The spray only lasts for 8 seconds, but I managed to choose the wrong time to get my breath, so got a bit of spray in my nose. I got through the other 3 sprays without mishap (of course, I wasn't facing the spray). I stepped out of the booth, patted off the excess spray and returned home to not do any chores for the next 5 hours.

It worked pretty well. I had quite dramatic tan lines and only a moderate amount of splotchiness which was the fault of my poor standing still technique. Also my fault was the tan line across my forehead. The video told me to put the shower cap along my hairline, but I went into surgeon mode and pulled it down. I'm almost back to my normal paleness, but I may do it again. Tony likes the tan lines.

Speaking of Tony, he chose the UV-in-a-can option. The first time he went, he was pretty careful about his exposure because he does tend to burn. I noticed maybe a little tan, but mostly he had a lot more freckles. The second time he went he actually did have a tan line on his leg. He chose the superfancy expensive option the second time and stayed in beyond the recommended time. He had to sign a waver to do this. He didn 't burn, though. Hopefully he'll share more about his experience in the can.