Eco tanning: fake bake versus real versus bottled?

It's definitely spring time where I live and I noticed the other day how pasty my skin is looking.  So I was thinking about the idea of tanning.  I sure look better with a little more melanin in my skin.  The question is, where do you get your "healthy summer glow" from?

Of course, I guess the most eco-friendly would be chilling out in the sun for a while.  I mean, what could be more eco than solar power in the buff (or semi-buff)?  No waste there.  No extra energy consumption.  But...we all know the whole sun damage thing.  Skin cancer and what not.  Skin cancer sure isn't eco-friendly or fun to deal with.

Then there are tanning beds....and bottled tanning or that weird spray stuff.

Anyway, just curious what you all think about bronzing in eco friendly style.

Yeah, tanning beds of course use a fair amount electricity to power the lamps.  According to Wikipedia, "smaller, home tanning beds usually have 12 to 28 100 watt lamps while systems found in salons can run from 24 to 60 lamps, each consuming 100 to 200 watts."

I'm don't really know much about the whole spray tan thing.  Mystic Tan spray has a 7 rating in Cosmetics Database as it include fragrance, limonene, dihydroxyacetone, linalool, and dyes in it's ingredients list.

But conveniently, a nice roundup post of self-tanners with organic and natural ingredients was published yesterday in Feelgoodstyle.

They include:

1. L’Occitane Castanha Self-Tanner - $26
2. Aviva Organic Sun-Free Skin Glow Body Crème - $39
3. Lavera Sunless Tan Self-Tanning Lotion - $27
4. Renaud Naturals Monoi de Tahiti Sunless Crème for the Body - $20
5. Chocolate Sun Organic Sunless Tanning
6. Tarte Sunburst Body Beaded Bronzing Lotion – $39 (although this one is phthalate-free, petro-chemical free, etc., it does have parabens in it...so perhaps it's better than the conventional stuff but maybe not the best of the bunch)

And in Cosmetics Database, they list these products as low hazard (0-2):

1. Coppertone Engless Summer Sunless Tanning Lotion
2. Boots No. 7 Quick Dry Tinted Lotion
3. LyphaZome Inside Tan

Ah, cool!  Thanks for sharing those.  I'll have to give them a try...maybe I'll start with my stomach or something just in case it turns me orange.

Tanning under direct sun and tanning bed... they both cause skin cancer. Tanning beds shoot UVB rays, which do not cause sunburn or red spots on the skin so it's easy to neglect the harmful effects of UVB.

I don't know if you are familiar with sunless tanning towels. They're great to evenly tan your skin to a healthy bronze color and safe to apply including the face.

VANYA