I think we've all heard of the dangers of tanning beds, and to be quite frank, I thought I would never find myself using one. I've never had an important life event coming up to where I felt the need to get rid of my "tan lines" that I had gotten in the summer... well, until now. What is this life event you may ask? My brother's wedding, and I was going to be in the wedding party. For some reason, I decided to wear my strappiest bathing suit during the summer which left me with bright (and I mean bright) white lines across my back and shoulders. I'm not quite sure how I got to thinking that a tanning booth was the best idea for this problem, but that's what I resorted to as fall in Michigan can be quite chilly to layout under the sun.

My experience started out with choosing what "package" I wanted to do (there's like a bazillion different tanning beds to choose from and several packages) and I decided a month unlimited on a low UV bed would probably be best. The workers showed me how to put on goggles (which you should absolutely wear if you do this) and also showed me the effects of not wearing UV protectants over your eyes (which in case you don't know, the images are pretty shocking). You then can activate your bed by pressing a button and then laying down. I found it to be extremely claustrophobic the first few times so I completely closed my eyes and tried to think of something else. When your time is up, the bed will automatically shut off and that's it. It is a very easy process to go through.

Now, here is what I want to warn others about... these artificial rays are meant to burn you! Your skin is being directly hit with UV rays which can cause cancer and several other awful conditions including vision problems. I had gotten burnt the first time I went tanning because I didn't know how much my body could take. Sunburn from an indoor tanning bed is way different from those from the natural sun because it doesn't reach all the layers of skin, just the top layer. I found that my body itched a ton after the first few times of tanning and after that, It slowly went away.

Because the tanning beds only reach the top layer of skin, you lose your tan a lot faster (I would be really dark after tanning and the next day it was if I had never gone). In order to keep up with an actual tan, you have to be exposed to the tanning beds several times! As you can imagine, this is extremely bad for your skin. I started to notice that my face had some discoloration (some parts darker than others) and I had never gotten that from being under the sun before. It is enough to have me not do this again for a long while.

My experience was not completely horrible - I did see results. My tan lines didn't completely fade into the rest of my body, rather it just was not as blindingly white as before. Would I tan again after my brother's wedding? Maybe, maybe not. I feel as if it is not worth exposing myself more than I have to. For now, I am limiting myself to "special events only", like the ones where you are going to have pictures hanging up on your wall forever.

I would never recommend this to anyone with a history of cancer or vision problems, as well as those underage, just because it simply isn't worth it. If you aren't sure, you should definitely check with a doctor. Chances are if you aren't sure, you probably shouldn't risk it. The long-term effects of UV exposure are scary and should be taken seriously.