Originally posted by Q-Unit
Don't do it. It seriously fvcks up your skin in the long term.
Have fun hiding from the sun your whole life covered in sun block then ^^
Safest way to tan is a solarium. Try to stick to the programs that match your skin type. The sun is a dangerous tanner because it's not as 'constant' as a solarium is. On dry hot days a lot of really abusive rays pass the ozone layer and fry into your skin. This is harmful because it causes molecular damage to your cells (which could result in self termination, IE cancer, if it gets to bad).
Always allow your skin to repair. Don't hit the solarium daily, do intense routines and then wait a week or two before doing another. The point is that your skin heals from the damage you inflict up on it through UV rays. As long as you are doing that you are perfectly fine and won't get any freaky diseases. Only sun freaks get skin problems. People who roam beaches like addicts and capture every single ray they can get. They never allow the skin to heal and hence it gets destroyed up to a point where it self destructs.
Also, refrain from getting burned. Sun burn is very bad so avoid it. It's better to tan slowly and constantly. Always use a cosmetic afterwards. Something with vitamin B that helps your skin repair faster. Sun burn can be very subtile. Just cause you don't look like a lobster doesn't mean you're not burned. If your feeling itchy or sensitive it's also sunburn so spend less time under the solarium.
The 'dangers' of tanning are highly overrated anyways. Especially of artificial tanning, which is actually SAFER than sun tanning because it's more reliable. Overdoing anything is harmful, same with tanning. Smoke 30 cigarettes a day and you will get lung cancer sooner or later... smoke 1 every 3 days and there is no way in hell you get lung cancer (at least not from the cigarettes).