How Much Does a Tan Really Cost You?

The deep, all-year-round tan only became fashionable after the World War I, when the iconic Coco Chanel embraced life outdoors, horseriding, swimming and playing tennis. Tanned skin in the 1920s soon became associated with Riviera chic and emblematic of glamour, rather than peasantry; of a leisured life, rather than outdoor labour.

And the tan has never really gone away, although it has occasionally fallen out of favour.  When Gianni Versace's bronzed Amazons reigned supreme, tanning salons mushroomed on every High Street. When Brazilian bombshells Gisele Bundchen and Fernanda Tavares became famous in the Nineties, sales of St Tropez spray-on tan sky rocketed.

But as soon as the likes of Meg Mathews, Victoria Beckham and, more recently, Cheryl Cole came our way, fashion turned its narrow back on the tan.  Today’s high profile models are now all resolutely white.
The deep brown tan is not now synonymous with the Riviera; rather, it smacks too readily of windswept northern precincts or the Costa del Sol.

Too many women still believe a tan makes them look slimmer, healthier and richer. Sun beds still exist and many still covet the sun and aim for baking themselves to a cinder.

If you prefer the bronze look that’s up to you.  But what price are you paying for your tan?  I'm not referring to the cost of your exotic holiday or your sun bed treatments.  What is the real price that you are paying longer term?  Yes, I'm referring to the damage to your skin.  A tan may look good to some but all it shows is the damage you have done to your skin.  A tan is your skin’s attempt to try and protect itself.  But you won’t see how much it has really cost you until later on. 

Aesthetic clinics are more than familiar with having to deal with the fall out.  Skin damaged by the sun is often jokingly referred to as leather.  It ages far more prematurely than normal skin (did you know that the sun is responsible for 90% of ageing?).  Dehydrated, crepe-like, rough – the skin far from glows.  Enlarged pores, decreased tone, most probably littered with age spots – the damage is obvious.  No fancy skincare cream on the planet is going to make any difference.  The only remedy is a chemical peel.

It's not just the aesthetic price a sun tan costs you.  It could even cost you your health and, ultimately, even your life.  The incidence of skin cancer has been increasing at frightening levels.  People in their 60s are now over five times more likely to be diagnosed with skin cancer than they were 30 years ago.  Is tanned skin really worth the risk? 

Chemical peels and other aesthetic treatments (including botox, Restylane, Juvederm and dermaroller / medical skin needling treatments) are available from Complete Rejuvenation Medical Aesthetics Clnic with branches throughout London and Essex.  Please contact the Clinic Manager for more information and advice about aesthetic treatments on 01992 578862.