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BOULDER, Colo. -
Kristi Parks spent a recent afternoon basking in the sun with dozens of other sunbathers at Boulder's Eben G. Fine Park.
She said she's well aware of the danger of skin cancer, and noted that she never tans without wearing sunscreen -- in this case, she'd slathered on some SPF 15.
"I like to get some sun every now and then to have a little color," Parks said. "But I try to be careful so I don't burn my skin."
Yet experts warn that doing any tanning under ultraviolet rays is dangerous for the skin -- even while wearing sunscreen.
"Don't kid yourself, you are damaging your skin," Boulder dermatologist George Russell said. "There's no such thing as a good tan. That's what the skin does when it gets hurt. The skin tans because it's getting damaged."
Russell said avoiding the sun during heightened UVB rays -- between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. -- is wise. However, contrary to common belief, he said the longer wavelength of UVA rays -- which shine from sunrise to sunset, and cause wrinkles and tanning as opposed to the UVB rays' sunburn -- are just as dangerous, as they penetrate deeper into the skin, even through glass.
"We used to think that the skin was only being damaged when it was burnt by UVB rays," Russell said. "But that's not true. When sunscreens first came out, we just tried to block UVB rays, because we thought, if we stop the burn, we're going to stop the damage."
Russell recommended wearing a daily sunscreen containing Parsol, which protects from UVA rays, and a SPF of at least 50.
"You really need to use a high SPF because the more rays you can block, the longer your skin's going to last," he said.
Russell said avoiding the outdoors is not necessary, but the importance lies in being aware of the cumulative affects of the sun.
"The sun damages the skin every time it hits the skin," Russell said. "It starts when the first ray of sunshine hits your baby skin. Then, every time you go out, you get 10 minutes of damage and the next 10 minutes is added on top of that. Every time you go into the sun, you are closer and closer to skin damage."
Russell said the only safe way to achieve color is through self-activating tanning solutions.
Lisa DeCristofaro, an employee of Veranda Sun, 1670 30th St., said the shop's sunless tanning options have become very popular.
"People like to have color," DeCristofaro said. "We have the Mystic Tan, where the customer gets sprayed in a booth and we also offer custom airbrush tanning, which is awesome.
"It works so well, people love it."
