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Monday, March 30, 2009

Take me away Jergens........

I won't lie---I used to believe you can't be too tan, too rich or too thin. Now I know better. When you reach 50--being too thin and too tan are very bad looks.
Case in point.....our friend Donatella....

Being too rich--on the other hand--would be just fine. Although....as evidenced in the pix above...even being rich can't make you beautiful....
So, I'm not going for the Donatella Versace look.
Yet, I still like a sun kissed tan. A little color to the skin looks good. It looks healthy--even though I know it's not! But, I swear it makes you look thinner. And, it makes you feel better. Or, is that just me? Humor me, please. Because I've done it all in my quest for getting a tan. You could say my quest for being tan is similar to my quest for being thin. Been there. Done that. All of it! Perhaps I'm more vain that I care to admit.
Yep, I'm a sun goddess from way back....
For starters--I spent every childhood summer at Dormont Pool. From the minute the doors opened until it was time for dinner and then I went back again. It helped that I lived on the same street as the pool. No one ever worried about sun screen or sun burn. Sunburn was a rite of summer. My mother even believed that getting alot of sun over the summer protected us from getting colds in the winter. Or, maybe that was just her excuse for shuttling us off everyday during summer vacation to the pool. Who knows! But, from the looks of the place--every mother in Dormont did that! Believe me, from May to early June--that place was filled with red bodied kids. By Labor Day, we sported sun-dyed hair, bright white buts and copper-hued bodies. Little did we know we were returning to school sun damaged!
Then, when my friend Debbie Dean got a sun lamp--we got to sun ourselves in the privacy of her bedroom--all year long. And the closer you sat--the better it was....because the tanner you got. What a happy invention that was. Sure we got our share of nasty burns but hey, it also promised to zap zits. Talk about a plug-in beauty machine!
My tanning past has also included laying on a bed of tin foil drenched in iodine tinged baby oil on a tar roof. I was young...what can I say? But, I spent an entire summer doing that--me and my college roomies. We'd spend the mornings going to class, our lunch hours floating in inner tubes on the Monongahela River and then the rest of the afternoon on our roof sunning and smoking. Then, we'd go to work. We scheduled our classes and our jobs in order to maintain that grueling tanning routine and our brown bodies.
And, let's not forget about how much I love beaches and sun worshipping. Even to this day! Sitting in a beach chair watching the waves, reading a trashy novel or a decorating mag with a drink in hand is my idea of heaven. But, living in Pittsburgh and holding down a full time job doesn't allow for many of those moments. But, the beach chair is still one of my fav places to be--2 weeks out of the year. Sure, these days I do douse myself with high numbered lotions. But, if truth be told--I still work on my tan....for those 2 weeks. Bad girl!!!
And, yes, I love tanning beds. I like the idea of efficiency when it comes to getting that sun drenched look without spending hours doing it. And, I just adore laying in a capsule where no one can bother me--it's just me and the light bulbs. I don't even put on the head phones. As far as I am concerned--it's stress therapy. But, because I love it so much--I need to keep my distance. I'd definitely end up looking like Donatella since I need so much stress therapy!
And, oh yeah, I've done the spraying tanning booths. Go out to lunch and come back orange. What a strange experience! Entirely too much work and a bit of a creepy feeling. I am positive the owner of the little place near my office had 2 way mirrors installed just to watch us. Although I can't imagine it was all that alluring--a nude woman with a shower cap, the bottom of her feet covered in some goofy white tape with shots of colored goop shooting at her as she counts to 5 in each position!
And, oh yeah, I did go and have tanner applied by a professional. Sort of like a spa treatment/massage all in one. It was relaxing and rejuvinating but pricey. Plus, when I went to pick Toni up at school afterwards, she said I looked scarey. By the time I got home and looked in the mirror, I had to agree. My professional tan technician had a bit of a heavy hand...
And, just in case you think I didn't try to be economical--I have a tanning spray gun of my very own. My friend Patty convinced me that we needed one. So, we found one on the internet, pitched in to buy it and all the refills and then went about spraying each other in my shower stall. A few glasses of wine--to give us the courage to bare all with each other--and an hour later-- I ended up with striped legs and an orange shower stall. Not to mention giving Patty some pretty nasty visuals of my not-so-taut bod. As far as I'm concerned....once my tanning efforts give me housework, I'm done with it. I love a tan but I hate scrubbing. I have my limits.

Now, as we inch our way to Spring...I really am ready for a tan. The feeling has been creeping up on me for a few weeks now. Last week, one of my spirited friends--Angela--called me just to report that she went to the tanning bed. She knew I'd be oh so jealous. And I was. Ah, the thought of being locked away with only the heat of the light bulbs to keep me company--all the while knowing I'd emerge just a little bit lovelier--was enough to cause me pure delirium. And, I was this close to calling for an appointment. But, then, I remembered that I spotted weird little spot on my leg a few weeks ago (which I'll have checked out at my dr appt in April). So, I put off the lure of the tanning bed. Still....I pined for color on this pale skin...
Soon my prayers were answered. In came Maureen--one of my darling office mates--sporting a lovely copper tinged glow. She did not go to the tanning bed. She did not go on some exotic vacation or even a spray tanner. In fact, she spends her days in the same dismal, stress-ridden basement as I do each and every day. What is her secret? Jergen's Natural Glow Self Tanning Daily Moisturizer
$7.00 and a few minutes of lathering up and I'm on my way.....

Ahhh....I feel better already....

7 comments:

Eileen, Founder, Organizer, Mayor and Chief Cook And Bottle Washer of the Anger Management Girls. said...

This picture just proves my point. No one over 30 should wear a two piece bathing suit.

Whats with the young girls now? They all look orange?

Kathy said...

I have that lotion and it does work ever so slowly. Oh, and I also used iodine in baby oil in high school when I would lay on the beach in So Cal for days on end. No wonder my skin looks like it does now!! Why didn't they have sunscreen way back then?? You really have tried it all haven't you?

Anonymous said...

I am cracking up with this pic oh my goodness one of her boobs looks like its deflating and the bottom of her bsuit lolol looks like her crotch is hanging. lololol.

Lucy

Anonymous said...

oh Judi, so glad you will stop tanning!! one little mole can kill you!! I stopped tanning after my honeymoon when I was 29!! Been white ever since and I still have brown spots and yucky skin on my chest now!! I never tanned, just burned and I so wished I hadnt!! Do you watch Grey's Anatomy? Lizzie had a mole on her back and now she has brain cancer!! HELLO....yes skin cancer can give you other cancer!! Please do not let this happen to your daughter, she is beautiful and should keep looking that way all her life. I met a 14 year old girl who's mother died of skin cancer when she was in her early 40's. No young teenage girl should be without their mother, it broke my heart.

So get that Jergens lotion and slather up!! you will get that nice "sun kissed" look without committing suicide.

Now I will get off my soapbox....sorry to have ranted...thanks for letting me speak my piece.

Jill from NY

Debbie said...

I have to try the Jergens. Did I mention to you that I have cataracts already in both eyes. Yes, I am very, very young to have cataracts. That cute little table top sun lamp, (from the David Weiss Catalog Showroom ) that we loved so much back in the 70's is to blame. Maybe we should have used the goggles and not worried about looking like a racoon. Good thing we are older and so much wiser...

Essential Oil Premier University said...

Oh yes, I saw this picture too! She could do an advertisement for "why women should not get breast implants." Everything else is sagging and bagging and those little implants are soooo visible.

I'm turing 50 this year too. I don't mind looking 50. I'd sure rather look the best I can at 50 than to try to achieve this look. . . that's for sure!

Tanning has never really been an option for me. I have Lupus and the sun makes me so sick. So, pale and white suits me just fine.

Blessings,

Sher

Jody V said...

LOL with your post Judi!! I used another self tanning lotion last winter. I can't remember the name though. Well, I came out of the bathroom one day and Frank told me I shouldn't use so much of it. I was dark. It didn't look natural. But...when I stopped using it the color faded and I looked spotted. Two days later I looked like a giraffe!

Good luck with it!
Jody