Summer is just around the corner and tons of girls are flocking to the tanning salons in order to flaunt a sun-kissed glow. Uh oh. The American Academy of Dermatology gave us the cold, hard facts about the indoor tanning, and the harmful affects it can really have on our health.

Basking in the glow of a tanning bed can satisfy the desire to have celeb-like, bronzed skin. But is it worth the consequences you may face? The scariest outcome of tanning beds is melanoma, or skin cancer. This type of cancer is extremely deadly and something that we def. need to be aware of before setting foot in a salon. Other not-so-fun affects? Indoor tanning can lead to early aging and eye damage, and can even slow the immune system down! So while you may loooove the way your faux tan looks, will you love having wrinkles as a teen or dying before 30? The scariest part about the excessive indoor tanning is that a lot of people know the terrifying results it can have but chose their beauty over their health anyway.

The American Academy of Dermatology had this to say, “Our survey confirms that teens are more concerned with their current looks than their future health, even though they realize that skin cancer is a risk factor of their behavior”. Girls with fair skin are paying visits to the salons to try to make their skin darker and darker, even though fair skinned and freckled people are at a higher risk than people with darker skin. When your health is at risk, it’s time to think twice about what you’re doing. Girls of every shade are beautiful, so remember to put your body, your health and your life first.

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