One + 1 = Thr3e

I was sick of being pale and white. I was sick of looking like a ghost in some of the photos that were taken of me and my friends. So I decided to do something about it.

First it started off with some fake tan. I think this was one of the biggest mistakes that I could have made. Instead of turning a lovely tanned colour, I went a slightly orange colour. Which was mainly highlighted by the extra orange bits between my fingers and on my ankles. Lets just say after that experience, I was staying away from fake tan for a very long time.

Next came the solarium, which I had been saying I would go to for a long time, but never really got around to doing it. Finally the wife took me with her, and from that day on I was hooked. My goal was to be brown before my birthday, so I went quite regularly and was actually surprised at how tanned I was starting to look.

Because I was so white, at the start, they weren't sure how many minutes I should be going in for at a time, so I started going for only 4 minutes, just to see if I burnt or had a reaction or something like that. Needless to say, I didn't have one, and I started going in for longer sessions. Now I go in for like 10 minutes at a time.

Due to my previous experiences with fake tan, see above, I held off from using any sort of bronzer or tingle cream while using the solarium. Then one day, one of the girls asked why I was just using the normal one, and she managed to convince me to try one with a bronzer in it. Thankfully there was no orange marks on me, so I continue to use it.

I haven't been in a couple of weeks, and I think thats why I've become a bit stressed lately. Going to the solarium makes me feel all relaxed, because it forces me to chill out for at least the 10 minutes. So when I go, its not really just for the tan, but also my own mental wellbeing*.

Because I haven't been in a couple of weeks, I've lost my tan line. I was pretty devastated when I saw that. So I'm going back tomorrow morning. Below is some pictures of me before and after. Obviously the ones on the left are pre-solarium, and the ones on the right are after.

*As you can tell, I've tried to justify my solarium addiction, even though it probably isn't true!