I have been in London and Amsterdam the past two weeks meeting with beauty reporters from both magazines and newspapers. It has been fascinating. One meeting in particular got me thinking about self-tanners especially now that spring and then summer are approaching.

I was introduced to a reporter who simply had on the worst application of self tanner I had seen in a long time. She had it streaked all over her hands and her face had a strange, dull, orange-looking color, and overall it just made her look sickly. Clearly not the effect she was going after!

I’m not sure what went wrong with her application and I just didn’t have the heart to ask (maybe she didn’t know it looked terrible and would feel insulted and you definitely don’t want to upset a reporter over a personal issue like that). Nonetheless, it got me thinking about the self-tanner I formulated for my Paula’s Choice line of skin-care products. My question is, why apply self-tanner at all?

There certainly are women who know how to apply self-tanner beautifully and it is absolutely the only way to achieve a safe tan (getting tan from the sun, even a little bit is damaging to skin, causing wrinkles, skin discolorations, and increases your risk of getting skin cancer significantly). I even offer a detailed step by step for applying self-tanner on my web site. BUT, why change your skin color at all? Why not love your natural skin color? Why go through the trouble of becoming brown when the shade of skin you have is beautiful as is? Artificial brown (or even getting brown from the sun—God forbid) is not any more beautiful than the real tone of your skin.

Have you noticed that over the past 10 years or so models and Hollywood actresses don’t show up with tans any more? They all wear their own skin color accented with simple to alluring makeup applications. My personal thanks and accolades to those wonderful women for showing us the way.

As an aside, you may wonder why I’m advocating loving the skin color you were born with but freely admit to that I see nothing wrong with coloring my hair (I don’t like my gray hair) and wearing makeup (I do like the feeling of “being a girl” and the glamour part too). On one level that sounds hypocritical, but using self-tanner to change one’s skin color encourages the notion of tanning itself, and the more we encourage the idea that tanned skin is more beautiful than un-tanned skin, the more women will justify risking their skin’s health (and their lives) to reach that dangerous ideal.

So rather than struggling with applying self-tanner (which is a tricky endeavor at best), consider going au naturale by not getting a tan either from a self-tanner and definitely not the sun. I won’t mind if my sales of self-tanner suffer a bit if by doing that, you experience loving how naturally beautiful your skin color is. What a great way to enjoy summer.

I recently visited my hometown to see my family before the holidays. While there, I met with a high school friend of mine that I hadn’t seen in nearly 15 years (where does the time go?). As we caught up on each other’s lives,  naturally we discussed what’s going on with several of our former classmates. I asked about our friend Joanne, as I had lost touch with her and noticed she wasn’t on Facebook (and these days, who isn’t on Facebook?). My friend paused and then revealed some sobering news: Joanne died in August 2006, at age 32, the victim of melanoma. I was stunned. Joanne was a bright, effervescent woman with a quick wit and sense of sly sarcasm that made many boring yet required high school courses much more bearable. I looked forward to seeing her in class and passing her in the hallway, where we’d often make each other laugh with just a silly glance.

As I took this news in, I realized one thing that didn’t click right away: Joanne was a sun worshipper. In fact, my friend mentioned that on sunny days, the two of them would often skip class and lay out on the beach at Lake Lansing, slathered in suntan oil. Joanne had naturally blonde hair and dark eyes, a combination that, along with her light skin tone, allowed her to tan after she became sufficiently freckled. I recalled her stating that she wanted to stay dark enough so that “all the freckles connected”. I also recalled being jealous of how dark she could get. Being lighter than her, it used to bother me that my attempts at tanning were basically useless (not to mention painful) and, as a lucky result, tanning became practice I quickly abandoned despite the pressure to not be pale.

Unfortunately, Joanne learned the hard way that keeping a tan at all costs can end up costing a person their life. Melanoma is the rarest form of skin cancer, but its numbers are on the rise, especially among young women who continue tanning (whether in the sun or, even worse, in tanning beds). The death rate for melanoma is startlingly high: 79% of those diagnosed will succumb. Melanoma is also the second most common cancer in women between the ages of 25–30, though the median age of diagnosis is 45, a time when it may be too late to stop the spread of this deadly skin disease.

Next summer, when the Seattle clouds clear and the rain dissipates, I’ll be paying extra attention to playing it safe in the sun—and thankful for the knowledge I’ve gained after working so closely with Paula on the topic of how sun exposure damages our skin.

Joanne, wherever you are, I hope you’re still making people laugh. You are missed and your untimely passing will serve as a powerful reminder to all who knew you as they consider how to protect their skin from the sun. Joanne’s family left this as her final message: “Wear your sunscreen, hats, protective clothing. DON’T DIE TO BE TAN! Stay away from tanning booths and beds! It’s not just a little spot you have removed and live on. This is a DEADLY BEAST.” I couldn’t agree more!