NEWSLETTER

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The American Cancer Society says that between 1996 and 2003, the use of tanning salons by people under age 25 more than tripled. The American Cancer Society cares about this because (doye) excessive tanning causes skin cancer. When you get skin cancer they have to cut entire chunks off of you. Is your obsession with turning orange worth it? Apparently, to some people, it is. A full-time tanorexic will visit the salon every day and pay around $270 a month for the best beds. Tanning booths and salons are popping up all over the Western world faster than you can say, "Melanoma" (especially in places like Britain where it's never sunny and everybody's pasty, ugly and overweight). Photographs: Danielle Levitt Styling: Eric Kosse Make-up: Christi Matamoris Hair: Hikari & Celestine using Bumble & Bumble Printing: Pochron Studios

Erin: " I'm too lazy to do the standing booths which everybody uses these days so I go for the traditional lying down bed instead. I've only been tanning for six months so I'm not as tan as I'd like to be. At the moment I make my skin more tan by using bronzing lotions." Bikini by Project Alabama and Tomas Maier, Shoes by Steve Madden

Aida: "I started tanning properly in 2000. X Power is a tanning accelerator. It's a moisturizing solution. A tan makes you more confident and it's also the best source for releasing Vitamin D in the body. The picture doesn't show how tan I can get. I can get a couple shades darker than that." Bikini by Seven2, Shoes by Steve Madden

Beau "Some of my friends have been tanning for years but I only started just over 12 months ago. I do all my sessions at Sunset Beach Tanning in California and they advised me to start using the Goddess range of tanning creams to achieve the ideal tan." Boardshorts by Hurley

Sarah: "I swear by Fiji bronzing shimmer lotion to get the right tan. I've used other products in the past but none of them get near the effect that Fiji does. I have to have it right. I've been doing this since I was 13, so I have to have it just as I want it. I won't settle for anything else." Ruched Onepiece by Corey Lynn Calter, Shoes by Fredericks of Hollywood

Kathryn: "It's not actually tanning that gives you the skin cancer, it's if you get burned over and over again in the same spot. That's what gives you skin cancer." Bikini by Ocean Pacific, Shoes by Steve Madden

Cooper "I go to Sunlight Tans. If you're feeling bummed out, go for a tan and you feel better." Boardshorts by Ocean Pacific

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