To tan or not to tan?

What makes someone attractive? Some would say the amount of makeup a person wears or how muscular he or she is.

Others believe that tanning enhances their appearance.

Now is the time of year that finds teens soaking up rays at the pool or on the beach, or even visiting their favorite salon for an "instant" bronzed glow. We asked some Top of Utah teens to share their burning opinions about tanning indoors and out.

Jessica Muhlestein, a teen employee for Darker Image in Clearfield, feels that tanning is a good source of safe UVA rays, and if not used excessively, can be a definitely good source of vitamin D.

"It can be good for your skin and it makes you feel happier!" Muhlestein says.

But Kristen Cottle, a sophomore at Northridge High, disagrees, saying, "I think it's a waste of time. I don't pay attention to skin color anyway, why should anyone else?"

Cody Balderson, a Northridge High senior, says he thinks tanning indoors at a salon is only necessary during the winter months, which is when he goes.

Tanning gives our bodies something we tend to lack, adds Jordynn Wheelwright, a junior from Bonneville High.

"A LITTLE bit of tanning in the winter is good because your skin lacks that vitamin D from the sun but you shouldn't go all year-round, all the time, and then have leathery skin," Wheelwright says.

An addiction?

Most teens have opinions about tanning and realize when it's appropriate to use a tanning salon, if ever, and how to set personal limits. But when does tanning get out of control or become addicting?

Some teens tan to enhance their appearance before going to a school dance, while others use it as a continuous feeling of relief from stress.

Kortnee Webster, a senior from Davis High, believes some people are obsessed with being white and have to go tanning to fix that.

She says, "I like it; it gives me some color in the winter months."

A sophomore at Bonneville High, Colton Ward agrees: "Tanning every once in a while would be fine, but excessive tanning would be pointless and not very good for your health."

Aubrey Hoggard, another senior from Davis High, says tanning might be addicting, yet says she thinks of it more as a comforting thing, explaining, "It's relaxing and some people can crave to go ... some are over-baked and don't feel they're tan enough and don't know when to stop."

Hot topic

Seventeen Magazine conducted a recent survey about teens, tanning salons and cancer risks. The results, published in the magazine's May issue, concluded that 90 percent of teens believe tanning beds cause skin cancer.

The survey also found that 40 percent of teens don't worry about getting skin cancer. Just 12 percent wear sunscreen every day, only 30 percent apply sunscreen at the beach and 20 percent apply sunscreen when they feel they are being burned.

If tanning is described by dermatologists as cancerous and tanning salons themselves are even required by law to have signs warning their costumers of the harmful ultraviolet rays, then why do people young and old continue using them?

Jordan Stewart, a senior at Northridge High, says many believe salons give people a beautiful tanned look, but because of the prevalence of skin cancer, they also realize it's linked to tanning.

"I feel that they are a waste of time and ... dangerous! The risk of getting cancer is very high. Besides, being beautiful doesn't mean that you should risk your health," Jocelyn St. Laurent, a sophomore at Northridge, explains.

Some teens say they know friends who still tan regularly, maybe even twice a day. The attitude is, "What should you care about as long as you look good now, right?"

Yet as Cottle says, the more you're tanning now, the more wrinkles you'll have when you are older.

Beyond the pale

Senior Dakota Hawes of Northridge High knows a neighbor who developed melanoma due to an obsession with tanning. However, others could go years using artificial and natural tanning and never have a sign of a cancer or disease. The reasoning, dermatologists would say, has much to do with individual genetics, the amount of light exposure and what type of light your body is absorbing.

But no matter who you are, experts would say too many UV rays or sun exposure can increase the risk of cancer or disease, whether it's natural or artificial tanning. Therefore, remembering the risks lying deep within the "cancer box" -- or indoor tanning bed -- or on that lounge chair might focus your attention on the truth and keep your attractiveness looking more natural.

Or as AJ Kerns, a junior from Bonneville, puts it, "Knowing you're cancer free is a reassuring and a healthy way to live your life ... ask Edward Cullen, pale is the new tan."

TX. correspondents Danielle Downs, Davis High; Lynette Randall, Northridge High, and Mackenzie Stevens, Bonneville High, contributed to this story.

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Morgan Briesmaster is a junior at Northridge High School. She enjoys snowboarding, dancing/tumbling and smiling. E-mail her at 11mbriesmaster@davis.k12.ut.us.

BURNING FACTS ON TANNING

* Half of the 18,000 teens surveyed for Seventeen Magazine said they would rather go without Facebook for a summer than NOT be tan.

* Some teens believe tanning helps clear their acne problems.

* Many feel girls are more addicted to tanning than boys.

* Nearly 28 million Americans tan indoors each year; 2.3 million of them are teens.

* 1.3 million new cases of skin cancer are likely to be detected this year in the United States. Of those, 47,700 will be new cases of melanoma.

* Melanoma, which is the deadliest type of skin cancer, has tripled in numbers among 15 to 30-year-old women since 1974.

* Know your skin type; the American Academy of Dermatology says Type I, II and III are more at risk when in the sun:

I. Pale white skin: Always burns -- never tans

II. White: Burns easily -- tans minimally

III. White (average): Burns moderately -- tans gradually to light brown

IV. Beige or lightly tanned: Burns minimally -- always tans well to moderately brown

V. Moderate brown or tanned: Rarely burns -- tans profusely to dark

VI. Dark brown or black: Never burns -- deeply pigmented

Sources: Seventeen magazine, May 2010; American Academy of Dermatology (www.aad.org), American Cancer Society (www.cancer.org)