Evening star., 1932-08-11

| head should not go into the sunshine,
but that he or she should indulge In
sun bathing with circumspection, and
should realize that in this wholesome
sport they are not on parity with the
genuinely dark-haired man or woman,
and probably will not receive the same
benefit from 1t.
This applies to the thousands Of
brown-haired persons who, as children,
were genuine blondes, or even tow
heads"
It will be discovered that in most
such cases the faces and shoulders Of
such persons practically never tend to
take on a real tan, but simply become
redder and redder the longer they are
exposed to the Summer sun.
An intense exposure by these people
of their skin will result in deep cherry
red, which often is as hot as fire." as
they express it. 1t is real burn and
no more beneficial than any other burn.
The length of beneficial exposure varies
with human beings, but with all of
them the gain depends upon the proper
length OF continuous time one remains
in the sun.
Some skins burn badly in half an
hour, others will require an hour, or
maybe three hours, to attain the same
degree of burn.
The consecutive time element, rather
than the sheer amount of these tan
ming rays, is what should be kept In
mind by the ambitious sun bather.
No one else's experience is any good
| here, all that counts is ones own re-
action.
Yet how few persons there are who
have given any thought to this matter,
! and who know the exact time they may
safely remain in a good Summer sun!
Let us suppose that your limit of
proper indulgence, for the best tanning,
and, therefore, health effects, is one
hour.
At least As minutes of this time is
seemingly wasted, from the standpoints
of tanning and health, because If you
retire at that time, there will be little
sunburn to reward you.
| 1t will be found that the last quarter
of an hour is the time which does
the trick.
Those Is minutes at the end Of the
| hour may be regarded as the tanning
minutes the real health minutes. The
preliminary As must be put in just to
permit these last Is to do their work
Why this cumulative effect Is de-
creed by Nature We have never seen
discussed in any treatise-and there
are only a few-on the effect of these
rays.
1t means that every one must be his
own doctor here, and must discover
for himself how many minutes he may
stay in the sun after the preliminary
period has been achieved.
Thus he should find out, for him
self, and for no one else, how long at
a time he must remain before the real
benefit begins.
Then he must discover just how long
he may stay in the sun, after this pre-
| liminary period, in order to get me-
dium amount Of burn without suffering
dire consequences.
II this seems a great deal of trouble,
and no doubt 1t is. the alternative IS
| the hit-and-miss system which so many
! people use, and which too often reveals
itself in terribly burned shoulders,
backs and arms. to say nothing of fam
ing faces, particularly noses.
Such doses" of Sunburn are any
thing but pleasant. as everyone knows
who has experienced them. They Offer
little from the standpoint Of either ap-
pearance or health benefit, but, on the
other hand, may be source Of real
discomfort and some danger
Perhaps flaming face will prove to
friends ones presence at the shore, or
participation in fishing party. but 1t
is rather a heavy price to pay, all
things considered, for proving what no
one probably cares much about any
way.
If a would-be sun bather will take
the trouble outlined above and honestly
determine his own ability to Withstand
comfortably the tanning rays-not the
heat rays-of the sun, he will be in
fair way to secure both a good tan"
and an appreciable amount of benefit
from this popular pastime It means,
after all, that one is using "the old
beam and there is some satisfaction in
that, In sport as elsewhere.