text: Reasons cited for indoor tanning include improving appearance, acquiring a pre-holiday tan, feeling good and treating a skin condition. Tanners often cite feelings of well-being; exposure to tanning beds is reported to "increase serum beta-endorphin levels by 44%". Beta-endorphin is associated with feelings of relaxation and euphoria, including "runner's high".
  Improving appearance is the most-cited reason. Studies show that tanned skin has semiotic power, signifying health, beauty, youth and the ability to seduce. Women, in particular, say not only that they prefer their appearance with tanned skin, but that they receive the same message from friends and family, especially from other women. They believe tanned skin makes them look thinner and more toned, and that it covers or heals skin blemishes such as acne. Other reasons include acquiring a base tan for further sunbathing; that a uniform tan is easier to achieve in a tanning unit than in the sun, and a desire to avoid tan lines. Proponents of indoor tanning say that tanning beds deliver more consistent, predictable exposure than the sun, but studies show that indoor tanners do suffer burns. In two surveys in the US in 1998 and 2004, 58% of indoor tanners said they had been burned during sessions.