• UV rays don't create a pretty picture."Painter" is Copyrighted by Flickr user: nyki_m (Nicole Makauskas) under the Creative Commons Attribution license.
  
  

Skin Cancer

• Indoor tanning beds most commonly utilize ultraviolet bulbs that give off UVA rays. UVA rays penetrate further into the skin, raising your risk of developing malignant melanoma and other types of skin cancer.
  
  

Wrinkles

• The UVA rays emitted in tanning beds destroy collagen and elastin in the deeper layers of the skin. Wrinkles made from smiling, laughing, and other facial expressions will have less ability to bounce back.
  
  

Drying

• UV rays dry out the skin, which is why you might have heard that the sun can dry up acne. That is true; however, dry skin also means flaky, itchy, red skin that is more susceptible to creasing (i.e. wrinkling).
  
  

Sagginess

• UV rays destroy elastin and collagen. Elastin, which is a fiber, allows your skin to bounce back, while collagen gives your skin that healthy, plump look. The loss of elastin and collagen will lead to sagging skin.
  
  

Hyperpigmentation

• Hyperpigmentation or dark, uneven patches of skin, is a common side effect of tanning. Tanning darkens the areas of skin that are already hyperpigmented even more, making the skin look blotchy and uneven.
  
  

Expert Insight

• According to Dr. Peter T. Pacik at Skincare-MD.com, a person who is exposed to indoor tanning radiation for 30 minutes receives sun damage equivalent to that received in an entire day at the beach. The bulbs used in tanning beds give off two to three times the intensity of UVA radiation than the Earth gets from the sun.