On this one everything you do depends on your genetics. If you have a family history of skin cancer it simply is not worth it. Back in the 1950's and 1960's nobody knew the long term effects of UV exposure. Now we know that the time and the parts of the light and UV spectrum that are most damaging.
My Biological Mother by the time she left this world in 2001 had a total of 21 skin cancers burned off of her face, arms and body. These were a mix of both basil and squamous cell carcinomas. There is also a relationship between sun exposure and melanoma cancer to some degree. Basil cell is rarely fatal, but, both squamous and melanoma can be if not caught early.
My biological Father had suffered through the removal of (7) skin cancers in a combination of both basil and squamous cell carcinoma before his passing at age 77 in 1994.
When I was in my teens because of acne I underwent skin treatments to peel my face to eliminate acne scarring. Those treatments which were a standard in the later years of the 1960's consisted of high dosage UV lighting and then a rubdown with dry ice and acetone to kill the top layer of skin and peel it off. Here I was a fair skinned blonde haired and blue eyed dude with a family history of skin cancer and this is what they did.
So far I have made it to 57 years old and I have been clear, but to me based on my family history it is not a matter of if, it is a matter of when.
For years we have had ways to change this and this is easy. One has to go to their MD and they can be given a drug called Trisoralen. This is a pigmenting agent that brings melatonin to the surface causing a tan from the inside out. Another thing currently under study at the University of Arizona in Tucson are the peptides which are trade named "Melanotan" and Melanotan II" "Melanotan II" has some interesting sexual side effects as well.
I would agree that the success or failure of externally applied products can look pretty darned awful if the skin tone and the product do not agree with each other.
The internal drugs do work well. There was a famous book written about a man's experiences using Trisoralen back in the 1960's.
I have not thought about this for years, but this thread brought those old thoughts back.
Personally I am trying desperately to become part of the Arizona medical study because I have an incredible family history of Skin cancer especially on my maternal side.
I have seen the "old leather" look that sun baking can do to some people. This is not true of everybody who does it, and there are a percentage of individuals who do not suffer this problem. It is caused by the UV breaking down the collagen in the skin I am told.
Living out in the desert southwest where I do, I see a great number of people who work on ranches and what sun exposure has done to them. Most of all I see it in my other half who spends a great deal of time on a freight dock and inspecting truck loads. I am eleven (11) years older than he is, but the skin on his face looks ten years older than mine does and I attribute this to the UV exposure.
On this one I would rather error on the side of caution and go a decent artificial route than run the risk of squamous or melanoma. The only decent route is the medical pigmenting agents and not things applied from the outside. The internal pigmenting agents which act on your melatonin give you what would be a natural tan for you and you can get it quite dark without wrecking the moisture or collagen of your skin.
Play it safe people. . . . I have seen the down side of this one personally many times!
A lil' real sun is a good thing. *in moderation* ANYWAY, as I said at the beginning...the versaspa is the best stand up sprayer I've used and it doesn't give you that Jersey Shore orange look. No orange color is in the mix. I've had it done twice and everyone thought I had been on a trip ... they couldn't believe it was spray tan. Mystic tans are orange...avoid those big time. 
