I’m an 18-year-old sunbed addict… trolls say I look ‘cremated’ but I feel more glamorous than ever

A teenager addicted to tanning beds said she will never give up her tan even as trolls bombard her with abuse.

Megan Blain, 18, who has been using sunbeds daily for two years, has even been compared to a ‘dirty 2p coin’ by trolls – but she insists she is trapped in a cycle of tanning and can’t imagine doing so fuses.

The student from Seaham, County Durham, started using tanning beds at the age of 16, hoping to keep his tan all year round.

She swapped fake tanning products for tanning beds and even started injecting herself with tanning agents to get a deeper glow.

Despite initially ‘not knowing much about tanning beds’, for over a year she spent up to half an hour on the beds under UV lights, often slathered with baby oil to improve results.

She said: ‘I just liked how I looked with a tan. I’m someone who wears bright colors and I liked that the colors pop. I started seeing results and how good I looked and continued more often.”

However, her intense tanning regime has raised health alarms, prompting Megan to acknowledge her ‘addition’ and reduce her tanning bed use.

The student admits that the tanning injections make her feel nauseous and even noticed a suspicious spot on her skin recently – but the cancer scare hasn’t made her stop tanning just yet.

Megan said: ‘I’ve noticed a spot on my skin that keeps changing in size. I’ve tried to go to the doctors five times, but I’m still frozen at the door.

‘I’m one of those people who worries about everything, so the fact that I don’t have to worry about a possible melanoma that I noticed a few months ago and still abuse the tanning bed has made me realize that this is an addiction. I just never think I’m dark enough.’

She explained: ‘I’m stuck in a cycle of abusing tanning beds and taking tanning injections, which leaves me feeling nauseous and sometimes unable to eat. I used to go every day, now it’s four times a week.’

Megan says her extreme tan has caught the attention of strangers, with some comparing her to a ‘burnt chip’ or saying she looks like a ‘cremated’ version of herself.

But despite the backlash online, she insists she never feels ‘dark enough’ and struggles to imagine life without tanning beds.

She said: ‘Everywhere I go I see people staring at me. When people say I’m dark, I actually find it hard to believe. I don’t feel dark at all – it’s like I’m physically blind.

‘One day I want to stop, but I can’t imagine not going on the sunbeds. I wouldn’t recommend anyone to do this. You could become addicted without realizing it, just like me.”

In an attempt to regain control, Megan has reduced her tanning bed use to four times a week and is now using her platform on TikTok to warn ‘the younger generation’ about the dangers of tanning bed addiction.

She said: ‘The younger generation seems to be using [sunbeds] more than the older generation, which is worrying because if I became addicted without even realizing it, the same thing could happen to other people.”

On TikTok, Megan has become a target for trolls, who have joined forces to poke fun at the teen’s appearance.

About Megan’s tanned complexion, someone wrote: “The chips that fell out of the oven.”

Another said: ‘You know when you get those really nasty 2p coins,’ while a third commented: ‘Yes [the sunbeds] cremate you?’

Although her views on tanning have changed, Megan admits she still finds it difficult to break free from the compulsion to hop under the UV lights.

She said: ‘After two years my view of tanning beds has changed. If I could go back in time, I would never have started it. I just feel like I need to use a sunbed, it’s not even a matter of wanting to get a tan anymore.’

‘I find it difficult to turn off the tanning bed once it is on. I don’t even like tanning beds, I dread them, but I feel like I have to move on physically.’

Meanwhile, a tanning addict who used the sunbed almost daily for 15 years has said she is ‘lucky to be alive’ after things took a turn for the worse.

Fionnghuala Maguire, 35, from Belfast, started using sunbeds at the age of 14 and never applied SPF during her years of tanning – now she is warning others not to make the same mistake.

She admits she has been using the machines routinely for more than 15 years, visiting salons as many as seven days a week at the height of her addiction.