Forget the Bikini, Sophie Looking Forward to Getting Mask Tan This Summer!

Sophomore Sophie Pearson would usually be hitting the beach to work on her tan, enabling her to flex on her friends come fall, but this summer she's got a small modification to her usual plan in mind. Sophie has decided to make the most of this summer and come back to campus with Harnwell's most prominent mask tan.

"Mask tanning is a pretty involved process when you think about it," commented Pearson. "For one, you have to make sure the straps aren't twisted, that'd be a disaster, but also it's just really time-consuming." When asked just how long she tans, Pearson responded, "At least four hours a day (two hours for full-frontal tanning and one hour for tanning each side of the face), but often much more. I have to move from window to window throughout the day as the sun moves so that I'm always in direct sunlight. It's a lot of work, but at the end of the day, I find it's really rewarding." 

Recently, Sophie has upped the game, keeping her mask on at all times, even while eating and showering. Sophie has been eating foods solely in liquid form, courtesy of her Nutribullet blender. She drinks blended up fruits, vegetables, meats, cheeses, and Ritz crackers with the help of a bendy straw all while still wearing her mask. As for showering, Pearson isn't concerned about having a wet mask. "If the mask gets wet, that's okay," began Sophie, "in fact, it's good, because the sun reflects off the water, so you end up getting even tanner."

Mask tanning is unique because the potential to tan is always present, unlike with regular beach tanning. "It's like 'I'm on' as long as the sun is up," explained Pearson, "I find I release a tension that I didn't know I was feeling when the sun finally goes down. In short, it's not as easy as it looks, mask tanning is really stressful!" We wish Sophie the best of luck with her summer tanning regiment and look forward to seeing the results for ourselves come fall.