Summer is finally here. There is no better feeling in the world than finally getting a chance to wear that new bikini and navel ring that you have been working so hard to rock. Your summer skin looks perfect with its piercings and tattoos. You put in that long, luxurious dangling belly ring and it looks stunning in the blazing sunlight. You’ve put on your shades because it’s almost blinding to look directly at this gleaming belly bling. Thank goodness that this ice is not the kind that melts, or you would be wearing nothing but a puddle. That being said, it’s time to sit out and catch some rays.
Sometime later, you inspect your nubile tanned summer skin and ….BAM, ugly weird tan line! Long, dangle belly rings are absolutely glorious, but precautions must be taken if you want to execute that kind of glamour and enjoy basking in the sun without its unsavory side effects. No matter how much makeup you put over a weird tan line or burn you won’t be able to make it go away.
Whether your skin is sensitive or not, it is wise to be careful not to get sweat, tanning oil, or sun block into a new piercing. Brand new piercings are technically open wounds, so getting them in contact with lotion or oil will only aggravate the piercing. UV rays dry out the skin, so you should also be careful of drying out your piercing and causing infection. While your belly button is healing, it’s best not to sun bathe or go into a tanning bed. I know this will be hard for a lot of our tanorexic folks out there. A lot of girls will take their belly rings out while tanning to avoid these odd tan lines; this is obviously not an option with a new healing piercing. If you do decide to tan with a new piercing, one option can be to cover it up with a cotton ball and some surgical tape or a band aid. After all, it’s much better to have a pale skin around your new piercing than infected red skin around it.
Swimming should also be avoided until your piercing is completely healed. It may be very tempting to get pierced during the warm, summer months when you want to show off that lovely midriff, but this practice is not ideal if you love to swim. The bacteria levels in any public or natural water source are extremely high. Sand and other small particles are also to be avoided. And always be mindful of a metal belly ring heating up in the sun or tanning bed. While tanning, it may be best to wear a bioplast belly ring or retainer to lessen the chances of this occurring. Long dangle jewelry can act like a reflector, and the area around it may be affected.
It’s easy to wear a short, curved barbell belly ring in a tanning bed to avoid crazy tan lines, but you don’t have to sacrifice wearing your long dangly belly ring to the beach. You can put a thin layer of sun block behind the jewelry in a healed piercing (still being mindful not to get it in the hole) to protect the skin behind and around the area of your belly ring. If the jewelry allows, you can sort of coil the dangle up and tuck it in so it rests right in your belly button. Another option is to move the dangle around and not let it sit in the same place to insure that no unsightly tan lines occur. There are plenty of options to tan and wear your beautiful belly ring with pride. Have fun this summer!
