A teenage sunbed addict says her mum was forced to beg local salons to stop serving her after finding tanning injections hidden in a pickle jar in her bedroom.
Megan Blain, 19, admits she cries with guilt after every session but still visits salons up to four times a week, saying she feels anxious and ‘not herself’ if her skin tone lightens even slightly.
The aspiring stewardess, from Murton, County Durham, says her obsession began at 16 after she was bullied at school and has since spiralled into a full-blown dependency on sunbeds, supplements and banned injections to keep her skin as dark as possible.
Despite visible signs of damage, including new moles and premature lines on her face, Megan says she has continued regardless. She has even turned down job offers because she didn’t feel ‘dark enough’. Her mum Elisha, meanwhile, has been left so worried she contacted salons across the region in a bid to cut off her daughter’s supply.
She told MailOnline: ‘I won’t have anyone suggest that what I’m suffering isn’t an addiction – it is and it’s ruining my life. I don’t want anyone else to go through what is happening to me. I know that I’m being self-destructive by going on the sunbeds day after day but I just can’t stop.
‘What really scares me is that I can see sunbed use rising among younger people and that all comes down to TikTok. There has been a rise in influencers who have a dark tan all year round and that look is becoming fashionable again.
‘People have known for years the damage that sunbeds can do but I’m seeing girls of 15 going into sunbed shops because they want to look like the people they see online.’
Megan says her habit began by secretly using her mum’s sunbed in the garage, carefully topping up the electricity meter each time so she wouldn’t be caught.
Teenager Megan Blain (pictured), 18, from Seaham, County Durham, has admitted to being addicted to sunbeds, despite facing harsh criticism online and noticing concerning changes to her skin
The student initially began using sunbeds at 16, hoping to maintain a year-round tan by laying on the beds for as long as half an hour under the UV lights
She swapped fake tan products for sunbeds and even started injecting herself with tanning agents to achieve a deeper glow
‘I knew Mam would be furious if she knew what I was doing so I was very careful,’ she said. ‘I hoped that she’d think I was still using fake tan, but one day she saw me getting changed and saw the tan lines and realised what I had been doing.’
Things escalated when Elisha discovered syringes hidden in a pickle jar while preparing a cheeseboard – and immediately began contacting local beauticians to warn them not to sell her daughter tanning injections.
Megan said: ‘She messaged loads of salons to tell them not to sell me the injections but I have to admit that I’ve carried on taking them. I feel bad going behind her back because I know she’s so worried about me and I feel bad for causing that anxiety – but I just can’t stop.’
Now, she says the damage is already starting to show.
‘There are moles that have appeared over the past two years that weren’t there before and at 19 I have lines in my forehead that shouldn’t be there,’ she said. ‘The signs of skin damage are there and they’re obvious – but I still go back.
‘If I try not to go on the beds, I feel depressed and anxious. And yet when I do go on them I cry after every session. I think it’s through guilt because I know that what I’m doing is causing so much damage.’
As well as using injections, Megan has experimented with tanning supplements – including beta-carotene tablets and even grated carrots in the hope they would darken her complexion.
She says the obsession has taken over every part of her life. ‘I was offered a job working on fairground rides but I didn’t feel tanned enough to face so many people,’ she said. ‘I couldn’t even go to my prom because my date said I looked too dark and he didn’t want to take me any more.’
The student admitted that tanning injections make her feel nauseous and she’s even noticed a suspicious patch recently appear on her skin
Megan has reduced her sunbed usage to four times a week and is now using her platform on TikTok to warn ‘the younger generation’ about the dangers of sunbed addiction
Megan says she has twice booked appointments with her GP but was too anxious to attend. ‘There’s no escaping it – on my street alone there are three sunbed shops, so the reminders are always there,’ she said.
‘I’ve made appointments with the doctor twice but couldn’t go through with them. I was so anxious about what they would say that I couldn’t leave the house.’
She is currently studying travel and tourism at Sunderland College and dreams of becoming an air stewardess – but says her main goal is to leave the sunbeds behind for good.
‘I want to experience the real world, that’s my absolute goal,’ she said. ‘If one person reads my story and decides not to use a sunbed, I’ll feel like I’ve achieved something.’
