Did you have any Coppertone accidents?

BlunderWoman

Senior Member
I know it might be really tempting to bring up politicians in this thread , but please don't do it. This thread is about the 'Coppertone tan' in a bottle of the late 60's.
My pals were all going to the beach and I was invited. They were all very tan. I never wore a bathing suit or shorts , so I was white white white. Usually I would wear a swimsuit with a long tshirt to go swimming, but my friends said that wasn't cool and I should stop wearing the baggy tshirt. That put me in panic mode , so I went and bought a bottle of coppertone tan. My big sister got the bright idea to dye my hair blonde. My hair was brown. So I put on the tanning lotion and she dyed my hair. What she did not know was that because of all the red undertones in my hair only a professional should have been trying to dye it. The time was up and my 'tan' was done & my hair was supposed to be done. I went in to take a shower and wash it all off. I did that. Then I looked in the mirror and shrieked. My skin was orange and my palms were burnt orange and my hair was Bozo The Clown orange. I ran out of the bathroom to my room and hid in horror. My father later came home and laughed and laughed and laughed. It was too late to do anything about it & my friends were supposed to come pick me up in the morning. I had to call and cancel on account of being orange. It was the first time my father offered to take me to the beauty shop LOL.
How about you? Any Coppertone accidents?
 

That is quite a funny story. I'm sure it was traumatic for you at the time.

I only used that Coppertone Instant Tan Lotion one time as a teen-ager. It was streaky on my skin and turned my hands a strange color. I never bought it again.

Wonder if they still sell "instant tans" now that we have tanning booths?
 
no.. but the use of iodine and baby oil was just as bad.. I had a few bad burns which now sends me off to a dermatologist for a complete skin check once a year. knock on wood.. so far so good.
 
Kinda funny (now) BlunderWoman, but I'm sure it wasn't at the time.

The only thing I used back in the day was cocoa butter.
 
Oh no! That must have been traumatic for you! I remember using that stuff and having "runs" down my legs and orange hands. You have to wash your hands but be careful not to let water hit any more of the skin. Of course, learned the hard way too.

The hair thing. Some browns, including me have the red in it. When I was younger, they did not have the speed bleaches they have today. Once had my hair frosted and sat for eight hours with bleach on my head till it came up to blonde. In between is a lot of orange!
 
Yup. The Coppertone Cheetos look. This happened many decades ago, so it's foggy as to who this was. There was a wavy line down his face where he put more of the stuff on one side. I just remember him standing there with one side orangier than the other.
 

Back
Top