All my life I’ve been on a quest for the perfect tan. I’ve tried beer, soda, coconut oil, tanning at noon – you name it! I am mortified at the lengths I would go to just to achieve that summer glow. Wrinkles, premature age-spots, burns, and increased chances of skin cancer are just not worth it! After years of research and trial-and-error, I have tanning safely down to a science.
Tip 1: Drink lots of water. Well-hydrated skin is less is less likely to burn. It also helps your tan stay on longer. Dry skin has a faster cell turnover rate causing your tan to fade quicker.
Tip 2: Exfoliate the day before. Sloughing off all the dead, loose skin cells helps ensure an even, long lasting tan.
Tip 3: Time your tanning. Ease your skin into it by tanning for half hour a day; work up to two or three hours a day. If you overexpose your skin to the sun right away it has a tendency to burn. Stay out of the sun from 11am to 3pm when the rays are the harshest.
Tip 4: Use a sunscreen (not a sunblock) that is at least SPF 20. How much should you put on your body? Enough to fill a shot glass. Reapply every two hours, or after you’ve been in the water or played sports. Focus on the parts that are most exposed to the sun like your forehead, nose, shoulders, back.
Tip 5: If you want a deeper tan, use a tanning oil with SPF 15 or higher. Tanning oils work by magnifying the UV rays which come in contact with your skin speeding up the tanning process. You might also want to layer you tanning oil on top of the sunscreen.
Tip 6: Use self-tanners to enhance your glow. This is actually the safest way to tan because it requires no exposure to the sun. It usually comes in cream or liquid form and is applied directly to the skin. Self-tanners temporarily dye the skin. I like using them right before going to the beach so I am not pasty white on the first day at the beach.
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