Has it ever felt like it was impossible for you to get your ideal tan with that desirable glow? Perhaps it’s because of the tan being uneven in different areas — or maybe because it’s harder to tan in general. Maybe it’s because there are certain tanning methods that you’re not yet incorporating.
Well, regardless of what the reason is that you’re looking to achieve a perfect tan that you haven’t gotten yet, you’re sure to have it after looking through this. There are a number of convenient ways to get a perfect tan and a number of less convenient ways to make sure that you get that tan. It’s just as important to make sure that you’re getting that tan as it is to make sure that you’re doing it in a safe and healthy manner.
Table of Contents
Moisturize
In terms of benefits, it’s important to keep your skin moisturized both prior to and after you tan. As long as you make sure that areas that dry more easily are hydrated, you should be able to achieve a more uniform and glowing tan the next day! It’s important to keep your skin feeling healthy and hydrated while tanning, because you can leave skin feeling excessively dried, dehydrated, or depleted after tanning sessions.
Exfoliate
It’s just as important to make sure that your skin stays exfoliated as well. Dead skin can block sun rays from evenly reaching different parts of the skin, resulting in an uneven tan. It’s also important to exfoliate after tanning but to make sure you’re not too rough with the exfoliation process; doing this can remove the top layer of your tan, creating the same uneven tan that results from not exfoliating prior to tanning.
Sunbathing Over Tanning Beds
When trying to tan, if possible, always choose to sunbathe overusing tanning beds. Although a lot of modern tanning beds are advertised as being safe for skin, the number of UV rays that it sends into your body could never truly be considered safe.
Frequency of use will definitely increase the negative side effects that result from using tanning beds, but in general tanning beds largely increase the potential for skin cancer. So it’s always better to choose actual sunbathing over a tanning bed, when possible. When it’s not possible, try to find a good self tanner that will suffice in the meantime.
Be Aware of How Long You Tan
For almost all people, there is a maximum amount of time that you can sunbathe before your skin ceases production of melanin. This means that after a certain point, sitting in the sun isn’t going to truly tan you, and will mostly put you act risk of skin damage from UV rays. On average, two hours is a good amount of time to keep in mind when trying to sunbathe.
In that same vein, it’s important to be aware of how long you’ve sat in the sun. Give yourself some breaks in between sunbathing sessions so that your skin can take a break from UV rays. This will allow your skin to tan more easily, while also keeping your skin healthy and hydrated.
Find The Best Sunscreen For You
It’s especially important to find the right type of sunscreen for your skin type. Although most people just pay attention to SPF levels, it’s good to understand how much easy SPF level is able to protect your skin. In reality, the difference is minimal in most cases. The difference in protection is only 1% (98% for SPF50; 97% for SPF30).
This means that in most cases, it’s just as useful to get either — and it’s more important to keep in mind continuous application of the product rather than consistent protection from sun rays. Repeated application of sunscreen will make your tan more uniform and healthy, allowing you to stay in the sun longer without worrying.
Protective Sensitive Skin Areas
An important part of getting a good tan is making sure to protect more sensitive areas. Areas like the eyes should always be protected when sunbathing. It’s good to tan your eyes a small amount, making sure that your tan looks and feels even but to keep your eyelids from being burnt in the process. This can apply to the scalp as well, and both are easy to protect—using a hat or cap and sunglasses can make a world of difference when you’re getting that perfect tan.
Equally Distribute Your Tan
One of the most important parts of getting a uniform tan is making sure that you’re adequately tanning each part of your body. This means that it’s important to move from side to side of your body every 20 to 25 minutes, giving each part of your body an equal amount of time to tan. If you don’t do this, it’d be pretty easy to end up with a tanner back than front or vice versa. Although it seems a bit obvious, it’s easy to comfortably fall asleep in the sun and end up with a sunburnt front but a slightly tanned back. So be sure to give every part of your body equal amounts of time to tan.
Clean Your Skin After Tanning
After spending a day applying suntan lotion, sunscreen, and any other creams or oils to your skin while sitting in the sun, it’s useful to wash your skin to remove any products or sand you may have brought back from the beach. Keeping your skin feeling healthy and moisturized after tanning will definitely make a visible difference, and contribute to your skin glowing and feeling softer than usual once you’ve finished tanning for the day.
There are a lot of different ways to tan your skin, and a lot of them can potentially lead to skin damage. Try to focus just as much on keeping your skin healthy as you would on getting your skin to reach the shade that you’re looking for.
In that same vein, always choose the healthier tanning methods over the easier ones — for example, make sure that you’re sunbathing outside or using self-tanning creams as opposed to tanning in a tanning bed. Keep your skin moisturized, exfoliated, and cleansed constantly while tanning and your tan and skin will feel much healthier.
As long as you take care of your skin throughout the tanning process, making sure to find the right moisturizers and sunscreen for your skin. Also, sunbathe moderately to avoid skin damage (i.e., sunbathe for two hours at a time), you’ll definitely be able to achieve that perfect tan that you’re hoping for. Here’s hoping that your next set of sunbathing sessions leave you with that beautiful tan that you’re looking for!
Resources — RiverTea, Cosmopolitan
