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With summer underway, the days are growing warmer and longer, meaning it’s time to hit the beaches and pools to catch some sun – providing the weather permits it where you stay!
Hitting the outdoors to get some much-needed sun isn’t just about getting that perfect summer glow (although it’s one of the big perks!) but also about receiving the various health benefits from sun exposure. Vitamin D is great for the bones, skin, and teeth, but it’s also important to properly prepare yourself for tanning, otherwise you’ll be receiving more risks than reward!
Here are some top tanning tips to follow this summer:
Start by exfoliating
[ad type=”square”]Before you even head outside, it’s a good idea to prepare your skin first. This means exfoliating the entire body to remove any dead skin cells from the top layer of skin, helping to encourage fresher skin growth to appear.
By doing so, your skin will receive an even tone when tanning, while also removing dirt and oil from clogged pores, resulting in much healthier and softer skin for tanning. Also, by having a shallower layer of skin, your tan will last much longer, and getting the tan started should take much less time too.
Wear plenty of the right sunscreen
It’s an obvious tip but one that cannot be overstated enough – always wear the right sunscreen when working on a tan. There’s an odd misconception that you don’t tan when wearing sunscreen, which is simply untrue.
In fact, as a quality sunscreen allows you to tan for longer without suffering from skin damage, you will actually end up with a better tan when using it. However, this doesn’t mean just rely on a single SPF; instead look for sunscreen with broad spectrum, as this offers protection from both UVB and UVA rays.
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Apply sunscreen around 15-20 minutes prior to heading out, and do so again about 20 minutes after your first exposure to the sun. After this, the only time you will need to reapply is if you hit the water or do something else that could remove the sunscreen.
The fairer the skin, the higher the SPF should be, but be mindful that those with darker skin are still susceptible to skin burning and damage, so regardless of your skin tone be sure to wear some form of sunscreen – your tan will be grateful for it!
Less exposure is better for your tan
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Now, it may be easy to assume that the longer you sit in the sun the better your tan will be, but this isn’t the case. The healthiest and most attractive tans don’t come from endless exposure to UV rays, it’s about spending even amounts of time between the sun and shade to achieve an even tan.
Of course, you can spend several hours on the beach and see a great tan form – but this will quickly turn into sunburn in most cases!
Instead, tan in shorter sessions, such as spending 30-60 minutes in the sun before heading back in. Doing this over several days will produce a much more healthier looking and even tan, but also offer protection from UV damage.
Your body has a tanning peak, meaning your skin cannot produce any more melanin for the day so you physically cannot tan any more. For people with fair skin, it’s around an hour, and even those with darker skin will only have around 3 hours tops to tan.
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Isabel Dyer