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What is the best way to get a summer tan?

What…School Commercials??? It seems like summer has just begun, however July is half way over with, therefore summer is half gone. County Fairs are going on and soon the State Fair is here, wait….I saw the first commercial advertising for the MN State Fair. UGH! I cannot believe it, where did the summer go? Oh, wait I live in the North now and summers last for 3 to 4 months only, and that is why I see way more sun damaged skin here, than I did when I lived and worked in Florida. Because it is warm and sunny all the time, they wear more sunscreen to protect them from the harmful rays from the sun.

However, if you are still trying to get in somewhat of a tan before the winter months, when school is back in session, you have a few options…If you want bronze skin, there are three main ways to achieve a tan: directly in the sun (sunbathing), using a tanning bed, or using sunless tanning lotions and airbrush tanning. I know you are thinking that this is a lot of options which is best? From a skincare specialist, I would recommend to do the Airbrush Tanning along with Sunless Tanning lotions. This article will enlighten you on the many reasons why.

In high school and college I used to use tanning beds and lay out in the sun with sunscreen. While I thoroughly enjoyed being golden brown, I didn’t realize the damage I was doing to my body, until I went to school for skincare and becoming the best skin therapist by reading research articles, like this one.

One of the many questions that are asked is are tanning beds safer than natural sunlight? The answer to that is a flat No. Exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation damages your skin, whether the exposure comes from tanning beds (which is concentrated bursts) or natural sunlight (non-concentrated bursts). This damage increases the risk of skin cancer and premature aging. As a matter of fact, tanning beds emit UVA rays, which are aging rays, and increase the risk of melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer.

Tanning beds give of UVA rays and the natural sun give off both UVA and UVB rays, both which are harmful types of ultraviolet radiation that can damage your skin. Let us take a minute to compare deeper the difference of tanning beds to natural outdoor tanning:

The average tanning bed produces approximately the same amount of UVB light as the sun and upwards of 3-times the amount of UVA light. However, this is compounded by the fact that indoor tanning is in concentrated bursts, which causes faster mutations in the body. The UV light changes the configuration of human DNA.

Tanning beds contain florescent light bulbs that emit the UV rays. Your skin absorbs these rays to produce a darker color. These beds have no natural light, and their florescent light is constantly hitting your body for a predetermined length of time. According to the World Health Organization, the major risk associated with the use of artificial UV rays are skin cancer, skin aging (wrinkles) and eye damage. However, they are generally more convenient that sunbathing because they save time, and because customers can visit them year-round. It only take 10-20 minutes at a time to get a little darker in a tanning bed. Tanning beds also filter out the UVB rays causing skin burns, meaning that there is a smaller change of getting burned in a tanning bed than by the sun. This would be the only aspect where tanning beds are a safer alternative to sun rays.

Tanning beds are convenient, and sun takes longer to provide a tan. The only negative aspect of tanning is what happens when it is overdone. Skin cancer and legions, burns, eye damage, and wrinkles can happen with either sunbathing or tanning beds. While neither method of tanning is safe, the use of tanning beds and concentrated delivery of UV light are much more dangerous.

If you would like the golden glow of a tan without exposure of damaging UV radiation, consider using a sunless tanning product or airbrush tanning. Avoid tanning beds, and use broad-spectrum sunscreen whenever you are outdoors. It is important to protect yourself from the damaging rays of tanning beds and the sun, but it is okay to soak up some rays too.
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