How regularly should you tan?
For most people, the right answer is three days of bed-tanned skin per month to help prevent sunburn. Less frequently, people who've taken good care of their skin will tan three times per year.
Most indoor tanning professionals recommend 3 tanning sessions a week until a tan is developed, and then 2 each week after that to maintain the tan. US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations prohibit more than 1 tanning sessions in a single day. Avoid overexposure.
If you are preparing a base tan before going on a holiday, consider starting tanning three weeks prior. If you plan to maintain a tan that you acquired during the holiday or one you already have, then one session a week would be enough.
Depending on your skin color, in general the average person can develop a base tan in 3-5 sessions which then can be maintained with regular sunbed use. Two sessions a week should be enough to further deepen your tan in a safe and gentle manner.
From there you can begin to figure out just how much time translates between using the sunbed and gaining a natural tan. So if you were to have a five minutes sunbed session, it would convert to around an hour in the actual sun.
MYTH #5: 20 minutes in a tanning bed is equivalent to 20 minutes in the sun… no big deal! 20 minutes of exposure in a tanning bed may equal up to two hours spent on the beach under the hot mid-day sun without protection.
Your skin can start tanning immediately after exposure to UV light however if you're after a deeper and darker tan – that's likely going to take 2-3 days to get noticeable. You can, however, speed up this process using a tan accelerator like Base Tan.
The answer to this question is no – you should not go tanning two days in a row. You should wait at least 3-5 days between tanning sessions before you hop into a tanning bed.
Getting enough vitamin D from tanning beds isn't possible.
You may have heard that your body makes a lot of vitamin D when you use a tanning bed. It doesn't. The bulbs used in tanning beds emit mostly UVA light; however, your body needs UVB light to make vitamin D.
Tanning both indoors and out can lead to premature skin aging -- wrinkles, lax skin, brown spots and more -- and the development of dangerous skin cancers.
Are sunbeds OK in moderation?
As we've outlined above, there is no safe level of UVR. Any exposure can increase your risk of skin cancer. A tan is your body's attempt to protect itself from the damaging effect of UV rays. Using a sunbed to get a tan isn't safer than tanning in the sun.
I have been tanning, but I'm not getting any darker. Now what? You may have reached a tanning plateau. Everyone has a limit to how dark they can get, but to try to get past your current color we recommend switching the types of beds you use every few tanning sessions.
In a recent survey of adolescent tanning bed users, it was found that about 58 percent had burns due to frequent exposure to indoor tanning beds/lamps. 10 minutes in a tanning bed is equal to four hours on the beach!
That after tan smell is actually a naturally occurring bacteria on your skin that reacts to intense UV light exposure. Many accelerators that we carry have a chemical that will eliminate the after tan odor.
In fact, immediate showering after tanning may result in poor results and uneven streaking. To ensure that you get the ideal results from your spray tanning treatment, wait for at least three to four hours before hopping into the shower.
Is 30 minutes in the sun long enough to tan? Yes, if you have fair to light skin. If you have light skin or very light skin, 10 to 30 minutes in the sun is a perfect amount of time for a tan. Much longer than that, and you could start to develop a sunburn.
Skin tans most when you spend every other day out of the sun, according to a new study. This has the added effect of reducing DNA damage and premature ageing. Sunlight contains ultraviolet (UV) rays that can damage DNA and lead to premature ageing and skin cancer.
But it's important to remember that there is no safe amount of tanning. Any sustained exposure to the sun increases your risk of skin cancer so you should still wear appropriate protection every day.
A natural tan will usually last for around 7-10 days, although this can vary for each different skin type and colour. However, any exposure to sun during that 7-10 day period could mean that your tan will hang around for longer, so the length of time it lasts really does depend on the individual.