A Few Useful Tanning Tips

 

Tanning has received a lot of negative publicity in recent years but there are still many people who like the looks of a tan and seek tanning tips about how to do it safely. There are a variety of methods of tanning, both outdoors and indoors. It is possible to get a beautiful tan and still avoid overexposure to damaging UV rays.

Outdoor Tanning

Lying outside in the sun is still the most popular method of tanning. It’s simple, works well, and you can do it in the convenience of your own backyard. The first of the tanning tips that everyone should keep in mind is that tanning needs to be done gradually. Lying for too long in direct sunlight or too long in front of tanning lamps can damage skin and even cause skin cancer.

So, make sure that you start out thinking about sun exposure over the course of many days to get the tan you want. There is a general rule that is applied to tanning to make it safer-- don’t tan for more than an hour at a time. And, if you are outside when the sun is at its highest point around noon to 3:00 pm, don’t exposure your skin for longer than a half hour.

Experts say that you get the deepest tan when you tan outside. Some people start out inside to get a bit of a base layer and then head outside to perfect their look. You won’t find any tanning tips in the world that don’t advise wearing sunscreen. With sunscreen, the larger the number, the more effective it is. You should never use a sunscreen with a number under 15 in bright, full sunlight. You need to put on sunscreen at least twenty minutes before heading out into the sun. If you are going to the beach, make sure to get sunscreen that is waterproof should you decide to take a swim.

Be sure to follow the most important safety tanning tips, such as making sure to wear sunglasses so that you protect your vision as well as your skin while lying out in the sun. As far as clothing goes, wear whatever type of clothing in which you are the most comfortable. Swimsuits come in a wide variety of styles and can cover as much or as little as you wish. Some women wear less when tanning inside so that they do not have any tan lines that are visible when they wear their outside bathing suits.

Even if you enjoy lying outside in the sun, you will want to bring along something to occupy your time, such as a book, CD player and headset or some magazines. Today, of course, many people entertain themselves with activities on their cell phones or handheld computers. If you want to relax and not worry about cell phone calls, you can always turn your phone onto answering machine and play games on it instead.

Lying in the sun for any length of time can be very dehydrating for your body. The answer for this should be in any list of tanning tips as well, and it is to bring along a cooler full of ice and refreshing drinks, whether it be bottled water, juice, soda or another favorite beverage. Make sure to drink enough. The last thing you want to do is get heat stroke, which is very common in mid-summer.

Commercial Tanning Salon Tips

One of the best reasons to go to a commercial tanning salon is because they are federally regulated. That means that every tanning salon has to consider safety first. They have to receive FDA approval and keep excellent records on all of their customers. If you should have any safety concerns with a particularly tanning business, you could report them to the FDA and they could lose their license to operate.

So, with a tanning salon, you would have recourse should something go wrong with their tanning equipment or procedures. That’s not to say the most tanning salons aren’t reputable, they are, but because you are dealing with doses of ultraviolet light, it’s nice to know that tanning experts have to know what they are doing. If you were to give yourself a bad sunburn at home, you would have no one to blame but yourself.

Tanning salons have tanning experts on staff. They meet with you and even get a short medical history so that nothing will be done that could cause a reaction with medications you take or cause any allergies to act up. All of the equipment will be operated by tanning experts and they will give you tanning tips and help you reach your personal goals.

Tanning experts have been trained to know how to program all of the equipment in the salon and how to control the intensity of the UV light. They will also provide goggles to protect your eyes from damage. Not everyone is comfortable using a tanning bed and tanning salons have other options as well to help you look your best. You can try a tanning booth or simply have them use lotions and sprays to give you the shade of tan you desire.

Not only will you get tanning tips and have your tanning overseen by experts, a tanning salon also has a social atmosphere where you can meet other people or talk to the staff about this and that while you use the machines. Tanning experts look forward to meeting your individual tanning needs and they want the whole process to go perfectly so that you will be happy to use their business again. (continued...)