Top 4 Dangerous Tanning Habits - Is There A Safer Way To Tan?

Done the wrong way, sun tanning can take a serious toll on your skin. Premature aging, wrinkles, sun spots or worse can be the consequence if you practice any of these 4 dangerous tanning habits. But don’t despair, there is a safe way to tan - let us show you the way.

1. Not preparing your skin 

Sometimes we wish we could take our tans from 0 to 100 - real quick. But short of using smelly fake tan, there’s no way to get a tan fast as we all want. Give your skin the best chance possible at achieving its maximum tan by preparing it in advance of prolonged sun exposure. This starts with a thorough exfoliation using a mitt or a body scrub, followed by intensive hydration.

Want to speed u the tanning process even more? Base Tan prepares your skin for the sun by supercharging it with everything it needs to hit its maximum tanning potential. When you use Base Tan in the days leading up to your fun in the sun, you’re feeding your skin the essential amino acids that support melanin production (i.e. the stuff that turns into tan).

2. Tan faster and darker by using a tan accelerator

How fast you can tan for most people depends solely on their body’s biochemistry. How many pigment cells it has (aka melanin cells), how many more it can make and how fast it can make them. Not so many people know about this how to tan faster hack. There are skincare actives that can boost your skin’s own melanin production. You put them onto the skin and they enhance your skin’s tanning biochemistry. This was the founding principle behind our innovative sun care system - and this exact type of skincare active can be found inside our Tan Boost Technology™ which is a staple of both our Base Tan & Smart Screen products.

3. Tan quicker by tanning every other day

The science on this one is shocking. A study published in October 2018 shows us that skin exposed to UVB every other day vs. every day gets a darker tan faster[ii]. Scientists believe this tanning faster hack is due to your skin only having a set amount of energy, called ATP. It can either use this energy to give your skin a tan or use this energy to help heal a sunburn. This shows just how important it is to work with your skin’s natural biology. Defending your skin against sun stress helps your skin to thrive and when your skin thrives it tans faster.

Well over half of Earths UV dose pounds down between the hours of 10am to 2pm so we say it’s best to avoid direct sunshine at these peak hours.

4. Tan faster by tanning at the right time

Many people believe that a sunburn turns into a tan. But that couldn't be further from the truth. In fact, a sunburn can completely ruin a tan. When you've been burned, you can’t be in the sun without pain. Your skin looks red, blotchy and you feel like you’re on fire, always. It also looks likely that having a sunburn actually hinders your skin from initiating its tanning biology. This means you’ll want to be out in the sun only when your risk of sunburn is the least. Well over half of Earth's UV dose pounds down between the hours of 10am to 2pm[iii] so we say it’s best to avoid direct sunshine at these peak hours.

5. Get a tan faster by exfoliating weekly *proceed with caution*

Use this how-to tan faster hack with caution because if you don’t you will almost certainly get a sunburn. Why? Because this tanning hack is the only one that actually works against your skin's natural biology. One of your skin’s best defenses against UV light is the layer of dead skin cells that sits on the surface of your skin. In fact, your skin actually thickens in response to UV light[iv]. However, this thick, dead skin is making it harder to see the dark bronze below. Knowing this, you can gently exfoliate your skin once per week to keep that flakey skin at bay and prevent a patchy or uneven tan. Need a gentle exfoliator recommendation? No worries, check out White Sands, our dual-action body scrub.

Be warned though, even though this hack can tan faster and darker, you will have less natural protection from the sun once those dead skin cells have been sloughed off. So if you plan to exfoliate, be sure to use a tan supporting SPF to prevent sunburn and skin sensitivity.