With the amount we now know about what the sun can do to our skin – in terms of premature aging and lines, increasing skin cancer risk and so on – it would be foolish and shortsighted to loll about in the sun to get that perfect tan, endangering yourself in the bargain.
Remember sun beds are as bad as actual sun exposure. Sunless tanning, using quality tanning equipment to produce excellent results is now the norm rather than the exception. Who after all wants to look like tanned leather before their time! Spray tanning or sunless tanning is now so far advanced that it gives you results much like the original thing; and this, even in the depths of winter!
That touchable, desirable, sun kissed skin is now possible in a number of different ways – you can use a temporary bronzer to tint or color the skin for a day or so until they are washed off. These are an instant solution that are inexpensive; however these are the so called one day tans and can rub off when clothing chafes against the skin.
Then there is sunless tanning equipment that offers that healthy bronzed look by using sprays and lotions that are to be applied to the skin. These work not by staining or coloring the skin; rather they work by causing a chemical reaction with the amino acids in skin surface’s dead cells. This process offers longer lasting results that can last up to a week or 10 days. The active ingredient in tanning solutions is Dihydroxyacetone (DHA) which is actually a colorless sugar that interacts with the dead cells in the skin’s outer layer.
This method of tanning is longer lasting but it is not instant. It takes time for the tan to develop and persons are advised to wear loose clothing and avoid bathing for at least 8 hours. After this, one can shower as normal.
There are things one can do to make sure that one gets the best out of their tanning equipment –
- Use only good quality tanning equipment to make sure that you have flawless results rather than amateurish, blotchy or streaky ones.
- Exfoliate skin with a scrub to shed the dead skin cells before getting the procedure.
- Afterwards don’t shower for 8 hours.
- Later try to avoid long bath soaks to reduce sloughing off of the dead skin cells.
- Avoid skin products that contain bleach and also swimming pools that have chlorine in them.
- Make sure that skin is well moisturized; this makes the tan last longer.