How to Get a Perfect Tan From a Tanning Bed
With summer right around the corner, it’s more important than ever to get one of those gorgeous, luscious tans. But for some of us, simply sitting out in the sun doesn’t do the trick. And for the rest of us, achieving a tan before bikini season is optimal as opposed to waiting till the last second. For these reasons (alongside many, MANY others) tanning beds are a huge hit.
But let’s be real. Walking into the tanning salon, stepping in the tanning bed, and waiting for the perfect tan isn’t going to happen like magic (unless you were blessed with amazingly good skin that tans perfectly, of course). If you want the best tan of your life, you need to follow these simple tips and tricks on how to get a perfect tan from a tanning bed.
Know Your Skin Type
It’s imperative that you know your skin type before stepping into the tanning bed. Determining your skin type is crucial to knowing how long you should stay inside of the tanning booth before you end up burning. There is 6 total skin types, 1 being extra fair skin that burns extremely quickly, while type 6 is for darker skin that won’t burn.
Exfoliate Before You Tan
With extra dead skin cells hanging around your body, there won’t be much room left for your tan to penetrate the skin. What does this mean? A body that’s less tanned, and more full of that icky leftover dead skin- yuck!
If you aren’t already exfoliating, it is highly recommended to exfoliate thoroughly before heading in for your tanning session. Exfoliating gets rid of all those pesky dead skin cells, allowing for a deeper tan that will last MUCH longer- and that’s definitely a goal for the tanning gal.
Use a Tanning Lotion
I am not going to lie to you- tanning lotions, the high quality ones that actually work that is, can be on the expensive side; we’re talking like over 50 dollars, and sometimes even higher than that! But don’t let the price scare you- they are WELL worth it.
A high quality tanning lotion (which can be found inside of almost any tanning salon) will increase your tan from anywhere from 40 to 70 percent, which means a delicious sunkissed result that happened a lot quicker and easier than you have ever imagined.
Tanning lotions are an absolute must for girls that have a really hard time achieving a tan, and is perfect for anyone really who wants the perfect tan with soft, succulent skin afterwards.
Don’t Stay in Longer Than Recommended
If you stay in longer than the recommended time, you may end up burning your skin. This is something you need to completely avoid at all costs, as it is very damaging to your skin. That is why it is important to find out your skin type before stepping in the tanning salon. Every skin type will have a recommended time for being inside of the tanning bed, and you need to follow this perfectly.
If you do end up burning for some odd reason, you need to wait until you are completely healed before stepping inside the tanning bed to avoid further issues with your skin.
Wear the Safety Goggles
You can seriously damage your eyes if you do not wear your safety goggles inside of the tanning bed. PLEASE don’t forget about them! You would NOT want to cause permanent damage to your lovely eyes just because you wanted to get a tan.
ALWAYS REMEMBER TO WEAR THE SAFETY GOGGLES!
Use a Tan Extender
A tan extender is another useful and handy lotion that you apply after your tanning session is complete. Tan extenders are exactly how they sound: they extend the life of your tan, which means when you reach a nice shade, you won’t have to go to the tanning bed so often.
Tan extenders can be a little on the pricey side, but they are definitely worth it if you want your tan to stick around for the entire summer season.
Don’t Shower Directly After Tanning
Showering right after a tanning session is like painting a pretty picture and then splashing water all over it; it completely defeats the purpose!
You need to wait at least three hours (and preferrably longer) before you take a shower after tanning. If you shower too soon, you won’t give your skin enough time to soak in the color, and you will end up washing half of it out; and you DON’T want that.
Just wait before you shower and you will be very happy with your results.
Don’t Tan Too Often
You don’t need to tan every single day to reach your desired shade. Even if you don’t think there is any progress going on whatsoever, there is no need to rush it. Tans take time, especially if you are not one to tan very well. Over-tanning is only going to cause a mess of problems for you skin, and you may even end up burning instead of tanning- and we all know that is not a look we want to rock all summer long.
Instead of trying to rush your tan, let the process work on its own accord. In no time you will be left with the perfect tan, even if it takes a couple of weeks before you actually get to where you want to be.
The best things come to those who wait, right? Well this is completely true for the tanning world as well. Don’t be eager- let the process happen the way it needs to happen and you will have the best tan of your life!
If you’re on a mission to get a tan this summer, do it the right way. Make sure you’re using a high quality tanning lotion and only stay in the tanning bed for the recommended amount of time. You will be tan in no time!
How do you get a good tan?
