Options for Your Summer Tan

As soon as the sun begins to warm the earth in the signs of late spring, women begin to work on their summer tan. For many years now, darkening your skin has been the trend. There are some women who will not even attempt to wear shorts if their legs are not golden and tinted with a tan. Although healthier, pale or white skin has been labeled as unattractive.

There are several ways to acquire the tan that you have been longing for this summer. Women are now given many more options on how to get the look that they feel is attractive for them.

The oldest and most common way of tanning your skin is through the sun. For many years now women have baked themselves out in the sun to acquire just the right look. They use special tanning oils and lotions. Some even use special foil tanning mats. While this method is very effective, it can be time consuming. Sun tanning may not come as quickly as some would like. It may take an hour or more in the sun over a period of days to get the look that you desire. Without a pool, the atmosphere is also typically hot and in some cases miserable. There is also a risk of sun skin spots and skin cancer caused from too much sun exposure.

Another option for gaining a summer tan is through a tanning bed. There are tanning salons on most city corners. Many are in with beauty salons and some are even in with video and convenient stores. People pay to lie in these coffin like beds for up to 30 minutes at a time. This method is much quicker than the traditional sun tanning. It is also often more comfortable due to cooling fans and air conditioning that are usually in the room where you tan. While this method is quicker it is not safer. The bulbs used for the tanning have been known to do internal damage to organs. It is not safe to tan while pregnant. Tanning in a tanning bed should be kept to the minimum time limit and days per week as needed.

Some prefer to tan through rub on lotions and tanning sprays. Many cosmetic companies now create tanning lotions. These lotions are more of a way of dyeing your skin rather than tanning it. When applying these lotions, you must be careful about getting even coverage. In some cases I have heard of people over doing certain areas of their skins and having an obvious uneven coloring. This can easily happen to your hands when you are using them to apply the lotion. The lotion must be used multiple times through the summer to keep the tan. Be careful about choosing the appropriate color and be certain to do a small test area before applying to our whole body. However, what is known about these lotions so far does indicate that they are a safer method than sun or bed tanning.