There are a lot of misconceptions as well as blatantly bad advice when it comes to tanning education. Honestly my biggest “Pet Peeve” is the customer that comes in at the beginning of spring and tells me “I always burn once then get dark after that.”
NO! This is over-doing it. Our bodies are about moderation, if you eat too many calories you will gain weight. If you are underweight that is a good thing, but if you are overweight it is not. The same goes for tanning. You have to approach your exposure schedule with moderation in mind. This exposure schedule is first determined by your skin type. Take this brief questionnaire to determine yours:
Most Americans find themselves as a skin type 3, so for example purposes we will walk you through the recommended tan time of a Brand new tanner that is a skin type 3.
All UV tanning equipment is equipped with an exposure schedule and a Maximum exposure time. Today we will look at the exposure schedule of our most popular tanning bed the KBL Hybrid Sun. Our new tanning client will begin their tanning journey with tanning 1 minute on 3 separate visits spaced every other day. The following week our new client will tan for 3 minutes on 3 separate visits, every other day. Week 3 will be at 5 minutes and the 4th week at 8. At any time during this first month if the client experiences a pink or reddening of the skin the time will be reduced. The client may also notice dryness to their skin, which is because the tanning process depletes nutrients in the skin that can easily be replaced with tanning skincare designed to aid in the tanning process, not sun screen! The skin processes light exposure over a 48 hour period, which is why tanning every other day is recommended. This new client may never get to the maximum exposure time of 10 minutes and that is ok! Don’t feel like you are wasting minutes by not using them. I get it though, if I go to an all you can eat buffet I feel like I am not getting a deal if I don’t get a second plate, but my waistline doesn’t need that second plate and your skin may not need additional tanning time!
To maintain your tan you need continued exposure of generally 2-3 sessions a week. At this point if you want to be darker still, a spray tan will get you there quickly and having that natural tan under the spray tan will make it the darkest you have ever been and still look completely natural!