Tanning bed tips

If you're a first-timer, or relatively new to the sunless tanning game, the following tanning bed tips are aimed at helping you to keep safe and make tanning a fun event to look forward to. The most important part about 'keeping safe' is to make sure you don't burn your skin.

Tanning is a very popular practice for those seeking bronzed bodies for the summer, or that Hollywood look for any time of the year! The process of darkening your skin color is really very easy and some people end up making their tanning sessions a very regular part of their weekly life.

If visiting a tanning bed salon, try to select one with an excellent professional approach and service etiquette. Ask friends for recommendations. Then make sure to go prepared. If able to, dress in loose and comfortable clothes such as sweat pants, a tank top and flip flops. This will allow you to easily change in and out of your clothes before and after tanning. This generally helps you not to feel so pressurized by others waiting in line to use the tanning bed. It also helps you to keep the fancy hairdo for after a tanning session and don't wear excessive jewelry.

Rather than have your face fully made up, try and arrive with a fresh, moisturized face. In fact, if possible, take a shower immediately beforehand. Be sure to use a good body wash with a lot of moisturizing properties. More importantly, exfoliate well, to remove any layers of dead skin cells in order to assist the tanning process.

Here's an important and often overlooked tanning bed tip... Prior to entering any tanning bed, it is very important to confirm that the bed has been properly sterilized. Tanning beds have been linked to genital warts and staph infections, so this is a must. Furthermore, the tanning bed supplies must include eye goggles and these must also be sterilized to prevent the spread of eye infections and diseases.

Protect your eyes. This is one of the most important tanning bed tips anyone can provide and the tanning salon should insist on you wearing one of their eye goggles. The UV rays in the tanning bed can do major damage to your retinas so play it safe and smart by buying a pair of special eye goggles for tanning.

Don't overdo it. First-timers should only use the tanning bed briefly and in increments. Do not expect to get your perfect tan in one session. It may take multiple short tanning bed sessions to achieve your ideal color.

Here's another often overlooked tanning bed tip... Align your usage of the tanning bed very specifically with your skin type. We are all not born equal where skin pigmentation is concerned and this is what dictates how much exposure you can subject your skin to. Skin color is determined by the number, distribution and type of pigment-producing cells (melanocytes) in the skin. Dermatologists refer to the degrees of pigmentation in skin as "skin types." These skin types range from very little pigment (type 1) to very darkly pigmented (type 6). How easily you burn depends on your skin type and how light or dark your skin is.

The melanocytes create melanin in your skin and the more you have, the darker your skin will be and the more resistant to sun damage. Most tanning bed salons will have a schedule or chart to explain how best to identify the correct tanning schedule for your skin type. Even if you have a tanning bed at home, the tanning bed suppliers are required to distribute a chart together with the machine.

Most users of tanning beds feel that turning their light skin darker makes them look healthier and sexier. In actuality, a suntan means the skin has been damaged. Melanin is a pigment in the skin that turns the skin darker and it is produced when the skin is exposed to ultraviolet radiation, to protect it from burning.

The most important tanning bed tip is not to get your skin burnt. It wastes all your efforts to get that wonderful all over tanned look too as you will end up with peeling skin and ugly patches of mottled colored skin. So pay attention to your skin type's recommended exposure time and take it slowly so your skin can get a tan without getting burnt.

It also never hurts to ask the employees at the tanning salon for any advice or information about tanning bed processes, etiquette or tanning bed tips. They are there to assist you and more than happy to help you out.

Use a good tanning bed lotion. You need a product that is specially formulated to keep your skin from becoming dehydrated during your tanning session. Choose a lotion that is made specifically for indoor tanning bed use.

Where sunless or self-tanning lotions are concerned, the most effective products, as recommended by the American Academy of Dermatology, are those that contain dihydroxyacetone (DHA) as the active ingredient. DHA is a colorless sugar that interacts with the dead cells located in the stratum corneum of the epidermis. As the sugar interacts with the dead skin cells, a color change occurs. This change usually lasts about five to seven days from the initial application.

If you are applying the sunless tan yourself, you will probably have to practice several times before you get the tan you desire. Try and try again. If you are brand new to sunless tanning products, try not to apply a spray yourself. When self applied, they are difficult to apply evenly, especially with no prior experience.

Do not be afraid to ask questions. The more you ask for tanning bed tips, the better informed you will be.