Suntan with a Plan

With the temps hitting high 90’s this weekend, I couldn’t pass up some quality tanning time. It’s funny, I never needed to tan when I was younger because I swam competitively and was about 10 shades darker than my normal skintone at the end of summer. I’d slather on as much and as high an SPF as I could find in the drugstores but even so, by August I’d still have thick swimsuit tan lines (and a giant circle on my back from the Speedo back cutout, oy). I stopped swimming when I was 18 and it was refreshing to finally be pale! Even during college, I wouldn’t tan often, save for spring break trips and vacations. Now that I’ve moved to New York though, where I’m stuck indoors most of the day and sunshine isn’t as abundant year-round as California, I grab all chances I get to get some color. A friend from CA moved to NY a few years ago and actually got sick from a Vitamin D deficiency since he never saw the light of day! So tanning is healthy (in small doses of course and with sun protection)

Not the day we went tanning (it was MUCH more sunny), but this is a look at our rooftop

After packing up a bag with tanning essentials, I headed to my building’s rooftop, which has both an expansive city view and a Hudson River view. My roommate Tiffany came with me and gave me some tips on tanning so I thought I’d share here:

1) Use a tanning oil spray for optimal efficacy. The oil product magnifies the sun’s rays as they hit your skin and intensifies the light for faster results. Rich, darker color in less time, awesome! There are ingredients in tanning oils that are beneficial to the skin once soaked in (vitamins, antioxidants, etc); extra moisturizing for soft, supple skin, which is great because moisturized skin retains tans longer than dry skin that peels off. Plus, the ingredients make the spray smell great and the skin glistens after application =) The oil I used was Banana Boat Dark Tanning Oil Spray w/ SPF 4, which had coconut and smelled wonderful. I’ve also read great reviews on Hawaiian Tropics Golden Tanning Dry Oil Spray so will be picking that up in the near future.

Some tidbits about tanning oil:

• Be sure to select a product with some level of SPF so the most harmful UV rays are filtered out. It doesn’t have to be sky high (otherwise, it defeats the purpose of tanning) but should have some protection there. This was news to me – I had never used tanning oils before, mostly because I thought they lacked SPF and didn’t want to get too dark but I’m glad to know there is still protection!
• Apply liberally and reapply frequently. This is especially important since SPF is typically very low in tanning oil so reapplying is necessary to prevent burns 
• Don’t use the oil on your face, it's too greasy and heavy. Instead, put face sunscreen on prior to tanning and reapply regularly. The skin on our faces is more sensitive, burns easier and so requires a separate protectant

2) Strategically time your tanning sessions for the best sunlight and avoid heat. At its zenith, the sun’s heat and rays can be dangerous so the best times to tan are 2-3 hours before and after noon. I went around 4PM and the sun was still high up and light was aplenty but the heat started to subside after awhile. This isn’t to say I didn’t sweat (because I did, it was way too hot!) but the late afternoon sun gave color without burning me to a painful crisp. 

3) Exfoliate before tanning. I didn't learn this one until afterward. After coming back from tanning, I immediately checked out my tan lines out to see how many shades darker I had turned and was really happy to see a marked contrast. The tanning oil had worked! Then I showered and scrubbed clean, feeling brand new. Later, when I looked again, it seemed like my tan had disappeared a little on me! Where there was a clear line where my swimsuit was, now was more faint. This is when I realized we should have showered and exfoliated prior to tanning, so that the sun could hit the new skin. Otherwise, what ended up happening was the topmost layer got the most color, but that was washed away when I showered. 

4) Use sunglasses (and optional hat). It was too sunny to not have shades on, and I didn’t want my forehead to get too dark so I donned a hat and kept it on for most of the time. Once in a while, I would take both off and expose my face toward the sun for half a minute so my face wouldn’t be off-colored from the rest of my body.

5) Other useful items to bring:

• A white or light colored towel. Mine was a dark pink and it absorbed a lot of heat from the sun’s rays, so much that at times it became unbearable to lie still. I reached over to my roommate’s towel and hers was a lot cooler than mine (her towel was striped white and light pink)

• Canteen / thermos filled with ice water. I have a Nissan thermos which retains heat and cold equally well, so I dropped several ice cubes in it, filled to the brim with water and sipped when I was thirsty. The cool water feels amazing when you’re hot and I also used some ice cubes to hold in my hand and cool down

• Evian spray (chilled in refrigerator beforehand). The best moments of my tanning session were when I spritzed my face and décolletage with the Evian mist. SO SO REFRESHING. My skin (and me) said, “Ahhhhhh” 

• Popsicles. Luckily for me, my apartment was so close that I could run downstairs to grab some popsicles from the freeze when I got thirsty or overheated

• Aloe. For afterwards, in case you get tinged pink by the sun

• And of course, entertainment material, including books, magazines, ipods, etc. 

Happy tanning! Do you have any other tips for better results and color? (Michelle, I'm looking at you, LA beach bunny!)