Summer is here and now is the time to shake off that winter paleness!
We all know how nice and warm the sun shines on our faces while we’re lying out on the beach.
It’s the kind of feeling you crave throughout the workweek, with excitement brimming as the last hour of your Friday shift ends.
Despite all the sunshine you’re soaking up, you have noticed that your face doesn’t seem to tan.
Why Does My Face Not Tan?
Your face may not tan because of the amount of melanin present in your skin.
Melanin is the substance in our skin that is responsible for creating the pigment in our skin.
Those with a low amount of melanin will be paler, and those with a high amount of melanin will be darker.
Your face has significantly fewer melanocytes in it than the rest of your body.
Melanocytes are the cells that are responsible for creating melanin.
The more melanin in your skin, the better you’ll tan.
Those who wear makeup frequently may also notice that their face is harder to tan.
This is because many cosmetics have some level of a Sun Protection Factor, better known as SPF.
Those who use products with salicylic acid in them may also find that they have a difficult time tanning their face.
You will find salicylic acid in cosmetics that claim to be anti-aging because it helps restore your skin to what it once was.
Tanning Your Face With Self-Tanner
Getting a perfectly even tan across your entire body can be difficult, especially with the parts of your body burning at different rates.
Since some parts of your body have higher amounts of melanocytes than others, you will need to find a way to even yourself out.
Luckily, the world of tanning has you covered with the products you’ll need.
Before you begin to attempt to tan your face with any product, you should wash your face thoroughly.
The better you exfoliate your face, the more even your facial tan is going to be.
Washing your face removes any dead skin that could be blocking fresh skin from the sun.
Another pre-tan tip is to rub an ice cube all over your face before applying any product.
This causes the pores to shrink, leaving you with firmer skin.
Celebrities such as Lady Gaga and Hugh Jackman use this trick!
The final thing you should do before you start the tanning process of your face is to moisturize.
Look for facial lotions that are supposed to go on before tanning for the best results.
You are going to need to find a facial self-tanner.
You need to make sure that the self-tanner is specifically intended for use on your face and that it is the right fit for your face.
You should also make sure that your self-tanner is lighter than your skin.
It looks vastly more unnatural to have a face that is much tanner than the rest of your body.
Once you put the self-tanner on, you’ll want to wait until you’re done tanning to eat.
You can get an uneven tan from the crumbles of food on your face and smear the self-tanner while eating.
Tanning Your Face With The Sun
A lot of people find that self-tanners are just not the way to go for them.
Most would much rather get their bronze glow directly from the sun.
Many tanners are looking to easily catch themselves a natural, summer tan while relaxing on the beach.
Similar to those who use self-tanners, you will want to start by exfoliating your skin with a gentle wash.
Once you have cleaned any previous product and dead skin off of your face, your skin will be ready for some moisturizer.
Make sure to get as much of your face as possible, including near the eyes, the sides of your nose, your ears, and under your chin.
You will want to wait a minimum of 10 minutes to let the moisturizer penetrate deeply into your skin.
Although this may seem counterproductive, you will want to apply a small amount of sunscreen to your face.
It shouldn’t be more than a dime-sized amount in the palm of your hand.
You will want to apply just a dot to your forehead, cheeks, the bridge of your nose, and chin with sunscreen and rub it in thoroughly.
This small amount of sunscreen is enough to keep your skin a little safer from the harmful rays of the sun while also allowing the sun to seep in enough to tan your skin.
The paler you are, the higher amount of SPF you should be looking for.
In order to tan as safely as possible, you should keep track of how much time you are spending in the sun.
People with fairer skin should limit their tanning time to no more than 30 minutes.
Those who have darker skin may tan for as long as 45 minutes, but you really shouldn’t go above that amount of time.
Tanning Aftercare
While tanning, you are going to want to make staying hydrated a focus.
The amount of heat that your body is taking in while you tan is enough to dehydrate your skin.
It is best to drink water while you tan, but you can substitute it by drinking plenty of water before and after you tan.
If you begin to feel lightheaded, take a break from the sun and drink up.
It may seem redundant to moisturize before and after you tan, but you need to remember that the sun will dry your skin out like a raisin.
While tanning, your skin will lose a lot of vitamins and minerals that it needs to stay healthy.
Without a moisturizer, you will notice that your skin will get incredibly dry.
That is your skin crying out for vitamins, minerals, and moisture.
Once your 30 to 45 minutes are done, you will need to get out of the sun.
Give your skin time to heal because, otherwise, it could have dire consequences.
Too much exposure to the sun or other forms of ultraviolet light can lead to skin cancer.
By giving your skin a break, you’re giving your skin time to repair itself and cope with the chemical changes that have occurred.
It may be tempting to wash off that feeling of sweat and sand as soon as you’re done tanning outside, but you will want to wait several hours before showering.
Showering too soon can get rid of the natural oils that form after your skin has been burned in order to repair itself.
You will need to wait a minimum of four hours before showering, but giving your skin more time to thoroughly absorb those oils will not only help your skin heal better but can also help make sure that your tan is more even.
How To Make Tan Last Longer
Giving your skin the break it needs from tanning and maintaining your tan can be difficult, but it isn’t impossible.
There are few skin care techniques that you can add to your daily skin care regimen to keep your golden glow.
With a combination of products and healthy habits, you’ll be able to keep your tan going for much longer.
Although it may seem counterproductive, the importance of sunscreen cannot be underestimated.
Sunscreen is important because it helps you gain a healthy tan, rather than simply burnt flesh.
The darker tone that you seem to get right after you tan isn’t just your tan, but it is also caused by the damage taking place on your skin.
That’s why you may look paler after anything that burned has healed.
Dermatologists recommend using at least three tablespoons of sunscreen over your entire body.
For those looking to have a drink on the beach, three tablespoons of sunscreen is the equivalent to a shot glass filled with sunscreen.
In addition to waiting to shower for a minimum of four hours after tanning, you should also consider the temperature of your shower water.
Hot water will dehydrate your skin, which will lead to your skin peeling sooner and you losing your tan faster.
The best kind of body washes to use after a tan are those that are oil-based because bubblier soaps can wash your tan away.
Your diet has a lot to do with how well you tan and how well you can maintain a tan.
You will want to eat a lot of foods with beta-carotene.
The best sources of beta-carotene are sweet potatoes, carrots, plums, peas, grapefruit, onions, broccoli, peppers, apricots, squash, and spinach.
Risks Of Tanning
When people think of the risks of tanning, most will jump immediately to skin cancer and stop there.
Although skin cancer is the worst result of cancer, many more dangers are lurking in the sun’s harmful rays.
Whenever you tan, you are burning your skin.
This has shocking, long-term effects that may not show up right away.
According to the United States Food & Drug Administration, the sunburn that results in your tan is a type of short-term skin damage called erythema.
Too much exposure to the sun’s ultraviolet rays may give you a nice tan for a couple of weeks, but the long-term effects of overexposure to the sun will catch up to you.
Over time, you may notice that your skin is beginning to get leathery, wrinkly, and is gaining more dark spots by the day.
However, this damage isn’t new.
It comes from all those days you spent a little too much time in the sun and didn’t moisturize before or afterward.
Whenever you tan, it is so important to keep your eyes protected.
The effect that the sun’s bright rays can have on your eyes can include cataracts and photokeratitis.
Photokeratitis can make your eyes swollen, tear up profusely, and can cause vision loss.
It may even make your eyes feel like they have sand in them constantly.
You will want to see a doctor as soon as possible in order to minimize the amount of long-term damage.
With treatment, it should only take a couple of days to clear up.
However, this kind of damage can result in your eyes forming cataracts later in life.
Cataracts cause a fog to form over the natural lens of your eye.
The only way to cure a cataract is to have it surgically removed.
Benefits Of Tanning
Tanning is good for more than just improving your appearance.
It’s no secret that sunshine makes almost anyone feel better.
The sun is a serotonin superstar!
Serotonin has a few responsibilities in the body, such as reducing depression and anxiety, healing wounds, and maintaining bone health.
Our eyes are capable of some pretty incredible tasks.
One of them is the way that your eyes are cued by sunlight to signal your brain to release a surge of serotonin.
The biggest cause of seasonal depression is a lack of sunlight.
Without the sun, many people aren’t getting the normal amount of serotonin that they usually receive.
This causes them to become depressed during less sunny months.
Those who suffer from seasonal depression should look into light therapy.
There are a multitude of light therapy boxes that you can buy online.
Depression is a difficult thing to live with, even if it is seasonal.
It is always best to stay on top of your mental health and see a doctor if you are having any trouble.
The sun is one of the easiest sources of vitamin D to acquire.
Vitamin D helps keep your bones, teeth, and brain healthy.
It also helps support your immune and nervous systems.
Not only is vitamin D responsible for helping regulate your insulin levels, but it can also help lung and cardiovascular function.
The most common way of obtaining vitamin D is to get out in the sun!
When you are tanning, you are getting hit with a boost of vitamin D and serotonin!