Sun Tanning the Safe Way

Date Posted : 03 05 2011 | Posted by : webadmin

Back in the day when the only way to obtain a nice healthy glow was by basking the in the sun, people with fairer skin could only look on longingly or risk getting burnt. It certainly is a different story today.

With the barrage of products available on the shelves nowadays, we now have a wide choice of sunless tanning. The trick though is not to come out from the salon looking like an orange.

Start with a shade that is lighter than what you think you’d like. Some products gradually darken a little bit more, after the first day. For a fool-proof sunless tan, try out the product with a patch test or get one of those tan-in-a-can products to see how your skin would react. This is also a good way to ensure that you won’t have an allergic reaction to the product later on.

Professional spray-on tanning is available in many salons and spas. The active ingredient in most sunless tanning products is dihydroxyacetone (DHA) which is a simple sugar derived from the sugar cane plant that has been used widely in the cosmetics industry over the past 30 years. When applied to the skin, DHA reacts with the dead cells in the top most layer of the skin to temporarily darken the skin’s appearance. The colouring doesn’t wash off, but it does gradually fades as the dead skin cells slough off.

The tanning solution comes in different strengths. Your skin will only absorb so much DHA and fair complexioned people are advised to use a very mild strengths to avoid an orange or streaky result. The skin reacts differently to the DHA, producing different tones of colouration from yellow to brown. As a general rule, skin Types I and II (from the Fitzpatrick skin chart) react positively to a milder solution between 5-8% DHA strength, 8-10% for Types III and IV and 12% for Type V.

DHA was first recognised as a skin colouring agent by German scientists in the 1920s. 30 years later, a researcher from the University of Cincinnati was able to establish that the chemical could consistently reproduce the pigmentation effect on the skin without causing any harm at all.

Sunless tanning has since come a long way and spray-on tanning remains the safest way to obtain a beautifully tanned look. Most of these tanning products do not contain sunscreens and if you spend any amount of time outdoors, sunscreen remains essential.

For more on what the sun does to your skin, check out http://kidshealth.org/teen/safety/safebasics/tanning.html