Summer is almost here and you can make your skin glow without even using any fake tan products. The problem here is the risk you put yourself under when you expose your skin to the sun. Violent ultraviolet rays can cause a great deal of damage to your health, and not being careful enough can lead to skin cancer and ugly pigmentation. Sun radiation also increases the speed of the natural aging process and makes its signs, such as sagging skin and wrinkles, much more visible.
Does this mean that you cannot soak up some sunlight while on the beach and give your skin natural golden color that no fake tan product can truly match?
Of course not! There are ways to eliminate the risks and enjoy a few hours of tanning safely. Today we’ll tell you how to do this.
Dos of Safe Tanning:
- Always use sunscreen when you go to the beach. Your skin will get tanned either way, but without the protection offered by such a product, the risks associated with UV exposure are completely unavoidable.
- Use sunscreen with SPF over 30. Anything less won’t be efficient enough to protect your skin from the damaging effects of radiation. The higher SPF of the product you use, the better.
- Apply sunscreen 30 minutes before leaving your home. This is how much time the product will need to set to provide the maximum effect. If you go out immediately after applying it, the sunlight will fry the thin protective layer over your skin and the cream will evaporate before it can do you any good.
- Wear a hat and sunglasses. Even if you use a special kind of sunscreen hair spray, you need to provide additional protection to your locks when you stay out in the sun for long. This will not only help keep your hair strong and beautiful, but will also reduce the risk of heatstroke. Sunglasses are always a must, as nothing else can protect your eyes from the merciless glare of the sun.
- Control the amount of time you spend out in the sun.
You shouldn’t stay out in direct sunlight for more than 30 minutes straight. Hide in the shade to cool off and then go for your next sunbathing session. - Reapply sunscreen regularly.
For the protection to remain effective, it must be reapplied every two hours. You can set a reminder on your phone to make sure you don’t lose track of time. You also need to reapply the product every time after you take a swim.
Don’ts of Safe Tanning:
- Don’t go to the beach when the sun is at its most dangerous. If you want to tan safely, you should do this before 10 a.m. or after 4 p.m. The hours in between should be spent indoors, even when you are on vacation. The risk of heatstroke at this time is huge, and no amount of sunscreen will protect your skin from active UV rays for long. You need to understand that these products’ effects are limited, so you shouldn’t rely on them blindly. Learn all there is to know about sunscreens so that you know how to use them most efficiently.
- Avoid eating sweet snacks and drinking alcohol when you plan to go outdoors to sunbathe. Both of them can make you dehydrated and increase the risk of heat stroke.