Frequently Asked Questions About Tanning

SPF stands for Sun Protection Factor. An SPF of 4 means you can stay out in the sun 4 times longer with the sunscreen on than you could without any protection.

Skin cells are constantly reproducing and renewing themselves. As they do this, they push the old cells to the top of the skin and the old cells fall off. The old cells were the ones you tanned - so you must now tan the new cells to keep the dark color.

Moisturize, Moisturize! Your skin is constantly renewing itself. The drier your skin is, the faster it wants to shed its top layers and bring new skin to the surface. You lose the top layers - you lose your tan. Also, the healthier your skin is, the better it tans. Dry layers on the surface of your skin will block the UV rays from getting to the other layers to tan them. Even if you moisturize, you still need to maintain a tanning schedule of every 4 to 5 days, or at least once a week, to keep your tan, because your skin is reproducing new cells all the time.

There is no answer. What's best for you isn't necessarily best for the next person. Everyone has their personal preferences as to what they expect a lotion to do and the results they expect to receive. Also, the skin type, tanning experience, oily skin, dry skin, the type of tanning bulbs and tanning bed used, etc. There are simply too many factors involved to determine what is the "best" lotion.

Tingle. Hot - Fire - Heat. It's all the same principle. Different lotion mnaufacturers just call it different names. A tingle is a stimulation of the epidermal layers of your skin. Most people feel their skin heat up or tingle after applying these lotions. The skin stimulation (irritation) brings blood closer to the surface of the skin. The blood brings melanin with it and you may receive a better tan. The tingle factors range from 1 to 10. The higher the number, the more intense the tingling. It is recommended that you start with a tingle of 1 or 2 to become accustomed to the stimulation and then gradually work up through the different levels.

Most likely it's a harmless fungus that lives on the skin's surface. It wasn't noticeable before because they don't absorb UV rays. The rest of your body tanned, but you didn't tan whereever those patches of fungus were. There are prescription medications available to treat this.

Our face is the only part of our body that does not produce its own moisture. Our legs become a little drier because of clothing, hosiery, etc. The fact is that moist skin tans much better than dry skin. Use a moisturizer at least twice daily.

The tanning process actually continues for a period of time after a tanning session. Taking a shower will remove the mantel acid from your skin and slow down or stop this continued tanning process. It is recommended that you not shower for 2 hours after your tanning session or 1 hour before.

A couple of things are happening. First, the skin on your legs is thicker than other parts of your body, making it more difficult for the light to penetrate. There is not as much fatty tissue (especially on the shins). Therefore, there is not as much blood flowing around as places like your stomach and buttocks. Also women - whenever you shave your legs, you take some of the top layers of your skin off. These top layers are where you tan.