Tans By Skin Type

Tanning is extremely popular across the country. Everyone is looking to get a dark, healthy looking tan. Whether they do it at the tanning salon or out in the sun on a warm summer day, men and women everywhere look to darken their skin regularly, altering their appearance and enhancing their overall beauty.

However, people tend to tan at very different rates. For some people, all it takes is one or two days in the sun to get a dark tan, while others it takes a long period of time, and by the time summer is over you may not have the tan you were looking for. You skin color affects your ability to tan in a variety of different ways.

Skin Color and Tanning

·        Freckly Skin

Light skin with freckles, especially on those with red hair, does not have the ability to tan. Instead, they simply freckle more and more. It is possible for people with freckles to get tan via sunless tanning products, but you should make sure that the darkness of your tan looks attractive with your skin, eyes and hair.

·        Fair Skin

Very fair skin, especially if you also have blond hair and/or blue eyes, tans very, very slowly. There is almost no base level natural tan to start with, so if you want to get tan you need to start very slow and work your way up. Burning is a serious concern, because the lack of tan skin leads to a lack of protection from UV rays. Fair skin with darker hair has a similar burning risk, but has a tendency to tan slightly better. Still, if you have very fair skin it is difficult to tan quickly and burning is a constant concern.

·        Natural Light Tan

If you naturally have a light tan, tanning becomes much easier. Men and women of both Asian and Hispanic descent are a good example of skin tones that may be generally very light, but still contain some base tan elements that make tanning much easier. You should still not get carried away with your tan – your skin is still very light and at risk for burning. But you should be able to tan more quickly.

·        Natural Dark Tan

If you have a naturally dark tan, tanning further is very easy. You are less likely to burn, and the sun that you receive tends to go straight to pigment. If you already have a dark tan you will eventually reach a tan plateau where you cannot tan any further, but when summer comes you should have no problem getting your darkness back quickly with a little bit of time in the sun.

Burning Risk is Important

If you are at a high burning risk because you do not tan easily, it is important that you do not try to rush the tanning process. Burning your skin tends to leave behind a darker tan, but burning is also even more damaging to your skin than everyday sun damage, and can cause peeling and discomfort that will keep you out of the sun, reducing your tanning ability. Go slow and your tan will slowly get darker without any burning.

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