7 Tips To Tan Your Skin Quickly And Healthy
We all long to go brown, but you have to do it in the best way so as not to damage your skin and get all the benefits of healthy sun exposure.
The sun, especially during the summer, can be dangerous. Burns increase the risk of skin cancer. But in its fair measure, the sun is beneficial for the skin and for health.
If we start to get brown in spring, little by little, our skin will increase its natural protection and the risk is reduced. In addition, exposure to the sun is necessary to synthesize vitamin D, which regulates immunity and benefits the musculoskeletal system.
Carrots and other orange, red and green foods
Quick tanning with beta carotene? Some pill manufacturers advertise that their beta-carotene capsules work wonders. According to them, you can get a nice tan from within and at the same time protect yourself from ultraviolet radiation.
The reality is that you can achieve the same effect by daily consuming foods rich in this provitamin , very abundant in carrots, mango, pumpkin, apricots, cooked cabbage, broccoli and many other orange, red and green foods. In addition, these foods provide fiber and many other micronutrients, which capsules do not.
Natural beta-carotene is also very antioxidant, so it fights free radicals that can damage the skin and the connective tissue that keeps it smooth.
Don’t expect foods rich in beta carotene to have an immediate effect. It is estimated that its effect can take about 10 days, but do not do calculations: eat them every day of the year because they are healthy. That they help you get a brunette is just one more reason to do it, among many others.
In addition to choosing the right foods, you must hydrate yourself in abundance. Without enough water, the chemical reactions that protect you from the sun and make you brown will not take place correctly in the skin.
How to get a brunette quickly and healthy
So that you don’t end up with a red face or burnt shoulders, here are the best tips on how to get a healthy and perfect tan naturally.
1. Start slow, enjoy more time
The first rays of the spring sun finally arrive and draw you outside. But even when the air is still cold, the sun can already damage your skin. It is important that exposure to the sun is gradual:
- Choose the morning (between 9 and 11) or the afternoon (between 4 and 7) to take your sun baths.
- Sunbathe for 10 minutes (you can do it once in the morning and once in the afternoon)
- Increase the duration of the sunbath by 1 minute each day until you reach 20 minutes.
2. Do not expose yourself to the rays of noon
The sun is at its peak between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. It is in this time slot when you have a high risk of suffering from sunburn. Therefore, it is advisable to sunbathe outside this time if you want to tan in a healthy way.
Once your skin has tanned with the morning sun (9 to 11) you can briefly expose yourself to the most intense radiation of the central hours of the day, but no more than 20 minutes.
3. Make the most of your skin type
Not all skin types can tolerate the same amount of sun. There are four different typologies depending on your tolerance to the sun.
- People with very fair skin, light eyes, blonde to reddish hair and more prone to turning red than tan, may develop the first harmful redness of the skin after just 5 to 10 minutes in the midday sun without sun protection.
- The second type has similar external characteristics, but a slight tan can be seen in the summer. This type of skin can withstand about 20 minutes in the sun.
- The third type has darker skin, light or dark eyes, and fairly dark brown hair. It can last 30 minutes until the erythema appears.
- The fourth typology is that of dark-skinned people with dark hair and eyes, who quickly tan in the sun and rarely or almost never burn. These people can sunbathe for 45 minutes without cream.
4. Choose a natural sunscreen
If you are going to spend the day away from home in the open air or you are going to do an activity for several hours, the use of sunscreen is essential, but it must be natural, that is, with physical mineral filters, not chemical ones. Most chemical filters are endocrine breakers. To know more about sunscreens you can read this article.
6. Choose the correct protection factor
To find the right sunscreen you must look at the sun protection factor. A product with a sun protection factor of 20 should extend the natural protection for your skin type 20 times. However, keep in mind that this is only an ideal value determined in the laboratory, which is never that exact in reality.
As a general rule of thumb, experts recommend reducing the calculated protection time by one third. For example, in theory, if your skin without protection lasts 30 minutes without reddening, with a protection factor of 30 it will last up to 10 hours. But do not rely too much on this calculation because in practice the application on the skin is never uniformly perfect and areas can be left without sufficient protection. The friction of clothing, sweat and, of course, water, also remove the cream and therefore the protection.
Self-tanners are not always recommended
The German publication Öekotest has taken a closer look at the composition of self-tanners and the effects of the ingredients on health and the environment. Unfortunately, many of them have been very unsatisfactory.
The reason is that these ingredients achieve a rapid tanning of the skin through DHA. DHA (dihydroxyacetone) is a sugar that binds to the skin through amino acids, triggering a chemical process and making us tan. The biggest problem is that over time and with a high temperature, DHA can convert into formaldehyde and this happens in many products before they are consumed.
However, a quality, certified eco-friendly self tanner may be a good option, according to Öekotest.
