Can You Tan In The Winter?

Sun exposure leads to tanning but being exposed to the sun for a longer duration could be dangerous. Even though it gives skin a beautiful bronze and golden hue, excessive exposure is risky. Still, some people prefer getting tanned irrespective of the season. There is no harm in getting tan but knowing how to reduce the risks is important.

How Long Does It Take To Tan?

If you are not wearing sunscreen, it won’t take much time to get tan. It just takes a few minutes to hours to get tanned, depending upon the skin type and season. You may not see the results immediately, but over time, the skin color will turn bronze. How faster you get tanned majorly depends upon the skin type. For instance, if you are a light-skinned person and sit with a darker-toned person under the sun, you will turn pale while the other person will get tanned or burned. One should not forget that tanning can damage the skin. Skin color indicates if the person will burn or tan.

What Influences Tanning?

There are several factors that influence how faster a person will get tanned, among which climate in which you are getting tanned and the skin type play the major role.

The major factors include the following

• Altitude: If you reside at a higher altitude where the sun’s rays are stronger, tanning and burning will happen quickly.
• Skin type: If you have dark skin, you will tan faster due to more melanin content in the skin. The sun’s rays will trigger the melanocytes to produce melanin and make the skin darker.
• Humidity: If the climate is humid, it will keep a tan from fading, leading to faster tanning.
• Time of the day: Sun’s angle and time of the day also matter as people living closer to the equator get tanned or burned faster.
• Time of sun exposure: The more you get exposed to the sun directly, the more likely you are to tan or burn.
• Sunscreen SPF: If you use sunscreen with higher SPF, you will take more time to get tanned. For instance, if the sunscreen is SPF 30, it will protect the skin 30 times more than if you are not wearing it.

How To Get Tanned Faster?

There are multiple ways of getting tanned, like using skincare products made for making the skin look tanned or having sunless tanning pills. However, the best way to get tanned is direct exposure to the sun.

Here are the five ways that can help in achieving faster tanning

• Exfoliation: Make sure you exfoliate the skin before exposing it to the skin. It will ensure that the tan will not flake off.
• Sunscreen Usage: Using one ounce of sunscreen with SPF 30 is enough to get tan without burning the skin.
• Position: Change your position under the sun regularly so that you get tanned evenly.
• Food: Eating food rich in beta-carotene like carrot will help in darkening the skin. Similarly, foods rich in lycopene like tomatoes and watermelon also help as they fight UV rays naturally, ensuring that you get tanned and not burned.
• Time: The best time to get a tan is between 12 pm to 3 pm, when the intensity of the sun’s rays is highest. But, beware as this time is also the most dangerous for the skin as UV rays are strongest.

What Risks Are Involved In Tanning?

Tanning gets risky if you do not wear sunscreen before getting sun exposure. Since you have to sit under the sun for a longer duration, even wearing SPF could be detrimental. Some risks involved are-

• Dehydration
• Sunburn
• Heat strokes and heat rashes
• Premature skin aging
• Damage to eyes
• Suppressed immune system
• Skin conditions like melanoma or skin cancer

How Effective Are Tanning Beds?

A tanning bed can cause more harm than help to your skin. Just one indoor session of tanning on the tanning bed increases the risk of developing skin cancer by 20%. It is because the body is exposed to high levels of UV rays, which is why they are categorized carcinogenic by the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). You can definitely get tan in the winter and flaunt your gorgeously tanned skin to the world. Just make sure that while getting tan, you take precautions to not harm your skin during the process. Do not forget to wear SPF sunscreen and keep the exposure limited as prevention.

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