The look good, feel good mentality is something that has existed for ages, and what better way to achieve that than getting a nice golden, bronze tan. There is just something about laying under the hot sun and getting those tan lines forming. But just how long does this take? You don’t want to be spending your entire summer just trying to get tan again.

Your goal should be to start the tanning process even before spring comes so that you can tan before summer hits. 

Well, you’ve made it to the right article because here we are going to point out just how long it will take you to make the most of those self-tanning sessions. I will also be taking you through what you can do to speed up your tanning time, and exactly what you can use to keep a healthy tan all year round.

And trust me, you will want to try your best to stay tan year round because once fall comes around it does not take long for your visible tan to fade away leaving behind lighter skin again, especially if you have more pale skin.

How Long Does it Take to Tan In A Tanning Bed? Is it Faster?

Depending on how tan or pasty white you may be, it could take up to a couple of weeks for you to build a base tan before you can start focusing on deeper and darker tan.  

It is important to note that there are two different types of lights that are emitted both outdoors and indoors, that help a person tan quickly. 

This is called UV light, which is comprised of both UVA rays and UVB rays. UVB rays, or reddening rays, are the ones that causes one to burn quickly, while the UVA rays, or bronzing rays, help with getting that deep bronze tan safely without risking skin damage.  

Let’s say you are going on vacation to a warm tropical place and want to avoid getting burned on a sunny day.  Ideally, start indoor tanning process 2-3 weeks prior to your leaving date in a UVB bed, averaging about 3-4 visits per week.  This will allow you to build up a base tan to mask up your pale skin safely without causing you to burn or any skin damage.

On the other hand, if you are looking for a fast tan color, you want to aim for a UVA bed. This bed should only take a couple visits for you to start building up that dark tan base, bronze glow.  Some even tan fast enough to see results after just one visit. 

The cool part is that there are many different tanning beds that offer different amounts of exposure to these lights.  Making sure that you are laying in the proper bed when making tanning purchases is key. 

Don’t always just go for the cheapest, or most expensive high level tanning bed.  Make sure to understand the purpose of why you are wanting to tan, and then what bed fits your needs. 

For most people who have fair skin, using tanning beds will help you tan faster, cutting your tanning time down to about 2 weeks. In about 2 weeks you can have a bronze tan.

How Long Does It Take To Tan Naturally?

Depending on your skin type, you can start seeing a darker tan from exposure to direct sunlight within a few hours (mostly one to two hours), or you may take some time out in the sun in order to see a tan.

I like exercising outside before spring comes, that way I can be in a good shape and also get my skin tanned from sun exposure. The exercises I love doing are regular squats that I often do with my girlfriend. She likes squatting to get toned thighs, I also do shrimp squats outside when my body starts to gain a little bit of muscle since it’s somewhat hard.

I used to do easier exercises like wall angels outside but started targeting my lower body more because, as I mentioned earlier, I exercise with my girlfriend and she wanted to get a jiggly butt and prevent having a mom butt in the future, so I followed her lead.

Many factors play a role in the development of getting a natural tan, but using all your tools to get a natural tan fast is key.   

Key points to look at when achieving a fast tan naturally…

1.   Knowing your skin time, and laying out in the sun best suited for your skin so you don’t burn
2.   Wearing sunscreen 
3.   Using a tanning lotion best fit for your skin (DHA bronzers, natural bronzers, intensifiers)
4.   After care with a good hydrating moisturizer

 When using these steps, you should tan within two hours or thereabouts!  

How Can I Stay Tan Year Round

Staying tan year round can instantly boost how good you feel.  Walking around with a nice glow to your skin, is something to brag about. But with all the different things out on the market, it makes it so difficult to tell the real deal from fake tan products out there. 

There are a few options here to staying tan year round.   

The obvious option here is to lay in the tanning bed year round.  It’s simple, calming, relaxing, and some even say, therapeutic. But for people that are constantly traveling, a tanning bed is a hard choice. 

Self Tanner – Best Option

Your next option is to get yourself a self tanner. This is my favorite choice and is super easy and works surprisingly well. If you do not want to end up laying around in a tanning bed year round then self tanning lotions or self tanners are going to be your best option.

My favorite Self Tanner: Beauty by Earth’s Self Tanner

Beauty By Earth’s Self Tanner is by far the best self tanner for the price. This stuff freaking rocks, and its dirt cheap.

You can check it out on amazon by clicking here

I use this stuff about twice a week and it keeps me looking tan year round. The best part about it, is that using this stuff prevents you from having to wear sunscreen or go tan and causing sun damage to your skin. I always hated having to tan year round because I knew I was causing damage to my skin and eventually this damage would turn into wrinkles and early skin aging or worse yet skin cancer.

If you want to stay tan year round and do not want to constantly be tanning then I, and even most dermatologists recommend you to grab some of this stuff.

For those that are looking for a quick visit to the salon, a spray tan is your best bet. The benefits of them are quick, easy, and very versatile to what you want.  With all the different color options and add-ons, it makes this self-tanning lotion a popular choice out of all the self-tanners on the market.  We will discuss more later about spray tans.

But, for people like me, spray tans do not develop well with my olive skin type.  Or, for people that don’t even have the time to come into the salon to get a spray, you have a full-effect at-home option in this self-tanning lotion. 

A good “color-building tan extender” to give your skin the added glow you need, along with the versatility to do this where ever you want, makes the bronzing lotion a very popular option.  

If you are looking for a good bronzer, click here (insert link) for a product that I have loved, alongside so many others I have mentioned this to.

How To Speed Up Your Tanning: Both In A Tanning Bed & Naturally

We all want the bronzing glow that the sun’s rays give us, and we want it as fast as we can get it!  Accelerating your tan using a tanning lotion is the most common way to achieve a fast tan both indoors and outdoors.

A common misconception that people have is that a tanning lotion can only be used indoors, or that “it’s just a lotion, there isn’t anything different than sunscreen”.

WRONG!  Tanning lotions such as Designer Skin, Swedish Beauty, or the JWOWW line are designed for both indoor and outdoor use.  They don’t have good sunscreen in them, but they have high levels of sun tanning accelerators that ensure you can tan in way less time than you might take without them. 

The beauty about a tanning lotion is the ingredients in them.  DHA is the ingredient that develops the tan. The more concentrated the DHA, the stronger the bronze color you achieve with the lotion.  

So, if you are looking for a fast, bronze tan, Stardom by Designer Skin is the best of the best. If you have a more light skin complexion, using an Intensifier – which naturally lifts the melanin pigment (what tans you) in your skin – is going to be your best option. A very common lotion is Shore Love by JWOWW.

What You Can Use to Perfect Your Bronze Color

Like stated above, there are a lot of options to help give your skin the ‘perfect’ glow.  Using a tanning lotion will help to develop and accelerate your tan, giving your skin that perfect bronze glow 

 Also, using a tan extender with bronzers in them, such as Boost, will deepen that tan that you already have.  

On top of that, getting in that Bronzing Tanning bed is the popular and easy option to ensure a nice golden glow.  When combining the use of this bed, with a tanning lotion, and topping it off the next day with Boost, you not only cut how much time it takes to tan by half, but you can also be sure that you get a noticeable tan that will allow you to walk down the street with that ‘perfect’ glow.   

Spray Tans… Are They Worth It Or Not?

You get a text from the guy you have been talking to, and he is surprising you with tickets to a concert that night.  It’s the middle of summer and you have yet to build up a nice bronze tan. Fearful of walking around in a dress looking like Casper the Ghost, the only option is to run in for a quick spray tan. 

Or, you may be part of the population that is too young to tan, but needs some color for your high school dance happening over the weekend. 

For the majority of the population, a spray tan is the way to go.  No harmful UV rays are being exposed, quick and easy fix, and instant results. 

Spray tan booths have evolved over the years, and now offer a variety of options that best suit you and your spray tan needs.  Starting off by choice 1 of 4 color options available, light, medium, dark, and double dark. 

Then you choose if you want to see an instant all over bronzing glow, or if you want that bronze glow to develop over the next couple hours.  The ‘clear’ option gives a more natural progressive glow. 

Even more, there is the option for a double leg pass, in case your legs always fade first on a spray, or if you need to shave it keeps the second layer underneath! And finally, there is a hydration spray that locks in your spray tan keeping your skin nice and hydrated. 

With all of these options available, it makes it very easy to customize a spray that fits best to you. Make sure to ask your salon about all the different options and what products you should use to see your best spray tan results and protection from sun exposure effects like ultraviolet radiation aka uv rays. 

For the small part of the population, just like me, lighter tan sprays do not develop well with my skin tone. I have tried every primer possible and tried all the different combinations, and the color just won’t develop good.  Sometimes, it just doesn’t work. Not to mention, my boyfriend always calls me a Burnt Oompa Loompa!

One thing to keep in mind when getting a tan is our diet, our body naturally tries to keep our skin as healthy as possible so keeping our diet healthy will directly impact our skin. I have no time during the day to keep track of my meals so I use meal replacements like Kachava, it has been a blast so far and if you are like me and have no time during the day, try protein shakes and drink plenty of water and see if that change in your diet will protect your skin better and save you skin problems.

What The Best Time of Day Is To Tan

Knowing your skin type is important when it comes to knowing when the best time of the day is to tan.  

If you are one that burns pretty easily and have very fair skin, then the best way to tan is to lay out and tan early in the morning before noon.  This may take you a little longer to build your tan since the sun’s uv rays aren’t as intense, but it is better than getting burned from the prolonged sun exposure. 

 If you are one that already has a good base tan or has one of those darker skin tones, it probably means you are less likely to burn from direct sun exposure. For you, your best tan time is on a sunny hot day between noon and 4:00 PM (give or take 10 minutes – 30 minutes) when the sunlight intensity is at its highest/hottest. 

Knowing what your skin does under the heat of the sun’s uv rays is important to pay attention to.  Don’t ignore your skin type, as this is a very good indication to help you know how long it takes you tan, when to tan safely! 

Tanning Diet for More Natural Tan 

Diet is just as essential when tanning since some essential elements play a significant role in the tanning process. These include tyrosine amino acid, which can be found in a wide variety of foods like fish, poultry, and fruits like bananas, avocados, peanuts, almonds, and seeds like sesame seeds, and pumpkin seeds, as well as cheese.

You can try ricotta cheese or cottage cheese, I personally use the former since I don’t quite like how cottage cheese tastes and I have to go an extra mile to make cottage cheese taste better before I can use it.

Foods rich in beta-carotene are also crucial for this as this is a precursor of vitamin A, a vitamin essential for stimulating melanin production for that golden tan. These foods include apricots, melons, and peaches.

Of course, checking your diet is a good way to get as many of these nutrients as possible. But I have found the use of meal replacement shakes to be a rather smart way of getting in a truckload of these essentials in one go – and they’re a snap to mix and gulp down too.

These too come in a wide array of options, there are meal replacement shakes for breakfast, other safe shakes for sensitive stomachs, and low sodium ones too. Your call.

Personally, I will go for Kachava any day any time, but there isn’t a shortage of options here either; such alternatives as Shakeology and Shaklee, Jimmy Joy and Huel, and a host of others too. But before making a decision, I suggest comparing them, just like I did here (Kachava vs Athletic Greens). This way, you can find exactly what you need.

Just check for the ingredients label to be sure your meal rep shake of choice has as many ingredients that are good for melanin as possible. And while at it, I can’t stress enough how crucial staying hydrated is if you’re to maintain a lasting tan. For me, keeping my motivational water bottle with me when working out or taking a walk in the sun does the trick, it can for you too.

How Long Does It Take For A Tan To Fade?

It can all depend on how well you take care of your skin while it is tan.  If you want your tan to last longer, keeping your skin hydrated with a good moisturizing lotion helps keep your skin glowing, and staying alive. 

I have tried so many lotions over the years and finally found Hemp Nation, helps keep your tan from fading with moisture locking technology, and not to mention, smells amazing! 

Given that you aren’t getting any extra skin exposure, and without a good skin care routine, a tan will start to fade within a couple weeks (2-3 weeks on average for the initial fading). The skin starts to renew itself and within about 2 months, the tan can basically be gone.

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