ETS Tanning Bed Blog

Tanning regularly is the key to getting the best tanning bed tan. If you let your sessions lapse, your tan will soon follow.

Building Up a Tan

When you first start building a tan, you should be going to an indoor tanning salon between three and four times a week. Once you’ve built up that base tan, you’ll only need maintenance sessions between one and three times a week, depending on your skin tone. If you’re using a high-pressure bed, you can often get away with going once every two weeks.

Most people see results after just a few tans, but it can take about three weeks of regular tanning before you’ll see a deep, noticeable tan. Remember, tanning is a process not a race. So, if you’re trying to get a base tan before your next vacation, you’ll want to plan ahead and start working on your tan three to four weeks ahead of time.

The Benefits of Lotions

When tanning indoors, you don’t have to wear an SPF lotion. Why? Because an SPF lotion is designed to protect you while spending an extended amount of time in the sun. When you’re using a tanning bed you’re only getting a few minutes of exposure as opposed to a few hours.

You also want to avoid using outdoor lotions in indoor tanning beds. These lotions can harm the tanning bed acrylics and adversely affect your tan. Instead, use products that are designed specifically for indoor tanning. These lotions are sold at all tanning salons and are designed to both moisturize the skin and help you achieve a deeper, better tan.

Tanning Safety

A good tanning salon will be able to offer you a skin analysis and recommend a tanning program that will help you achieve the color you want. For example, someone with fairer skin may need to start with a shorter exposure time, gradually increasing their tanning bed time with each visit. You can tan up to a maximum of once every 24 hours, but you should wait at least 48 hours between tanning sessions.

Finally, you should never tan (outdoors or indoors) if you’re currently using photosensitizing medication. Drugs like Accutane, Cipro, Intal and even Benadryl can dramatically increase the risk of overexposure. If you’re not sure, speak to your doctor, pharmacist or consult a tanning professional.

How to Get a Deeper Tan

If you’re a regular in the tanning beds, but aren’t getting any darker you may have hit what tanning professionals call a “tanning plateau.” You want to get a deeper tan, but it’s just not happening, so what do you do next?

Try a New Indoor Tanning Lotion

If you feel like you’ve hit your tanning plateau and you’re already using a good indoor lotion, then maybe it’s time to switch your product.

Think of it like changing your shampoo. You can use the best shampoo out there, but if you use it every day over and over again, eventually your hair will get used to it and go limp with residue build-up. You try a new shampoo and BAM – your hair’s looking great again. Tanning lotions act in a similar way.

So, if you’ve reached a tanning maximum and you’re already using a good lotion, then ask your salon staff for a new product recommendation or try upgrading to a better lotion. And if you’re not already using a good indoor lotion, then now is the time to start.

Everyone Has a Limit

At some point everybody will reach a tanning limit. A person can only get so dark and that level of darkness will depend on their skin type. So, yes, it’s possible to bump up your tan a little more with a new lotion or strategy, but it’s also possible to reach a maximum tanning level.

Enhance a Tan With Spray-On Tans

Some salons call it a cocktail, others call it the double-dip, but the traditional tanning bed session followed by a spray-on tanning session is a great way to enhance an existing tan. Because the pores are open from the tanning bed, the sunless spray-on gives you a deep, dark tan.

A tanning bed tan can actually be better and more exact than a sun tan achieved outside. Why? Because when you’re out in the sun, you can’t control how much ultraviolet (UV) light your skin is absorbing. However, when you opt for a tanning bed tan, you can actually regulate and control your UV exposure.

As a result, you can gradually increase your UV exposure over time in a controlled environment. This lets you take charge of your tan’s deepness while also minimizing the risk of burns. Here’s how:

Knowing Your UV Rays for a Better Tan

Tanning beds are designed, essentially, to imitate the sun. The sun emits three types of UV rays; UV-C, which is the most harmful; UV-B, which begins the tanning process; and UV-A, which completes the tanning process.

Oh, the bikini tan line – that dreaded tanning side effect that curses beach goers everywhere. So, how do you get rid of it or avoid it all together? You guessed it, by using indoor tanning beds.

The best way to avoid a bikini tan line is to tan indoors in the nude. Tanning salons are very secure, you can usually lock the door and they’re also very hygienic. Most people tan in the nude, the salons expect it and they provide towels and sometimes robes for your comfort. Also, a salon is required to sanitize tanning beds after every use, so they’re clean.

Safe Indoor Tanning

Here they are, my picks for the top 10 tanning bed lotions of 2009:

10. Soy Dark

Made from an almost all-natural (95% Paraben-free) formula, Soy Dark is refreshing and pure. The list of botanical ingredients includes camu camu fruit, aloe, honey, soy and hemp seed oil – all combined to rejuvenate the skin and boost tyrosinase and melanin.

9. Henna Sent

Henna Sent is another 95% Paraben-free bronzer that features extracts of black tea leaf, banana, henna and DHA. This almost all-natural product also includes honey, soy and hemp seed oil – all of which nourish and moisturize the skin.

8. Bronze Voyage

Bronzy Voyage is an extremely popular, entry-level natural bronzer. It has a classical tropical scent and acts as a moisturizer, tanning lotion and a bronzer. It’s like an all-in-one introduction to the world of tanning lotions.

I’m often asked about the proper way to tan. My answer? In a tanning bed!

Seriously though, if you’re tanning at a good salon, they will walk you back to your tanning room and show you exactly how everything on the tanning beds works – the timing system, the radio, the fans, everything.

Or, if you’re tanning on a home system, a good retailer (like ETS Tan) will teach you everything you need to know about your tanning bed from the regular maintenance to the proper way to tan in your system.

People often ask me how to get a darker tan and I always say the key is consistency, good tanning beds and going slow. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, tanning is a process. It’s not a race. You need to start your tanning off slow and build your initial tan up to a good base.

Build From the Base Up

Once you have that slowly built-up base, you can start to work on a rich, dark tan. Trust me, deep tans don’t come from single or occasional "power" sessions – they come from a consistent use of good tanning beds over a period of time.