How to Extend Your Summer Glow

It’s been a long summer, and now that you finally have that perfect golden glow, it’s time for scarves and sweaters! Just because it is autumn, however, doesn’t mean you can’t make your tan last as long as you can. Several products are on the market to help you extend your bronzed skin, and with a few tips to remember, you too can keep your skin glowing.

The first step is to be sure to keep your skin healthy and cared for. Tan responsibly, provide your skin with the essential nutrition it needs, and be sure to hydrate! Your skin is your body’s largest organ, and the condition of your skin is an important part to your general nutrition and health. That is why hydrated skin tans faster and holds a tan longer, which is why moisturizing with tanning lotions (specifically formulated for these reasons) can increase your results under the tanning bulbs by as much as sixty percent.

When choosing a tanning lotion, look for key ingredients, such as CoQ10, green tea extract, and hemp seed oil. These will help keep your skin hydrated! To get faster tanning results, choose a lotion with an accelerator, as these lotions are designed to increase the tanning potential of your skin by delivering necessary nutrients and vitamins to your skin.

Be sure your lotion has oils to help hydrate and condition as well as vitamins, particularly A and E. All of these are essential to help your skin be conditioned and hydrated and, in turn, will help prolong the life of your tan. Vitamin C, in particular, is important for this because it is an antioxidant that repairs and reduces UV damage caused by tanning bulbs or natural sunlight. Herbal extracts are also important as they’ll protect the skin from forming lines and wrinkles while providing antioxidants to attack free radicals.

           

Be sure you are using such products along with tanning to help extend that glow naturally into the fall. Choose products containing caramel, hennal, cocoa extracts, and walnuts to help boost your tan, and also look for one with the nutrients your skin needs.

Applying Tanning Oil

To speed up your tanning, tanning oil is a must have. Tanning oil can help one achieve a dark, rich tan in a shorter amount of time. While useful in this regard, something to keep in mind is that tanning oil will not protect you from sunburn unless an SPF (sun protection factor) number is listed on the bottle. A lower SPF number can be used if a person already has an established base tan, but as oils are typically meant to increase tans, a high SPF cannot usually be found in a tanning oil product.

There are some tips when applying your tanning oil. Tanning oil has the potential for becoming messy. So, it is a good idea to take precautions.

• Begin by laying a towel anywhere you may sit while applying the tanning oil. 
• Start by squirting a quarter-sized drop of oil into the palm of your hand and rub palms together. This will keep the oil from spilling through your fingers.
• Coat the tops of your feet with tanning oil, continue up your ankles and cover as much of your calves as possible with the remaining amount of oil. At this point, you will need to squirt another quarter-sized amount of tanning oil in your palms. Keep in mind that too much oil is better than putting on too little.
• Continue at the point on your calves where you left off. Move up your legs, ensuring you cover every area of skin which will be touched by the sun.
• Slide your hands around to the back of the knees. Then, cover the front of the knees, bending the knee slightly to stretch the skin smooth.
• Thoroughly cover the thigh area, working up to the bikini line. Refill your hands with the same amount of oil.
• Next, apply the oil to your stomach and lower area of your back. If you have someone who can apply oil to your middle and upper back areas, this is best. If not, spill a small stream of oil at the back of your neck and shoulder blades. Spread it around as best you can while reaching back. 
• Finish up by covering the chest area not covered by your suit, front and back of neck, then face. When covering your face, never apply to the eye area. If you break out easily, look for an oil that states it will not cause break-outs. Or, if using a tanning bed, check hottanningbulbs.com for bulbs which can turn for the face area.
• Wait a few minutes to let the oil soak into your skin before you begin tanning. Check the oil bottle to see how often you should re-apply.