7 Best Tanning Bed Tips for Beginners

by Truly Beauty House
Tanning Bed Tips for Beginners

Tanning beds are more popular than ever before. This is because the tanning bed results are just awesome that give you a natural glowing tan effect. That is the reason many saloons are offering tanning bed services. But there are so many factors that you need to understand before using the tanning bed. 

This is what the topic of our blog is today. In this article, we will tell you some amazing tanning bed tips for beginners so that they can take the best advantage of the tanning bed. These tips will also help improve your tanning bed results as well. So, without wasting time let’s get into the guide:

Tanning bed tips for beginners

Identify the salon

As I mentioned earlier, many saloons are offering tanning bed services. Today you will find tanning rooms everywhere, but always remember one thing that not every tanning salon provides the best service. Therefore, it’s very important to choose a salon that uses quality tanning equipment, and products and offers you a professional advisor is essential to achieving the best tan.

The best way to find a good saloon is to check customer reviews thoroughly. The more positive reviews you will see it means the more the saloon is good.

Prepare your skin

This is the most important tip for the beginner before taking any tanning session. This tip also helps in increasing the tanning bed results day by day. Prep your skin at home before and on the day of visiting the tanning salon. The best way to prep your skin is to exfoliate your skin with a good scrub.

After exfoliating apply the moisturizer and then shave or wax your hair. So, the UV rays can absorb into the skin. After waxing or shaving, re-apply the moisturizer. Then apply sunscreen. The more you care for your skin the more good natural glowing tan you will get.

Tanning Tools – Equipment

After preparing your skin it’s time to choose the tanning tools.  Before tanning, you need to make a  list of must-have items with you to the salon. All of these are essential to support your overall tanning experience and to maximize results. Here are some essential accessories that as a beginner you must carry or wear. Those people who ask us what to wear in tanning bed, here is your answer let’s take a look:

Sunglasses: These are essential to protect your eyes from the intense UV rays that tanning beds create. Unlike lying outside in natural sunlight, where UVA and UVB rays hit you in varying degrees, a tanning bed places you in a position where these rays hit you in a shorter range, continuously, and with greater intensity.

This can have serious and often permanent harmful effects on your eyes. Your eyelids are simply too thin to block these invasive rays from reaching the areas primarily responsible for your vision, such as the retina, pupil, and iris.

SPF Lip Balm: Works just like sunscreen, the only difference is that it’s meant for your lips while you’re tanning. Lips are a part of the body that does not contain melanin and as such will not darken from tanning, instead excessive exposure to UV rays will cause dry, cracked, or chapped lips and wrinkles will form over time.

Sun wear: There are several options, but the best suggestion of all is a two-piece swimsuit or bikini for the ladies and briefs or boxers for the guys. While these are my preferences, I understand that if they’re not your usual outfit, just know that it’s purely for tanning purposes and you’re only exposing yourself to the insides of the tanning bed – these picks will give you a great tan, and look sexy tanned.

Being nude is also a good choice, so you get color consistency throughout your body. However, there are some protective measures such as covering the nipples and private parts, as the skin in these areas is more sensitive and as such is prone to burning.

how to use a tanning bed
Source : Canva

Skin Analysis

One of the things you want to look out for when you first visit the salon is to get your skin analyzed and assessed. A skin analysis simply determines your skin type and how to measure it on a skin scale. This will determine which flatbed to use and how much tanning time is needed in that particular tanning bed.

From there, a suntan lotion that best suits your skin’s needs and personal expectations will be recommended. A tanning consultant will also advise you on how to care for and maintain your tan after tanning.

If you want to tan faster and want to know the best tips to go for faster tanning. Read our blog on how to tan fast. You will get all the answers in detail.

Know your skin type

Based on your skin analysis, it will be determined which skin type category you fall into and this will help you better understand which treatment is right for you. There are 5 categories of skin types with one (1) being the lightest and five (5) being the darkest of the range.

Skin Type 1 – This is very white or pale skin; these individuals will have great difficulty in tanning and tend to burn very easily.

Skin Type 2 – People with this skin tone will have a light beige color. The expected burn rate is also relatively high; therefore, proper tanning practices must be used.

Skin Type 3 – This is light brown skin that will tan well and usually does not burn easily, however individuals will experience burning if proper tanning practices are not followed.

Skin Type 4 – This skin tone already has a light shade with a light brown or olive skin tone. Tanning is easy and as such does not cause frequent burns as the required time of exposure to UV radiation is minimal.

Skin Type 5 – Not much tanning is needed, people have a natural brown skin tone. This skin type rarely burns and tans effortlessly.

Choose a tanning bed

The next stage is deciding which tanning bed is right for you. There are different tanning bed levels for different skin types. Like a UV index level. A good tanning bed should have at least six (6) options to choose from, those with less will likely not work in your favor as it ultimately depends on your skin type.

A tanning specialist or consultant should let you know if they have the right bed for your skin tone. Tanning beds are on levels 1 to 6. Low-pressure beds are classified as level 1 and level 2 and offer low-pressure bulbs. Levels 3 and 4 have medium-pressure flasks, while levels 5 and 6 offer high-pressure flasks and are classified as high-pressure beds.

Low-pressure beds are entry-level and best suited for beginners, people who rarely tan or don’t need much tanning (ie skin types 4 and 5). UV radiation is emitted in a spectrum that is similar to natural sunlight. Although the lamps produce color moderately quickly, the risk of burning is still high, so try not to stay in the tanning bed for too long.

High-pressure bulbs emit increased amounts of UVA rays that are supposed to tan or brown the skin tone. They do this in a faster time frame than their lower-level counterparts and the resulting tan lasts longer. They are more suitable for those with fair skin (skin types 1, 2, and 3) who are looking for a deeper and darker complexion.

Choose a sunscreen lotion

While sunscreens are not always necessary when using a tanning bed, they are highly recommended for several reasons. It will help your skin tan better, and faster and prolong your tan, which ultimately means less time under UV light. These lotions are also formulated to keep your skin nourished and moisturized as it loses its natural moisture when exposed to the damaging effects of UV rays. There are many indoor tanning bed lotions in the market for different types of skin.

Pros and cons of tanning beds

Here are the short advantages and disadvantages of a tanning bed so that as a beginner you can better determine whether a tanning bed is useful or not. 

Advantages

  • Semi-permanent
  • Natural glowing tan effect
  • Relaxing
  • Make your skin shiny and glowing 

Disadvantages

  • Sunburn
  • Dry skin
  • Premature aging 
  • Cancer risk
  • Skin inflammation and irritation

FAQs

  1. How to use tanning bed safely?

     In order to use a tanning bed safely, you need to apply sunscreen, wear sunglasses, and SPF lip balm.

  2. How to lay in a tanning bed?

    The correct way to lay in a tanning bed is to lay back inside in the tanning bed with the arms and legs spread.

  3. How much do tanning beds cost?

    Tanning beds cost around $2000 to $5000.

  4. How long in tanning bed for vitamin D?

    For absorbing vitamin D you need to stay at least 10 to 30 minutes in a tanning bed.

  5. When to shower after tanning bed?

    If you need to take a shower you have to wait at least 2 to 3 hours after tanning bed.

  6. How long should you tan for the first time?

    If you are a beginner then you should start with five to seven minutes.

Conclusion

These are all the great tanning bed tips for beginners. A tanning bed is a great solution but it will only work in the right way if it is used at the right time. For example, using the tanning bed for a long time can cause skin damage and burn. Therefore, if you are a beginner it’s very important to learn first how to use a tanning bed and what tanning bed level is best for your skin type. 

If you have any other suggestion or query in your mind feel free to let us know in the comment section or simple email us at info@trulybeautyhouse.com

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