So you have your tan, and I’m going to tell you how to keep it longer. Whether your tan is a natural sun-induced tan or your tan came from a lotion or a spray-on, all of these tans represent the same thing: the increase of the dark cells or the brown cells on the surface of your skin. But unfortunately those cells are falling off everyday, they're shedding, which is a form of natural exfoliation and as they fall off so does your tan. That is the reason that your tan fades. So if you would like to prolong your tan then we have to figure out ways to slow down the shedding. There are three ways to do that: decrease your exfoliation, use moisturizers and use sunscreens.
Let’s start with the exfoliation; I have been urging all of my viewers to use chemical exfoliants everyday. Chemical exfoliants are a very important part in keeping your skin beautiful and keeping it healthy. Most of the exfoliants that we use are gentle exfoliants like glycolic acid or salicylic acid. Stop using those exfoliants on a daily basis if you want to prolong your tan. There is also physical exfoliation like microdermabrasion. Stop the microdermabrasions. And shaving is a form of physical exfoliation also, so ladies you have to cut down on shaving your legs. However, that creates an interesting situation: we have very lovely, tan...hairy legs (just kidding!). You don’t have to stop shaving but don’t use a razor blade; use an electric shaver. It takes off many fewer cells and it will help prolong the tan. The same thing for men shaving their face: use an electric razor, don’t use a blade for shaving your face if you want to prolong your tan. And in the shower, don’t use abrasive materials on the tan part of your body. Don’t use a louffa, don’t use a washcloth, and don’t use abrasive cleansers. All of these things just increase the rate of shedding and the rate of loss of your tan.
The second most important thing is using moisturizer everyday. Hydrated cells come off much more slowly than do dry cells. So whatever moisturizer you like, use it and use it regularly.
Lastly: a sunscreen. Believe it or not, with a tan, you still want to use a sunscreen to prevent that tan skin from getting a sunburn. Sunburned skin comes off faster. Also to prolong your tan, use self-tanners on the areas that have been tanned. If you use them regularly you will help prolong the length and increase the color of your tan.
Just one more point: all sun induced tans represent a certain amount, a small amount of skin damage and while we enjoy the look of the tan we don’t want to damage our skin. So if you use a sunscreen in the pursuit of your tan, a sunscreen with an SPF between 15 and 30, you will still get a tan, you will still get color through that sunscreen, but that color will be less dangerous.
So there are ways to enjoy your tan and prolong them.
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