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Cosmetically, there is a lot to know about tanning and how it affects certain skin conditions and interacts with your body. Obviously, you can achieve a darker skin color, but what else can the UV rays do to you or for you?
Whether you’re eager to find another cure for a skin condition, or you simply want to know more, here’s some basic questions and answers related to the cosmetic and health aspect of tanning.
8 Tanning Health and Beauty Questions:
- Does tanning fade tattoos?
- Can you get a tan with makeup on?
- Will tanning lighten my hair?
- Can tanning whiten your teeth?
- Will tanning give me leathery skin?
- Can tanning help with acne?
- Can tanning help with eczema?
- Can tanning help with stretch marks?
Does tanning fade tattoos?
- Yes. Tanning is horrible for tattoos, but if you still really want to get that tan around all of your nice ink, you can find sunblock specially made to protect tattoos, such as the Coppertone Tattoo Guard Stick. If you don’t have access to such sunblock, the very least you should do is rub on a very high SPF sunblock on your tattoos, even if you aren’t using that same sunblock on the rest of your body.
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Can you get a tan with makeup on?
- Yes. Makeup is not a form of protection from the sun or UV rays. A lot of concealers contain an SPF, but it is in such low amounts, that it is not meant for you to wear to protect your face when tanning, rather, it is designed to protect your face from general, quick sun exposure. You can actually get a burn with makeup on, so make sure you are using adequate protection!
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Will tanning lighten my hair?
- Yes, it can. Especially if you are already light brown or blonde. If you really want to sunbleach your hair, try using lemon juice. A lot of people report that lemon juice speeds up the bleaching process, giving them that nice, summer blonde each year. If you do not want your hair getting lighter in the sun, try keeping a hat on to cover it from direct exposure, and this should be enough to help you out.
[Back to Top] Can tanning whiten your teeth?
- Tanning is not an effective method in whitening your teeth. Yes, they make tooth whitening systems that utilize a contraption that casts UV rays on your teeth, but a tanning bed, nor the sun, will work this way. After tanning for a while, your teeth may appear whiter because of the new contrast of your skin to your teeth, but it doesn’t necessarily mean they got any lighter.
[Back to Top] Will tanning give me leathery skin?
- It can, but it doesn’t mean it will. We’ve all seen those leather people laying out on the beach, all shriveled up and brown like a prune; they certainly didn’t get that way overnight! It takes a lot of tanning to get to that point, but everyone can get there if they are not careful. Your best bet is to limit your tanning sessions to what you feel is just needed, and use the proper sun protection.
[Back to Top] Can tanning help with acne?
- No. You may think it helps at first, since getting a darker tone can help to camouflage those blemishes, but the acne will not go away as a result. Tanning can actually damage your skin and cause it to dry out, leading to a whole different problem that can make your acne worse — when your face dries out, it causes your skin to try to fix this problem by producing more oils, leading to the overproduction by your sebaceous glands and blackheads. One thing that people report helps acne is sweating, and you can sweat while getting a tan.
[Back to Top] Can tanning help with eczema?
- Yes, depending on your skin type and the recommendation by a physician. Many people see results when using a tanning bed as “prescribed” in order to treat the eczema. What happens is, the UV rays penetrate the skin killing any bacterial growth and slows the growth of the affected cells within. It is not a method of treatment to be used unless you were advised to do so by a doctor.
[Back to Top] Can tanning help with stretch marks?
- I can’t say one way or another if tanning actually helps stretch marks, but it might make them a lot less visible. Stretch marks are scar tissue brought on by rapid stretching of the skin, such as from pregnancy, and scar tissue does not respond to sunlight. You might have better luck with a sunless tanner that can go over the top of the scars.
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Although tanning might not be a reliable resource to cure skin conditions, it may help disguise them enough to make you feel more comfortable in the skin you’re in!
