Everyone wants to have that perfect tan. The perfect bronze tone all over your skin improves your entire appearance and makes you stand out against a myriad of fair skin types. In the past, the only way you could get a tan is to wait for summer to come along and lay out at the beach until your skin color changed. This can be very tiring and dangerous to your skin, though. That's why it's a good thing that you now have alternative tanning solutions and tanning bed lotions that can produce results without harming your skin.

Tanning salons have been utilizing tanning beds for a number of years now. The benefits are obvious; a quick indoor tan regardless of the weather outside. Naturally, as tanning salons gained popularity so did tanning bed lotions, as they take the benefits of indoor tanning and multiply them. Here's a look at the benefits of using indoor tanning lotion to enhance your tan.

The largest organ in our body is the skin. Its main function is to protect muscles and the other organs from the heat of the sun and other harsh environmental elements. The surface of the skin has melanin, and it reacts to certain spectrums of light, particularly the ultraviolet or UV rays. UV rays have three parts, namely, UVA, UVB, and UVC. UVC is blocked by the atmosphere and doesn't reach the earth's surface.

Of the remaining two that do reach us, 90 percent is UVA and 10 percent is UVB. UVA is responsible for the actual tanning, while UVB causes the skin to burn and may even cause cancer because it leads to destruction of the cells. Nevertheless, because of their ratio, it can be said that tanning using natural sunlight is still possible. Unfortunately, because of the low melanin content, fair skinned individuals are more likely to get sunburned after prolonged exposure to sunlight. Worst, certain skin types might even develop cancer.

In search of an alternative to sunlight, bright minds were able to reproduce ultraviolet light to produce tanning without taking so much time. The tanning beds actually looked more like a chamber with special bulbs lined up above and below to ensure that the entire body will have an equal tan.

There was a time when tanning beds also generated UVB light to the dismay of would-be patrons, but all modern tanning beds have now corrected this issue and emit UVA light only. The good thing about tanning beds is that it does not take a lot of time to create a tan. Moreover, tanning bed lotions are there to make the process even more effective.

What do tanning bed lotions do exactly? Unlike sunblocks that protect the skin from the effects of ultraviolet radiation, tanning bed lotions improve their effects on the skin. Combined with a UVA-only tanning bed, the lotions can make skin tanning even faster and the results last longer.

How Do Tanning Bed Lotions Do the Trick?

Their main goal is to increase melanin in the skin. They achieve this in two ways; one is to use compounds that stimulate the production of melanin. Sometimes they would utilize actual melanin to speed up the process. The second method is to control the blood circulating to the skin. This process will also increase melanin that is being carried onto your skin's top layer.

Tingle Lotions

A major category of tanning bed lotion is the tingle lotions. They are those that contain ingredients that stimulate the circulation of the blood on the skin. They are named after the general effect that clients have experienced after wearing the lotion after a few minutes. They would feel a tingling sensation as the lotion works its way to the top layer of the skin.

These sensations are often a minor irritant to the skin. Hence, to be on the safe side, it is advised that you should consult a dermatologist first before applying any lotion, including the tingle lotion, to the entire body.

One good effect of the tingle lotion is the apparent tangible feeling that the tan is starting to work. Sometimes it may even produce a certain redness because of the blood activity.

You may ask, "What is inside tingle lotions?" One can generally label them as photo irritants due to their sensitivity to light. Moreover, ingredients may be different among companies; but some would contain niacin, nicotine compounds, and even green tea.

Bronzers

This second type of tanning bed lotions got their name from their visual effect on the skin. Bronzers literally create a darker skin tone just like that of the color bronze. This has made it very popular among women who would like to stand out even among people who are already tanned.

The effect is brought about by the chemical called DHA or dihydroxyacetone. What it does is to help the skin generate the color and still be enhanced by ultraviolet light. In essence, it does make the tanning process faster. In fact, bronzers can continue the tanning process even without the any UV light, which is why your skin color is darker than usual.

A word of caution, though, for people who are planning to use bronzers. Due to the chemicals they have, it is advised to follow the instructions carefully. Bronzers are often applied before a tanning bed session, and they should be removed immediately following.

Keeping the Skin Moisturized

One of the main reasons that the skin experiences sunburn is the apparent lack of moisture because of heat. Thus, all tanning bed lotions also contain ingredients that ensure that the skin is moisturized during and after a tanning session. A popular product used is the natural hempseed oil. The good thing about hempseed is that it does not generate allergic reactions to the skin, and it is abundant in fatty acids. The fatty acids help maintain the effects of the tan while retaining the moisture of the skin. The best tanning bed lotions emphasize the moisturization of the skin.

Use of Tanning Bed Lotions Outdoors

Since their main purpose is to enhance the result of UV rays in the skin, it is often advised to avoid using tanning bed lotions in natural sunlight. This is even with the fact that they promote the production of melanin, and they contain moisturizers. Many experts believe that since tanning bed lotions offer no SPF factor, it means that they have not been tested for use under the sun. Furthermore, since most tanning bed lotions are used in controlled environments, their use as a sun protection is highly discouraged.