For years, I’ve written about the benefit of base tans – showing objectively how science still supports what we do in professional sunbed centers. And for years, I’ve given talks about base tans, explaining to people how they are an important tool in the sunburn prevention arsenal.
This month, I’d like to tell you about how I personally put this into practice. Here’s the story of three long-time friends of mine, each of whom called me in the spring to get sun-care advice before taking sunny vacations.
The first, Dr. Mike Hood, a veterinarian from Michigan, calls me just about every spring before spending a week with his wife somewhere in the tropics. With Skin Type II, he used to sunburn on those sunny vacations, even when using sunscreen. Now he follows my advice, visits a Smart Tan member salon at least 7-10 times over the course of three weeks before heading south, and never sunburns on his trips.
Late last summer, Hood went to Hawaii for a week but forgot to follow our pre-trip program, figuring the Michigan summer had prepared his skin for the subtropics. A painful sunburn reminded him that a tan combined with sunscreen is effective protection while sunscreen alone is not. “I was glad to get back on the program this spring and did great,” he told me.
The second friend, Michigan restaurateur Tim Kenrick, called me for the first time this spring before taking a tropical vacation. Tim, like me, has Type II skin, has no hair on the top of his head and has previously burned on sun-drenched outings. I set him up with a regimen of eight UV sessions in just under three weeks before the trip.
“It worked amazingly well,” he told me after he returned. “If I had not asked for your counsel, I’m sure it would have been brutal.” With the base tan and SPF 15 applied each morning before heading out for the day, Tim never burned on his trip – only occasionally wearing a hat. He returned with what his kids said was the darkest tan he’d ever had.
A third friend, Liz, also called me before going to Arizona this spring. She didn’t follow my pre-trip advice, so I’m not going to use her full name.
Also Skin Type II, Liz wasn’t even trying to tan when she sunburned. She just went out on her patio wearing Capri pants and put her legs up while waiting for a friend to get ready to go out. “I didn’t think I’d be that long,” she said, recalling lobster-red sunburns on her calves that eventually peeled.
My friends Mike and Tim returned from their trips tanned and rested. With Type II skin, stimulating the production of melanin with UV sessions before a sunny vacation means that your first day in the sun will oxidize that existing melanin even before you step off the plane at your destination. Liz gets this now – but it took some first-aid for her to learn her lesson the hard way.
To join ASA today, visit AmericanSuntanning.org/register.
