For students who go to semester schools, when finals end in May, a month of beach-going begins before the start of jobs and internships. While we Northwestern students are lucky enough to have a beach on our campus, the demands of finals week do not leave us with much time to soak up some rays. If you’re looking for a sun-kissed complexion without actually spending time in the sun, check out a few alternatives. But be careful: incorporating some of these beauty tricks into your daily routine can be pretty detrimental to long-term health.
1. Self-tanners
Probably the least expensive and most easily accessible method of getting that summer glow, tanning lotions can be found at your nearest drug store or beauty product shop. These products produce a range of results—often times with their success correlated to their price. A big issue with these products, however, is distribution on the skin. Applying lotion evenly when you get out of the shower isn’t as easy as it may sound, and it often leaves skin looking blotchy and discolored. However, if you opt for a self-tanning spray, you’re more likely to avoid clumps and evidently fake tones. The products also don’t last long—usually no longer than two weeks.
In terms of health, self-tanners are a relatively safe option. The chemical—dihydroxyacetone (DHA)—that most tanners include to dye the top layer of skin is much less destructive than sunlight’s ultraviolet rays.
2. Spray Tan
You may have friends that swear by this, or others who tried it once and now look like Lindsay Lohan, but spray tanning (in moderation) is a decent method of getting some color without risking skin cancer. Like self-tanners, spray tan salons use DHA to change the color of your skin, a comparatively non-threatening chemical. You’re going to have to shell out a bit more cash for this tan—a good salon will charge you somewhere in the ballpark of $30 to $50, and it still lasts just as long as self-tanner. However, the biggest issue that arises with self-tanner—how it looks messy and splotchy—is eliminated. Spray tans dry quickly and blend even! Again, however, be careful: getting addicted to spray tanning is an easy pit to fall into. If you like the way it looks, it doesn’t mean you should keep it up so much, darkening the color a lot. Eventually, winter will come around, and your orange body might stick out in a snowy landscape.
3. Tanning Bed
For the most natural appearance of an indoor tan, beds are the way to go. Priced similarly to spray tans, tanning beds give customers a natural looking tan in minutes. Moreover, when the tan fades, it fades evenly, not coming off in blotches like a spray tan. Nevertheless, what you aren’t paying for in cash, you are paying for in health. Tanning beds use ultraviolet rays to tan your skin. Although UV rays are technically how the sun tans you, these rays are just inches from your skin in a tanning bed with no form of protection. You’ll look golden, but you’ll also be putting yourself at serious risk for skin cancer.
Just because you can’t be on the beach, doesn’t mean you can’t pretend you were. As long as you take healthy precautions, take one of these alternate paths to tanning and flaunt your false summer glow!