tanning then showering

[tanny]

is it good or bad to shower right after you tan? how long should you wait to shower? i have heard about 1 hour? it this true?

[kdr8490]

I have heard 4 hours...I am also curious to know how long is recommended.

[sunbunny]

Wait at least 3 if you use a bronzer. I tan at night, and wait until the next morning to shower. It has also been mentioned that it's best to wait at least three hours even if you don't use a bronzer.

[haasy]

I was reading on a couple of tanning web sites that say you can shower right after, that you cant "wash" your tan off, but not to exfoliate because that will take the top layer or tanned skin off....it so confusing

[Desert Tan]

The longer the wait, the better. It really depends on the persons skin, and the lotions that you use. I tell all my customers that they should wait approximately 2-4 hours. I have taken showers right after tanning though and I still got great results. Its not a huge problem. But again, every person will have a different opinion.

--Mike
Salon Owner

[engfant]

The point of the no shower is due to the stripping of the skin's moisture and necessary oils. When you put tanning lotion on you are supplying it with ingredients that prepare the skin to absorb as much UV as possible in the shortest period of time. The tanning process continues after you get out of the bed and if you decide to imediately shower you could cause your skin to dry out causing your tan to be spotty, uneven, or just less impressive overall. BUT, if you use shower gel (no lufa) and use after tan creams the results may not be as hindered because you are still feeding the skin. (throw away those bars of soap! Too drying)

[boobrandt]

I always wait several hours to shower, and wait until the next day (before the next session) to exfoliate. So I tan sometime during the day, shower at night, scrub-a-dub the next morning, and tan again (if I have time) I have an AWESOME tan and I've only been doing this for about a month.

[sunbunny]

bump

[tigger04272000]

so wait about 4 hours to be safe...

[Tamar]

The longer, the better...especially with bronzers and tingles.

[nikptbo]

yes.... i had used a tingle one day and then went to work where i find my self doing dish washing, i reactivated my tingle... not only was it anooying ppl were lookign at me finnu cause my arms were a spotty red..

[PJ]

I agree with Hassy, showering right after tanning has no detrimental effect on your tan (tingle and bronzers aside). The issue of drying of the skin by showering is so small that it will not interrupt the tanning process, or cause any uneveness in the tan. Melanogenesis occurs from the inside out, not the other way around. And the skin does not "absorb" UV rays, by the way- melanocyte cells are irradiated and begin to produce melanin from tyrosine, this results in delayed pigment darkening (DPD). The first part of a tan is immediate pigment darkening (IPD), which is the photo-oxidation of melanin granules already present. This occurs quite independently from lotions, showers, etc. Remember, the body has been "tanning" for millions of years, it knows exactly what to do, with or without external factors (lotion companies and salons would like you to think otherwise). So you can shower, not shower, use lotions or not, and you WILL tan. Now about moisturizing, sure it's excellent for your skin, and you can apply it before and after you tan (and shower), and your skin will look and feel great. But in terms of the tanning process itself, if you are properly hydrated (as in drinking plenty H20) your skin will tan properly.

PJ
[ This Message was edited by: PJ on 2003-06-13 23:10 ]

[sherlynn 01]

I have heard not to shower for 2-3 hours after you tan also. But everyone is different.

[Laurel]

Here are a couple other links I found on the forum directed towards this topic also...

http://www.iamtan.com/viewtopic.php?topic=73&forum=1
http://www.iamtan.com/viewtopic.php?topic=736&forum=4

[boobrandt]

Well, I'm waiting anyway! Call me neurotic!

[becca5230]

i heard 2 hours but i still don't get why it would matter

[tanningiscrazy]

i think, no offense, that all you are wrong. i agree partly agree with engfant about saying that when you shower you are drying your skin and you won't tan as much. BUT, when you tan, you don't tan your outer layer of skin as you do with sunless tanning. You tan the part of your skin that you CAN'T see yet, and thats why when you spend a day out in the sun you can't see any TAN yet until about a day or two, or in other words, you have "exfoliated" which means all your dead skin cells (the visible skin cells) are exfoliated. If you shower right away when you come home from tanning your fine, you would get better results though if you loaded on some Banana Boat "After Sun" lotion, or another very moisturizing lotion! I think you are all thinking that when you go tanning you are tannin g the outer most layer of your skin (dea dskin cells), but your not. Thats why it takes a while to see results .

[BrownJen]

I've showered after tanning before and it didn't seem to affect my tan at all. I still had good color the next day. As for drying out my skin, I'm so obsessed with lotion that it's not really a problem for me.

[Anya1976]

my skin is well hydrated too i am obsessed with moisture too

[BrownJen]

yea, lotion is the greatest thing ever, it smells and feels good and it's so good for your skin too.