I’m not certain if this happens to everybody, I’m going to tell you based on my personal experiences on how I feel is the best and more importantly the safest method of getting that all over tan without over doing it and ending up burnt. By the middle of summer you might not need sunblock and may never burn.
Early May was the first day of the season I began to work on my porky white skin from being cooped up indoors all winter and my skin could not see the sun. It’s very important early in the season to bring sunscreen at this stage because if your pale like I was, you’ll burn a lot faster. Depending on your skin type, you can be in the sun for 4-5 hours by applying sunscreen every 45min. (If your using SPF-45) You’ll know when it’s time to get out of the sun when you press lightly for a few seconds somewhere on your body; when you let go your finger, you should see white-ish contrasting to red. the bigger the difference, the more likely that it is time for you to get out of the sun and allow your skin to heal. Don’t tan this long the next day, in fact let your skin heal the rest of the day and the day after as well. Tan like this with break periods throughout spring and beginning of summer.
By the end of June and beginning of July, I finally had my base tan & did not require the use of sunscreen anymore. Throughout July and by the time August came, I came to the conclusion that I could not get any darker than I was and it became for me, IMPOSSIBLE to burn and get darker. My skin now had it’s natural defense against the sun’s rays.
Summer is now at it’s end and lately it’s been too cold to be outside clothes-free. I’m hoping that there will be a few more days in the future that I can go out in the sun before snow falls. Maybe Indian Summer will be warm enough for the last few days before Winter.
