Is Tanning Bad for Your Skin? The Truth About a Base Tan

Yes, tanning is bad for your skin. A tan is your skin's response to UV damage to the DNA in its cells, so there is no safe tan, from the sun or a tanning bed. A base tan gives roughly SPF 2 to 4, far too little to prevent a burn, and indoor tanning can more than double melanoma risk. Self-tanner gives the color without the UV.

The rest of this guide covers what's actually happening when skin tans, why the base-tan idea doesn't hold up, what the numbers say about tanning beds, and how to get a tanned look that doesn't cost you anything but a few minutes.

What is a tan, biologically?

A tan is a repair-and-defense signal that switches on after UV light has already damaged skin cells. In a review of tanning and skin cancer, dermatology researchers Schulman and Fisher explain that tanning does not apparently occur without antecedent DNA damage. When UV injures the DNA in keratinocytes, a protein called p53 switches on the gene for a hormone precursor (POMC), which is cut into a hormone that tells pigment cells to make more melanin. Melanin then spreads into surrounding cells as a partial shield.

That chain of events is why the Skin Cancer Foundation describes the glow of a tan as evidence of DNA injury to your skin. The same first step, damaged DNA, sits upstream of both the tan and UV-driven skin cancer, so you can't have one without risking the other. The FDA puts it plainly: there is no such thing as a safe tan.

How much you tan depends on your genetics. The FDA notes that people with skin types II through V can tan, usually darkening within about two days of exposure. If you're not sure where you fall, our guide to Fitzpatrick skin types explains the scale.

Does a base tan protect you from sunburn?

Barely. The FDA estimates that a tan provides an SPF of about 2 to 4, well below the minimum SPF 15 it recommends. The AAD calls the idea that a base tan prevents sunburn "an absolute myth" and notes that you can still burn with one. And because the tan itself required UV damage, building it before a beach holiday adds damage rather than preventing it.

The FDA's sunscreen guidance spells out the labeling rule: products that aren't broad spectrum or are below SPF 15 must warn that they have been shown only to help prevent sunburn, not skin cancer or early skin aging. A tan doesn't even reach that bar.

Are tanning beds safer than the sun?

No. The AAD states that tanning beds are not safer than the sun and that there's no such thing as a safe tanning bed, booth or sun lamp. The International Agency for Research on Cancer, part of the World Health Organization, classifies UV radiation from tanning beds as a known carcinogen.

The risk figures dermatology groups cite are large:

• Indoor tanning can more than double the risk of melanoma, and raise the risk of squamous cell carcinoma by 58% and basal cell carcinoma by 24%.
• Using tanning beds before age 20 can increase melanoma risk by 47%, and the risk rises with each use.
• Women younger than 30 are six times more likely to develop melanoma if they tan indoors, according to the same AAD statistics page.
• The Skin Cancer Foundation reports a 75% increased risk of melanoma for people who start indoor tanning before age 35.

Cancer isn't the only issue. The AAD says emergency rooms across the U.S. treat people for burns, loss of consciousness and eye injuries caused by indoor tanning, and the FDA notes that some tanning lamps can cause photokeratitis, a sunburn of the cornea. The AAD also cites evidence that tanning can be addictive, with some people feeling restless or low when they stop.

Don't tanning beds give you vitamin D?

Not in a useful way. The AAD explains that tanning bed bulbs emit mostly UVA light, while your body needs UVB to make vitamin D, and it recommends getting vitamin D from food instead. If you're worried about your levels, a blood test and a conversation with your doctor will tell you more than a tanning session.

Is there such a thing as a healthy tan?

No. The FDA, the AAD and the Skin Cancer Foundation all reject the idea. What people call a "healthy glow" is the visible end of a damage response. The color fades in weeks; the cumulative damage doesn't. The Skin Cancer Foundation notes that this damage is cumulative, beginning with the very first tan, and the AAD adds that every time you tan or burn, you damage the DNA in your skin.

A slow, gradual tan without burning is less acutely painful than a burn, but it still requires repeated UV exposure, which is exactly what drives long-term damage. Tanning also makes some marks more visible: the AAD notes that not tanning keeps dark spots from acne, scars and melasma less noticeable.

Does tanning make you age faster?

Yes. The AAD says that wrinkles, age spots and loss of skin firmness tend to appear years earlier in people who tan, and that tanning can leave skin leathery. The FDA lists permanent darkening, dark spots and leathery skin among the effects of frequent tanning. We cover what those changes look like on a face, and which of them you can improve, in signs of sun damage on your face.

Do people with darker skin need to worry about tanning?

Yes, though the risks look a little different. Deeper skin has more melanin and burns less easily, but the AAD calls the belief that only light skin gets skin cancer a common misbelief. It notes that skin cancer in people with darker skin tones is often found later. Its advice for brown and Black skin includes covering clothing and a broad-spectrum, water-resistant SPF 30 or higher, and for preventing dark spots and patches it recommends a tinted sunscreen with iron oxide, which also protects against visible light.

What are the safer alternatives to tanning?

Self-tanner is the main one. The AAD says a self-tanner offers a way to look tan without increasing your risk of early wrinkles and skin cancer. Most self-tanners use dihydroxyacetone (DHA), which the FDA describes as a color additive that darkens skin by reacting with amino acids in its surface.

Spray tans and safety

The FDA approves DHA for external use in products like lotions and creams, but it says it has not approved DHA for spray or mist application, because no safety data for that use have been submitted. If you book a spray tan, the FDA suggests asking whether your eye area, lips and mucous membranes will be protected and how inhalation is prevented, and requesting protection if the answer is no.

How to apply self-tanner on your face and body

The AAD's self-tanner instructions come down to a few steps:

1. Exfoliate first, spending extra time on thicker skin like elbows, knees and ankles.
2. Make sure your skin is completely dry.
3. Work in sections, rubbing the product in with circular motions.
4. Wash your hands with soap and water after each section to avoid orange palms.
5. Use less over joints, which absorb more color.
6. Let it dry for at least 10 minutes before dressing, and wear loose clothing and avoid sweating for about three hours.

For the face, many people prefer a product made for facial skin or a few drops mixed into moisturizer, since it's easier to keep the color light and even.

Self-tanner still needs sunscreen

A self-tan is cosmetic only. The AAD stresses that a self-tanner cannot protect your skin from the sun, and the FDA requires sunless tanners without sunscreen ingredients to carry a warning that they do not protect against sunburn. Keep using a broad-spectrum, water-resistant SPF 30 or higher on top. If you're unsure how much that is for your face, see how much sunscreen to use.

What if I already tanned or burned this summer?

Stop adding to it. The AAD notes that when you quit or never start indoor tanning, you lower your risk of many skin cancers and your body begins to repair some of the UV damage. Wear sunscreen daily, reapply at least every two hours outdoors and more often when sweating or swimming, and limit time in the sun between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., as the FDA advises. If you're dealing with a fresh burn right now, our guide to sunburn on your face has an hour-by-hour plan. And if you notice a spot that is new, changing, itching or bleeding, see a board-certified dermatologist.

How can a selfie scan or ingredient scanner help?

Tan lines fade, but the spots and uneven tone that tanning leaves behind change slowly, and they're easy to miss in a mirror. Pori takes a selfie and returns an overall skin score with a Pigmentation & Tone breakdown, and its before/after comparison and progress charts let you see whether your tone is evening out once you stop tanning. Pori's ingredient scanner (part of Pro) reads a product's barcode or label and flags each ingredient as beneficial, use with caution or avoid for your skin type, which helps when you're choosing a facial self-tanner or a sunscreen to wear over it.

An app is not a diagnosis, and Pori doesn't check moles. Any spot that looks different from the others, or that changes, belongs in front of a dermatologist.