Expert: Susan Ruegger / Certified Tanning Consultant - 3/17/2004

Question
Hi Susan,
I have a painful/ugly problem today. I went to the tanning bed last night and put on a tanning lotion called Believe and tanned for 10 min. on my back and 10 min. on my belly in a venus high pressure bed. Now I have burns to my face, ears, neck, chest area and entire belly area. My arms, entire backside and legs look totally normal. I know how to stop the burning sensation, but I would like to know if you have any quick tips that will turn the ugly bright red burn into a decent looking tan by tomorrow? What can I do to make my arms, backside, and legs look like they have a tan color? What stopped my arms, backside, and legs from getting any color at all (I used the lotion all over my body)? These parts of my body are still of medium color. Imagine this: red face, red torso, and normal color limbs! Not only am I in pain from the burn, but I look silly. Please help me if you can. Have a great day! Thank you, Leigh

Answer
Dear Leigh
Believe is an exellent lotion. It is not the lotion that caused that uneven color.  You're burned and that happened because you tanned for too long.The reasons some of your body parts are tanned and some are burned is because the parts that don't usually get exposed to UV light are more likely to burn.   Your face is usually the most sensitive even though it is exposed to UV light.  From my experience, faces are either likely to burn or difficult to tan.
Did the staff at the salon try to coach you and start you with a short session your first time? You never want to burn.  you're far better off taking it slow and getting very little color than pushing it and burning.  High pressure beds are very strong. You should have went for half a session your first time...even your first few times.
 Use aloe and those burned areas.  That will help heal the burn. With some luck, the redness may fade some by tomorrow.  If it's a bad burn, it will take a few days to calm down.
 Indoor tanning lotions are not designed to protect against burning.  They are supposed to help accelerate the tanning process. The lotion did not cause you to get burned..There are some lotions that cause redness that disappears within 30 minutes after your tanning session--tingle lotions.  Believe is not one of those though.
 Do not go tanning again until the redness is completely gone.  you'll just be doing more damage. Next time, tan for 5 minutes.  There is no truth to the statement, "first I burn and then I tan."  Burning is always counter-productive to the tanning process.  The best tans are achieved gradually, starting with short exposure times and no burning.  The burn you got is damage and it needs to heal. Healing takes time. Aloe may help speed the healing but it can only do so much. As for the pain, try some noxcema.  It's exellent  at cooling a burn on contact.
 Tans cannot be achieved in one session. Tanning is a process.