With the weather starting to warm up, the days are getting longer so naturally we’re going to start enjoying the sun again. You can spend countless hours at the beach or the pool, enjoying the suns hot rays. But unfortunately, sunbathing isn’t a carefree activity like it used to be. The suns rays have been tied to causing premature aging, scarring, skin blemishes and even skin cancer.

And that’s just a few of the reasons that people are turning to tanning indoors. People often don’t have hours to lay around outside. More and more people are going the sunless tanning route. Sunless tanning is the process of attaining a suntan without being in the sun. There’s lotions, tanning beds and tanning booths. The efficiency and the results of these methods vary depending on the kind of lotion, the kind of bed light bulbs, etc.

To understand how sunless tanning works, you first need to know what a sun tan in. The sun emits three types of ultraviolet or UV radiation: UVC, at 100 to 290 nm, UVB, at 290 to 320 nm, and UVA, at 320 to 400 nm. It is the UVA and UVB rays that are the most harmful to our skin. UVB is easier to protect against than UVA, but both cause very real damage.

The human body has its own defenses against UV radiation. Our skin protects us from UV damage by producing melanin, a substance that absorbs the harmful rays in order to protect our DNA. When the body produces melanin, our skin darkens, taking on a darker appearance. This is how we tan.

Staying out of the sun does not have to mean staying pale. There are numerous ways to get a tan without risking our health. The cost of sunless tanning options start at just a few dollars for a sessions in a tanning salon. With regular trips to the tanning saloon, you can have a great looking tan without spending hours outdoors in the sun.