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Bronze in a Bottle

Self-tanners for a Safe Tan

By Carma Haley Shoemaker

There's another surprising advantage to sunless tanners. According to Lamas, not only does the use of sunless tanners keep you from having to repeatedly expose your skin to the sun's damaging rays to get that golden glow, it may even protect you from the sun's UVA rays when you are exposed. "Recent research shows that higher DHA concentrations (the higher the DHA concentration, the darker your skin will stain) may give you some extra protection against the sun's longer-wave, UVA rays," says Lamas. "The UVA rays promote premature skin aging (photoaging) and skin cancer. Now you don't have to go in the sun, but when you do, your sunless tanner will help to protect you even more."

While sunless tanners can add some additional protection to your skin, they don't offer the kind of shield a good sun blocking lotion will give you. "You want to use a sun block with at least an SPF of 15, in addition to the tanner," says Lamas. "If you take care of your skin now, you will have beautiful skin 10, 20, 30, 40 years from now – and that's a goal anyone can relate to."