When the weather starts to warm up and the days get longer, we are all drawn outdoors to enjoy the sun. A lot of will recall seemingly endless hours outdoors, soaking up the sun's rays without a care.

Unluckily, sunbathing isn't as carefree an activity as it used to be. Lately, there's more to worry about, such as premature aging, scarring and blemishes, or even skin cancer.

Some people wish quicker results than what natural sunlight offers. For those people, sunless tanning is the route to take. Sunless tanning relates to the process of attaining a suntan by sunless means, as the term implies.

Sunless tanning nay take the form of lotions, sprays, powders, pills, tanning beds, or tanning booths. The effectiveness and results of these methods vary. To comprehend how sunless tanners work, it's necessary to first know what a suntan is, however.
 
The sun produces 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. This is the UVA and UVB rays that are the most harmful to our skin. UVB ray is easier to protect against than UVA, but both cause very real damage.

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

Nearly all sunless tanning aids are harmless, but not all will prevent the skin damage caused by the sun and UV radiation. Moreover, methods such as tanning beds and tanning pills are controversial and thought to be unsafe. The FDA, actually, has not approved most tanning pills.

Make sure staying out of the sun does not have to mean staying pale at all. There are many ways to get a tan without risking our health. The price of sunless tanning options ranges from just a few dollars for cream, to $100 or more for a few sessions in a tanning salon. In a perfect situation, the result will be a great looking without anyone knowing the difference!