For people of all skin types and at different stages of building up their tan we advise allowing a 48 hour gap between tanning sessions. During the early stages of building up a base tan we recommend tanning frequently (twice a week) for no more than 6 minutes regardless of your skin type (not including skin type 1). Once you have developed a good base tan you do not need to use a sunbed as regularly to maintain your tan. Depending on how dark you wish to go you will only need to tan once a week to maintain your colour. If you like to tan regularly throughout the year then we advise 1 session per week. If you are a seasonal tanner only then we advise no more than 2 sessions per week.

You should never use a sunbed after tanning outdoors in the natural sunlight. You will likely burn on a sunbed if you have sunbathed in the natural sun as you’ve had an uncontrolled amount of UV exposure.

It is entirely up to yourself and whatever makes you feel most comfortable. Some customers prefer to wear their under garments whilst others like to be naked. Please be reminded that your sunbed will have been spotlessly cleaned by one of our tanning consultants before you use it.

Studies have shown that using a quality tan enhancing lotion will give tanning results up to 50% darker! This is because tan enhancing lotions contain essential moisturisers that will allow your skin to absorb more UV to make your skin tan even darker as well as hydrating it to keep your skin healthy and thus extending the life of your tan. Tan enhancing lotions also contain tanning ‘accelerants’ (i.e. tyrosine) that encourage greater production of melanin which is the tanning pigment in your skin that is stimulated when exposed to UV light. The more melanin that your skin is able to produce the darker you will go. Finally, UV light causes free radical damage (skin ageing) so tan enhancing lotions also contain essential vitamins and amino acids that act as antioxidents to fight against these free radicals and ensure that your skin remains as useful as possible.

It is extremely important that you wear goggles during every tanning session. There is an increased chance of permanent damage to your eyes when you use a sunbed without wearing adequate eye protection. Some eye injuries and disorders include Photokeratitis (cornea sunburn), Cataracts, and Pterygium (abnormal tissue growth).

Do not be surprised to find that certain areas of your body do not tan as quickly or as dark as other areas. For example you may find that your stomach will tan a lot darker than the insides of your arms and legs. This is because your stomach contains far more pigment forming cells (cells that are able to produce melanin when exposed to UV light). You may also find that your face does not tan as easily either because it has a naturally thicker ‘horny layer’ – which is there to offer special protection from UV-B. If you have a high concentration of freckles you will notice they will tan much darker (and merge together) than your natural skin as they contain a particularly high amount of tanning pigments and therefore go darker much more quickly.

This really depends on how dark and deep your tan is and on the health of your skin. If you only have a base tan and your skin is quite dry then you should expect your tan to have faded within 1 to 2 weeks. If you have a dark and deep tan and your skin is constantly kept hydrated then you can expect your tan to last up to 4 weeks. Your top layer of skin usually sheds itself over a 28 day cycle so unless you maintain a regular tanning routine your tan shouldn’t be expected to last much longer than this.

When you return from holiday hopefully you will have a great looking tan which you will want to maintain. Depending on your skin type we suggest you tan once or twice per week to keep your tan. It is important that you moisturise daily to keep your skin hydrated as this will also extend the life of your tan.

Our tanning consultants are trained to ensure that the risk of burning when you tan at one of our stores is reduced as much as possible. Whilst we can never fully eliminate this risk it is our responsibility to make sure we get as much information about your skin type and tanning history to determine how long we believe should be your maximum tanning exposure time. For this reason our tanning consultants may limit the time you are allowed to tan for to ensure your personal safety.

To date there has never been a study conducted to determine the effects on an unborn child when tanning whilst pregnant. However, it is our policy not to permit anyone who is pregnant to use any of our UV tanning equipment. Doctors will usually advise that during the first trimester of a pregnancy you do not raise your body’s natural temperature and will therefore warn against using UV tanning equipment, hot tubs and saunas etc. Also during pregnancy your skin becomes more sensitive and therefore is more susceptible to burning. It is for these reasons that we advise against using UV tanning equipment during pregnancy.