Golden Skin Self Tanners

In Summer, beaches are packed with people lying under the sun to get the natural tan.
Tanning is way of changing one's skin color to another more popular coloring. For instance, fair skinned people have a desire to change the tone of their skin to a soft golden color. This is achieved with some tanning sessions. Most of the tanning sessions can be done ourselves. The different varieties of golden skin self tanner products will help to get that golden skin glow that we want.

Among the products which can be used as a self tanner include sun tanning lotion, tanning beds and tanning by a poolside or the beach. A wide range of self tanners are available for us to choose from including such brand as Guerlain of Paris, Chanel, Laura Mercier, M.A.C, Clarins, Lancome, Estee Lauder, St. Tropez and many more.

A word of cautions tough, when looking into the ways to get a great looking tanned, applying any self tanning methods should be undertaken with care. This is especially true with the many skin diseases that have infected many people all over the world.
So, what are the contents of those self tanner products that give the soft golden glow to the skin?

DiHydroxyAcetone (DHA)

DHA is a simple sugar and is non-toxic. In fact, it is an intermediate in carbohydrate metabolism in higher plants and animals and is more rapidly metabolized than glucose in the body. Specifically, this three-carbon keto sugar is a physiologic product of the body formed and utilized during glycolysis--that quintessential metabolic process that we've all had to memorize at least once. DHA used in self-tanners is usually prepared by fermentation of glycerine by Acetobacter suboxydans.

DHA is present in self tanning products at concentrations between 2 and 5%. The deeper tanning formulas are more concentrated. The formulations are stable at pHs between 4 and 6. Above pH 7, brown compounds form in solution, so it doesn't work as a tanner. Therefore, mixtures sold as self tanning agents are buffered to about pH 5 and are also kept relatively cool, because prolonged heating to even a little above body temperature affects their stability.

Other ways of getting tanned:

Tanning Beds

It is a known fact that tanning beds can help people to get a great tan just as if they were on a private beach. There are lots of different models of tanning beds in the market. These different beds needs to be looked at quite closely in order to find one that suites one needs. There is however a note of caution that one should keep in mind.

This is the fact that users will be exposed to the same high intensity radiation as tanning outside in the sun will produce. Now if one would prefer to have another less radiation based tanning session, a golden skin self tanner like tanning lotion is the ideal option. With this lotion users will just need to choose the shade of lotion which is similar to the skin tone. This self tanner lotion should however be a shade or two darker – keeping in mind the color of the final tan – to make the tan look more realistic.

The only items that are needed to make this session with the chosen medium of self tanner a success are towels and access to water. Now while these are the generally used means of getting tanned, with a self tanner there is another more controversial one. This includes the use of tanning pills. When these pills are ingested, the skin will begin to turn a shade of tan or bronze.

All of these items and products are used to help people achieve the golden skin tan that they want. Self tanner products can help to get the bronze or golden skin tone that days in the sun will rarely produce. The added bonus is that using these products is less painful than getting a sunburn.