Tanning Oil Guide and Tips

What exactly is tanning oil good for and how do they work? Tanning has been a favorite pastime for people from time immemorial. However, studies on the harmful effects of the sun's rays soon led to the innovation of tanning beds. The discovery that tanning beds were emitting extremely harmful UV rays soon followed, and then tanning beds improved in the mid to late nineties where they were not emitting as much harmful rays (but they are still harmful if you tan often. Tan moderately to reap the benefits).

Hot on the heels of this discovery came the explosion of spray tanning booths and salons. You can now get your tan out of a bottle without any of the risks of skin cancer or other skin problems.

This article deals with tanning oil and the effect of the oil on the skin to produce tanning.

Tanning lotions and oils are used to intensify the UV rays effect on the skin. Tanning oil can work to bring about a tanned appearance to the skin; this is done by producing extra melanin. Oils that work in this way normally has melanin as the main ingredient. Alternatively oil used for tanning can work to increase the blood flow, which in turn brings a higher level of melanin to the upper layers of the skin.

To really understand how tanning oil work, you need to understand the basics about your skin. The skin is made up of two levels, the epidermis or outer layer and the dermis or inner layer. The epidermis acts as a protective layer for the dermis and it is this layer that the oils target for tanning. The deepest layer of the epidermis is affected and gets darker when it comes in direct contact with the sun. On the other hand, the outermost layer of the epidermis is affected when you use oil to tan.

The tanning industry has reached mammoth proportions and there is an apparently endless list of products to help people achieve Hollywood star quality tans. One seemingly innocuous oil is in your supermarket pasta section -- Olive oil has lots of vitamin E, monounsaturated fatty acids and polyunsaturated unfatty acids. It is gluten free and almost salt free. It really is nature's gift to mankind and helps to promote good health and longevity. When used as a tanner it protects the skin from the harmful UV rays of the sun and prevents sunburn.

But the problem with olive oil is the smell and how messy it is. If you want the best oil for tanning get Cal Tan's line. Cal Tan (California Tan) is one of the, if not the, best tanning lotion and tanning products manufacturer.

The important thing to note about tanning oil is that it contains less protection against the sun's rays than the lotions do (in fact there is no protection on most tanning oils. But Cal Tan has a 0 spf on up to a 6 spf oils. You will find a very wide range of oils available online; it is best to choose the oils with natural ingredients. You can apply tanning oil directly onto the skin or spray it on. You will find sunning oil specifically formulated for outdoor tanning.

There are also a sunless tanning products that are oil based. But most oils are used for outdoor tanning. Most contain dihydroxyacetone (DHA) as the active ingredient. The DHA interacts with the dead cells in the epidermis' outermost layer causing the change in skin color. These effects normally last up to 7 days by the end of which the dead skin that has been colored by the DHA tends to wear away.