How to get a nice tan

The dream of everyone. Ok, maybe not the asian people who almost worship pale skins, but you get what I mean. Having a nice tan is simply cool in most parts of the world. It looks healthy, exotic and makes you different from most white people. I personally love my skin darker and I like to spend a lot of time on the sun. There are a few problems associated with sunbathing and in this article I'd like to share with you my strategies and what I found to be pretty effective in achieving a nice exotic tan even in winter time. Yes, you heard it right!

So, let's get right into it! First what you need to take into account is the type of your skin. According to the Fitzpatrick scale from 1975, there are 6 types of skin color:

1.) Pale white - burns often, tans occasionally
2.) Fair white - burns usually, tans sometimes
3.) Medium white/brownish - burns rarely, tans usually
4.) Moderate brown - burns rarely, tans often
5.) Dark brown - almost never burns, sometimes darkens
6.) Very dark brown/black - extremely rare to burn, naturally black-brown skin

It is important because you'll need to control the time you spend on sun according to your sensitivity to the sun. The first 2 types should avoid direct sun exposure from 10 am to 3 pm. I will not go into instructions for all the types, it can be very individual and you know your skin better than anybody else. Basically the rule of thumb is to do everything possible to prevent any redness caused by sun. Red means inflammation, damage, skin aging = bad. My skin type is something between 3 and 4. I personally think that thanks to my efforts to always be a little darker (always the safe and slow way) made my skin slowly transit from the type 3 to 4. Maybe one day I'll be 4, who knows :)

Ok, but let's get back to my tan strategy. If you really take it seriously and your dream is to be always a little bit darker, take sun everytime it is possible in small amounts of time during the whole year. This way, your skin gets accustomed to it, doesn't get damaged and slowly changes your skin type over the years.

And now the secret!

First I'd like to repeat that you should always try to eat healthy and maintain a healthy lifestyle as it not only makes you healthier but it's also important for the protection and health of your skin. Now, you might have already heard about the power of beta-carotene and its ability to color your skin. Well, it's true and I have proved it a lot of times. As a little demonstration, I put below a photo where I'm with friends at a disco in Spain. The important note here is that it was February!.

Basically, the best sources of beta-carotene are the following vegetables:

1.) Carrots - very powerful colorants of skin, if you drink a cup of a carrot juice every day, you can certainly expect a color change of the skin
2.) Tomatoes and sweet potatoes - similar to carrots plus add other important nutritions.
3.) Spinach and kale - I always recommend these two greens as my long research proved them to be the best ones out there for everything. Especially for tan, protects against wrinkles and maintains overall health. Mainly because it contains a lot of Vitamin C and Lutein(very important antioxidant carotenoid, which protects your eyes from damage when exposed to the sun).

So there you have it!. As I already mentioned, the photo you see above was taken in winter and I started to eat the foods I've just named about a month before the photo. Almost everyday, I took a cup of a fresh home-made carrot juice and my favorite self-made lunch consiting of potatoes, tomatoes sauce and pieces of a good cheese. I didn't eat a lot of spinach and kale back then, but now I know it is even better to add them to your daily foods. Please keep in mind not to eat too much of anything as it is never a good idea. Consult this eating habit also with your doctor if you have any health problems.

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