Last night I had a discussion with two friends about tanning. They are both tanning addicts who agree that you tan faster at the beach than laying out in the backyard or somewhere similar. I asked one friend why she thought this and she said it was something that everyone just knows.
Now, I know that reflective surfaces like water or snow increases the amount of UV radiation to which the skin is exposed. However, I thought you had to be in, on top, or at least in very close proximity to the reflective surface for this to happen.
So, if the weather conditions are the same for both the beach and my (pool-free) backyard, will I tan faster at the beach? How close to the water do I have to be to receive the effects of heightened skin damage? Must I be right next to the shoreline, or can I set down my chair and cooler 50 ft. away from the water?
No you will not tan faster at the beach (no cite, personal experience). If you want to tan/burn really fast stay out on a day with a light cloud cover. If you really want exposure, a light coat of some oil will help. Hydraulic oil used in heavy equipment will give you a wicked sunburn (again, no cite, personal experience).
I always think that if a person tans its down to that persons type of skin. Living in Scotland the opportunity for tanning does not arise too often. When I went to Tanzania on a world challenge I did not tan whatsoever in the entire time I was there, I did however manage to badly burn myself in my last week sigh Of course Im sure that cleasing your skin before and applying tanning oil may help but just remember too much sun is bad for ya!
Thanks, I was just about to ask “isn’t sand a reflective surface?” and you’ve provided data that it is. People certainly seem to burn faster while at the beach, which is why I assumed sand is reflective.
Now, if you want to really tan, climb a snow-covered mountain in shorts and a T-shirt. I did that last weekend (yes, it was actually warm enough, despite the snow), and burned slightly even through SPF 30, an existing tan, and a not-all-that-fair base complexion.
I agree with the beach and pool tanning you faster. Which is funny, because my husband and i had this discussion Sat. at the pool. I was throwing out misc. tanning “facts” and asked how I “knew” and I replied that “I just know-there are tanning rules everyone knows”.
I also went on a world challenge to Tanzania, where one of the members of our group, from Scotland, who hadn’t tanned for the first few weeks of the trip, got a really bad sunburn during the last week. So either I was on the trip with you, or traveling to Tanzania and getting badly burned is a fairly common occurrence for people from Scotland. Did it happen to be during the summer of 2003?
Yes, but I also tend to get burnt more on days that are lightly overcast. The reason is that because it is not sunny, you don’t feel the sun on your skin so you don’t feel like you’re getting burnt, so you don’t cover up, seek shade, use suncream etc - plus, as it’s usually not so hot, you often stay outside for longer.
As others have said, though, for real sunburn you can’t beat snow-covered mountains. A sunny spring skiing day at 10,000ft in the Alps will burn exposed skin in no time. And, since you’ll probably be wearing goggles, you’ll have a ridiculous red and white panda face to boot.
Sand definitely reflects UV. I worked on a beach for a summer, and spent two hours each day (8am - 9am, and 4pm - 5pm) out in the sun, with the rest of the time spent under an umbrella, and in the shade of a storage shed. By the end of the first week, despite wearing SPF 48 sunscreen, I had an even all-over tan.
I was a good hundred yards from the water, and my view of the water was blocked by low dunes, beachgoers, and their chairs and umbrellas. On the other hand the sand was hot enough to scald the bottoms of my feet, and so bright from reflected sun that I had to wear sunglasses even in the shade of my umbrella.
Related to the question of “cloud cover increasing exposure”, how does oils of any kind increase susceptibility to burn/tan? (My mom had the same experience with baby oil.)
Certainly it can’t work by reflecting rays that humans might reflect, as it would certainly reflect just as many incoming rays as outgoing (just like the problem with cloud cover.)
Could it be that applying oil creates a reaction in your skin that makes your body more likely to undergo a tan/burn reaction?
Or possibly there’s something in the oil that downgrades/upgrades some light rays to the proper spectrum for tan/burns?
I expect that an oil applied to the skin has the same effect on dead/dry skin cells that it has when applied to a piece of paper: it renders the material more transparent.
