when I try to lay out to get a tan… 
… I just burn! I’ve tried oils and a few lotions, but I really am quite ignorant in this area. What works best???
(I am female and caucasian) 
Thanks in advance for any pointers you could give me!!! 
What works best is not to tan at all. Tanning is absolutely horrid on the skin. Tanning causes wrinkles, skin cancer, etc. You’ll look like leather by the time you’re thirty.
That said, if you’re gonna tan anyway, try putting actual sun-block on your skin rather than just basting yourself with oils. Get something with a higher SPF than you normally do. Tan after three PM when the sun is less powerful, or before 11 AM.
Umm… lay out for less time. Gradually increase the amount of time that you lay out as your skin gets tanner.
Good luck and happy mellanoma.
If you’re of Irish heritage, you may have to face the fact that you will never darken as much as some of your friends. I don’t tan, I beige.
I traffic light - red, white, red, white, etc. Not even a beige…
It’s not just irish heritiage, although red heads tend to have the most easily burnable skin, I have fair hair & pale skin (except for when it’s bright red). I’ve given up - anyway, non-tanned is sooo much more politically correct these days!
Ok, it’s an excuse & I’m jealous as hell…
When tiny cow said fiery, it wasn’t a reference to my lack of tanning ability…
you beige? my god, i wish i could beige. I go from pale, to pale with freckles, to pale with more freckles, to exploded freckles which are bright red, painful, and cover my entire skin.
tanning creme, sweetheart. nothing says sexy like orange skin.
Learn to appreciate your normal color and take solice in the fact that any tanning is equivolent to damaging skin. There’s a perception that tanned skin looks healthier, but it’s not.
But if you must, then spend shorter durations outside (stop before you burn), a little bit for several days.
But as has been said, some people just don’t tan well due to their genetics.
Smart people who value their skin, their appearance and their life expectancy do not go out tanning. While in the short term a tan appears to be beautiful, all it does is prematurely age your skin.
If you want to prolong your youthful appearance, remember that white is right.
Thanks for your help! I am going to pick up some self-tanner. I appreciate your advice!