Those with white or pale skin tend to burn but not tan. Those with very dark brown to dark skin typically absorb UV radiation, with only minimal change to their complexion.
The reason you don't tan is because you don't have enough melanin in your skin. Melanin is the tanning colour in our skin. When we go in the sun it is produced to protect our skin. The evolutionary advantage of white skin was that, when there was seldom any sun; skin started to produce less melanin.
Therefore, what will determine whether a person can tan or simply turn red is both the amount of melanin produced by their skin cells and its quality. Or, the ratio between “good and bad” melanin.
Because vitiligo spots have no melanin, they can't tan. If the skin isn't protected with sunscreen, vitiligo patches may burn or scar. Getting a tan on the rest of your body will only highlight the white patches, especially if you have light skin.
Melanin Production: Tanning occurs when the skin produces more melanin in response to UV exposure. If your skin doesn't produce enough melanin, you may not tan effectively. Sun Exposure: Limited exposure to the sun can also affect your ability to tan.
Type IV – Brown skin color, brown hair, and brown eyes, tans more than average, rarely burns, and rarely freckles. Common ethnic background: the Mediterranean, Southern European, Hispanic.
To achieve best results, it is paramount that the DHA in the spray tan and the amino acids in the skin react to each other. Skincare products like moisturisers, deodorants and oily products often obstruct this process and the spray tan will not set properly.
Skin Type 1
You may be Type 1 if you have pale skin that always burns and never tans. You probably have light blue, gray or green eyes and your hair is naturally blonde or red.
Signs of photodamage begin in the teens to early twenties. Symptoms include the following: Wrinkling. Pigmentation changes such as age spots, liver spots (solar lentigines) and freckles.
Basically, hypopigmentation is skin that won't tan, or looks lighter than the rest of your normal skin color.
When learning how to avoid sun tanning, remember to wear dark and bright-coloured clothes as these absorb more UV rays and restrict those harmful rays from penetrating your skin. While wearing sunglasses to prevent sun damage, you can also use a hat with a brim. This will protect your face from direct sun rays.
You don't necessarily tan faster in water or laying out. This is because water reflects UV rays, so you may not be getting as much exposure as you think if you're actually in the pool.
Natural Sun Tanning
Fair skin can tan under the sun, but only with care. Start with short, consistent exposure, about 10-15 minutes a day during safer times like early morning or late afternoon.
Dendrites become shorter as the melanocytes age, making it difficult to place melanosomes and pigment evenly throughout the spinosum layer, thereby reducing the epidermal barrier defence.
Today, having a tan is associated with people that have an active, outdoor lifestyle. A tan therefore makes people look healthier and fit. Pale skin is often associated with sickness (e.g. anaemia) which is another, indirect reason why a tan makes people seem healthier.
Individuals with fair skin have a low production of melanin, which increases their sensitivity to the sun's rays. This skin type is particularly prone to sunburn and often struggles to tan. However, it's not impossible for fair skin to achieve a slight tan.
The primary stimulus for melanogenesis and subsequent melanosome production is UV radiation, which upregulates melanocyte production of pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) and its downstream products, alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (alpha-MSH) and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH).
The incidence of this change varies, and depends on the type of medication involved. Some of the most common drugs involved are NSAIDs, antimalarials, psychotropic drugs, Amiodarone, cytotoxic drugs, tetracyclines, and heavy metals such as silver and gold (which must be ingested, not just worn).
Genetic factors influencing sunburn and tanning
Certain genes influence melanin production and skin color, affecting whether you tan or burn. People with fair skin have less melanin and are more prone to burning, while those with darker skin have more melanin and are more likely to tan.
According to a study called “Shades of beauty,” light brown skin tones are often the most physically attractive skin color (Frisby et al., 2006). They used four models for that study. They did not change the skin tone, but they imaged each model to three different skin tones: light, medium, and dark.
“Darker-skinned people tan more deeply when compared to those who have lighter skin. People having lighter skin tones cannot create enough amount of melanin pigment,” Dr Kapoor added.
If the skin has been inflamed or is severely dry, the melanocytes (cells that give the skin its color) in that area do not react to UV light the same as they do in non-affected/dry skin areas.
Don't fret! Your colour will continue to develop and darken for a few hours (and a spray tan takes up to 24 hours to develop fully). That brown water disappearing down the drain? It wasn't your tan washing away, it was simply the cosmetic bronzer tanning formulators use to help guide you when applying your tan.
Skin Type and Sensitivity
For example, if you are a red head and have very light skin, you'll more likely struggle to tan due to low melanin. Fair Skin: If you have fair skin (skin type 1 or 2), your skin is more sensitive to UV and prone to burning.