Avoid peak sun hours

One of the best ways to avoid getting burned and get tan instead is to avoid the pool or beach in peak sun hours. You should go out before 10 am or after 2 pm. Depending on where you are in the world though the sun can still be pretty harsh so even then slather on some SPF 50.

Ease into it

If you are going to be at the beach for a few days use your first one as a stepping stone. On your first day limit your time in the sun and day by day gradually stay longer. This will help in getting a gradual tan instead of just getting fried on that first day. It has happened to me and rest of the week was just plain painful.

USE SUNSCREEN

No matter what kind or what color your skin is you still need sunscreen, even if you think you don't guess what... You do. Put on buckets and buckets and buckets of sunscreen on. Even on the cloudy days the sun can still get you, I recently learned this after getting fried on a cloudy and windy day.

After you get wet, make sure to reapply.

It's a pain to always be worrying about applying sunscreen but naturally the water does what it's intended to do and washes off all of that sunscreen. Some products may say no need to reapply after getting wet, this is a marketing trick DO NOT believe them. Go ahead and reapply, you will be happy that you did when you aren't fried the next day.

Apply the sunscreen everywhere

By everywhere I mean EVERYWHERE. This means your ears, hands, palms. feet (yes your feet), back of your neck, under your arms, literally everywhere. I never thought feet would burn until this year when I went to myrtle for 4 days and came back home with my feet peeling skin worse than my arms. The place on my body that hurt the most though were my knees you never know how much you use your knees until they aren't burned and you can't use them.

Avoid sun tanning oil

Sorry to all the people trying out all of the new tanning oils that you've probably seen on tiktok. These do more harm than they do good. The levels of sunscreen in tanning oil are very low, and sunburns are best avoided with sunscreen. But don't worry you can still get tan. The darker you are wanting to get the more you are lathering on the suntan oil. applying a lot of suntan oil can lead to many health problems like skin cancer. If you can't go without it look for one that contains a hefty amount of SPF.

Check the expiration date of your sunscreen

Did you know that sunscreen can expire and not work anymore? Well it can. Sunscreens become less effective the longer they age so it's important to check the date to make sure you are still protected. There is normally a date printed on the bottle that indicates when the sunscreen should be used by so make sure you always check it before using your sunscreen. Most sunscreens are good for approximately 3 years after the purchase.

Seek some shade

Taking breaks from the sun will reduce the intensity of the UV rays and and the risk of sunburn which will help you tan more safely and efficiently. Which means your tan will last longer and be healthier. Yes you can still tan while wearing sunscreen. I know some friends of mine have said "I don't want to wear sunscreen because then I won't be tan" then they end up getting so burned. This is clearly a myth.