Sun Tanning Bed

A reader has this question…

1) I am extremely fair skin and I was wondering if I will get a medium complexion or any change at all after just one sitting in the tanning bed?
2) If not how many sittings will it take to get from fair skin to medium skin (the medium kind like Mel Rose from top model–one of the lighter shades of medium)?
3) Do tanning beds give you the tan you would get from the sun?
4) After you do the tanning bed will you still tan from the sun? or can you still tan from the sun afterwards?
5) How long do the tans from tanning bed last?
6) If you do both tanning bed and tanning in the sun what happens? like what happens when the tanning bed tan wears off?

Any extra info you got would help too!
Tanks!

Answer:

Skin tans due to a reaction of ultra-violet light with the body’s DNA.  It produces melanin which is the browning effect you get from tanning.  In some people it’s more prominent than others.  In some light-skinned, not so much.  Rather, they tend to burn more than tan.  It doesn’t matter if the light comes from the sun or a tanning bed.  The results are the same.  If you do both a bed and the sun, you risk over-exposure and burning.  The tan in a bed doesn’t “wear off” any differently than the sun.