Tanning Tips According to My Mother

It will seem incongruous to some to give out tanning tips in the age of SPF 50 and repeated campaigns of Slip Slop Slap.  

In some circles, tanning tips might seem akin to tips on how to smoke like a 1940's movie star.  

But alas, sun worshipers like smokers still exist.

But I find it always amusing to see people's acquired holiday suntans particularly while living in the UK.

The "serves you right for wearing your cap on backwards after the age of 15" tan.

 The Neapolitan ice cream tan.

I have been guilty of the "why did I keep my watch on holiday when all I had to do was flip over and eat" tan.


  Three pics above via  

There is an art to sun tanning and 

I don't mean the simplistic avoidance of the sunburn and/or increasing melanin in your skin.

One summer during my late teens while lounging around the pool, 
I remember reading a book under the trees.   
My already bronzed mother who was meticulously positioned 
to tan her body but not her face nor hands insisted 
I get some sun.

For those who may not be familiar,

 Asians normally don't tan and and try to stay fair but my mother has her own quirky ways. 

I put my sunscreen on (we wanted to be brown not wrinkled) and laid out but mother was still not done nagging guiding me. 

She told me laying on my side or at an angle to shade my figure was the optimum position while sunbathing.  Another option was the Brazilian way of tanning which is standing up which is not as relaxing.

Otherwise if you just tanned front and back,

 she called it the ice cream sandwich tan which 

she thought was a bit vulgar and very amateurish. 


 
My mother having artistic tendencies said we must aim for chiaroscuro which means the use of light and dark and shadows in overall composition in most art forms. 

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But alas make up artists who work on swim suit shoots always put a dark foundation patch on the sides of the body.

Even dresses such as the body con dress by Stella McCartney  that shave off an inch on either side of the silhouette are highly flattering.

But all idiosyncrasies aside,
I know the risks of skin issues as I have lived in Australia.  
In Asia I was surrounded with the exception of my mother 
by women who were obsessed with acquiring a neon white complexion.  The "Facekini" might seem a little excessive for some but I know a lot of Asians who will look at this picture and think - fair enough.

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But I have reached my own personal method for bronzing.  
I rarely stay in the sun if I don't aim to have a proper suntan.  Any direct sun is purely for Vitamin D replenishment or a premeditated holiday pursuit.
  I freckle due to my father's side so even when I do suntan 
I keep a hat on and stay under an umbrella.  It takes longer to develop a color but it also stays for longer. I also apply for purely cosmetic reasons extra sunblock on my face and my hands and decolletage. 

Via 
I also put on solid pancake foundation as a physical barrier as 
I find that I still develop loads of freckles even when I apply high SPF factors.

And don't forget there is always spray tan!