Does Sunscreen Prevent You From Tanning?

While wearing SPF to help protect your skin from the sun’s harmful UVA and UVB rays is important, it’s not uncommon to want a sun-kissed glow in the summer months. To find out if sunscreen prevents your skin from tanning, we tapped Dr. Elizabeth Bahar Houshmand, a board-certified dermatologist and Skincare.com consultant based in Dallas.

Can You Get a Tan While Wearing Sunscreen?

It goes without saying that you should be wearing sunscreen, period. And, unfortunately, according to Dr. Houshmand, you shouldn’t be tanning in the first place. Your skin getting tan is actually a sign of cellular damage, so it should be avoided altogether.

But to answer the question at hand, if you’re laying out or spending time in direct sunlight, you can still get a tan (read: sun damage) while wearing sunscreen.

“It all depends on the strength of the sun protection factor, or SPF,” says Dr. Houshmand. “The SPF number is simply a measure of how long your skin can be in the sun without getting burnt.” It’s important to note that SPF is tested in a laboratory setting and does not take into account the sweat, sand and frictions from towels that might rub off our sunscreen in a real-life situation, making reapplication crucial.

According to Dr. Houshmand, a safer way to get a perfect tan is by getting a spray tan or using self-tanner. We love the L'Oréal Paris Sublime Bronze Self Tan Drops for Face to build a natural-looking tan, sans sun damage.