The summer tan you may try to achieve every year is doing damage to your skin. While you probably enjoy the looks of a tan now, the summer glow isn’t worth the risk of your skin health. Along with causing a temporarily darker skin tone, UVA rays also cause wrinkles and fine lines. Avoid these signs of aging, but still achieve the look you desire, by getting a spray tan.

According to Dr. Beckman, spray tans work by dying the outer-layer of the skin surface. This happens when the active ingredient in the product reacts with the dead cells on the skin’s surface to temporarily darken the look of skin. Most artificial tans last for about a week, but with the help of Theraderm’s NuPeel Natural Enzyme Peel, can last twice as long. The best way to prolong your artificial tan is to exfoliate before using sunless tanning products. Much like shaking an apple tree to get lose apples off before you start picking, exfoliating your skin prior to an artificial tan helps make sure the skin cells that are dyed aren’t the ones that will soon fall off on their own. Sarah Woesch, Theraderm user and marketing project coordinator, tested out the effects of using Theraderm’s NuPeel Natural Enzyme Peel prior to getting a spray tan and was very happy with the results. “I really like the color I got from my spray tan,” Sarah said. “And because I used NuPeel, I didn’t experience any streaking at all. Instead, I got a really even tan that looks great.” While exfoliating before a spray tan is a good idea for maintaining the life of your tan, you should avoid exfoliating afterwards because it will take the dyed skin cells off faster. Always listen to advice from the place you get your spray tan to ensure you receive optimal results.

Special thanks to Revive Tan in Fayetteville, Arkansas for letting us film our spray tan video in their facility.