The sun is shinning, and you are ready to hit the beach, right? Hold off, and get your skin conditioned properly before spending those long, lazy days in the sun.  
Before heading out, always remember to exfoliate. Your body is constantly shedding skin cells, which can build up, leaving an unappealing layer on your skin, making it look both dry and dull.  
Daily moisturizing is essential to keeping skin in optimum condition. A good facial moisturizer will go a long way, but don’t forget a great floral or fruity scent to moisturize your legs and body. Remember, the prime time to moisturize is right after you have dried off after a shower, to bet lock in moisture. Also, keep hydrated by drinking plenty of water!
Most importantly, sun screen is a lifesaver—literally. Skin cancer is on the rise, and overexposure to ultra violet rays accounts for 90 percent of wrinkles. Use a water-resistant sunscreen with an SPF of 15 (or higher). Apply an amount equal to a shot glass, (one ounce) over exposed skin at least 15 minutes before heading outdoors, and reapply about every two hours, and after swimming. Don’t forget to apply sunscreen to your ears, lips and hair.
Use technology! Many sunless tanners contain SPF, so instead of tanning in the sun, apply a sunless tanner. Many are designed to build color gradually, which is an excellent way to “pre-tan” before you hit the beach.
Cover yourself up! Accessorize your bikini with a wide brimmed hat, which will shade your face and hair.
And if all else fails, sooth your burn with a moisturizer that contains natural fatty oils such as coconut or aloe vera lotion. It’s a great idea to leave your burn treatment in the refrigerato,r so it is nice and chilly when you’re ready to use it.

We have all seen those women walking down the street, the ones with a fluorescent glow, beaming from their neon-hued limbs, with orange hands so stained that they look like they’ll smear ruddy-colored dye on anything they touch. Or you’ve seen the category most of us might fall under, the women who look sun-kissed and natural at first glance, but when they reach for the check, bear the mark of the self-tanner in the line drawn across their wrist, between the tan arm and the unnatural, differently-colored pale white hand. The overall effect is good, but once someone sees that hint of artificiality, the gig is up and your tanned façade has failed.
Many treat self-tanner as if it were merely a lotion, generously smearing dyed gel all over their body, and wondering the next morning why it is so smeared and unnatural-looking. The truth is that applying self-tanner to your body is similar to painting your body with paint. Self-tanner has a component called DHA that activates a pigment in the top layer of your skin, the layer with the dead skin cells. So essentially, when you are applying self-tanner, you are painting your skin. And the process should be just as precise and tedious.
1.) Firstly, choose the correct product. There are many brands of self-tanner out on the market—all claiming to give the same natural glow—but after many years of trial and error, I have found that there are a select few which deliver on to their promises. The product which I have found to give the best natural tan with the least chance of streaking or orange tint, is Loreal Paris’ Sublime Bronze Tinted Self-Tanning Lotion, which can be found for under ten dollars at any grocery store or drugstore. This slightly tinted lotion gives off an amazing brown glow. I have been using it for two years now, and can only smile when people ask me if I went to the beach over the weekend, knowing that I have achieved a beautiful tan without having the guilt of damaging my skin under the UV rays.  
2) There are a few essential products that you will need, in addition to buying the correct tanner, in order to get that perfect, natural looking bronze glow. You will need a body exfoliating product, preferably one with AHA activation, to properly slough off that top layer of dead skin, and a luffa to give you the cleanest slate of skin, free of dead skin flakes, in order for your self-tanner to activate to have the longest lasting tan. Your body rids itself of several million dead skin cells a day, the same cells that carry the pigment you have dyed your skin with. So, if you want your tan to be blotch-free and last as long as possible, exfoliate properly before applying your product. Think about it: you would never paint a masterpiece on an already dirty canvas, so give the same honor to your skin, since it is the first thing people see when they look at you. In addition, buy a pumice stone and latex gloves at your local grocery store. The latex gloves will catch all of that excess dye that would normally reside on the palms of your hands. So for about two dollars, those gloves are well worth the price, for the improved effect.     
3) Allot yourself an ample amount of time to apply your self tanner, preferably before bed, so that your skin has an entire night to activate the melanin formation in its cells, with the least chance of smearing from strenuous activity. Wear either nothing or loose bed clothing to sleep, so that your product will not set onto your pajamas, instead of your skin.     
4) After the skin is prepped and clean and your gloves are on, you are ready to begin applying the product. I like to begin with the feet and legs, and move up my body in sections. You should be using about a quarter-sized amount of product at a time. You do not want to apply too much product at once, because the pigments will rest on the skin unevenly, and will not be rubbed into the skin evenly. With your dollop of self-tanner, begin on one section of your body. Rub the product onto the skin with circular hand motions. When you feel that the product no longer has a slick consistency resting on top of the skin, but has become a dried texture, repeat the process on the small section of your body, directly above the one you just applied tanner to.
A correctly-sized section of skin to apply product to would be half of your leg, below the knee, then the upper part of your calf to the middle of your kneecap. The next portion you should apply tanner to is the upper part of the kneecap, including the back groove of your joint up to your mid-thigh area. Do not apply tanner to your whole leg or arm in one fair swoop, but rather, to get an effective natural tan, apply tanner to your shoulder and under arm area first. Then, get more tanner, apply it to about just below your elbow, then finish the arm to where your gloves end, with another application. Separating the application into separate body parts allows you to focus on each section of your body to make sure that the product is properly rubbed into the consistency of the skin.      
5) By now, you should be just about done and have moved section by section over your entire body. But here comes the truly difficult part, the place where the secret to your bronze complexion can be given away: the wrists. Pull up your gloves so that the fingers are still covered, but half of your palm is exposed. Now, taking the excess lotion that you can see is dyed onto the white of your latex fingertips, gently rub the top of your hand up to your knuckles. Rub your skin from below the wrist up to the top of your hand in a motion like pulling the skin, so that any of the excess product that may be resting on that sensitive area, is being transferred in an even motion to your hands. Turning your palm over, complete the same pulling and rubbing motion on the underside of your wrist, to avoid having any harsh line. This motion is like blurring a pencil mark or a line of chalk; you are merely creating a gradient of color from your arm to your palms, so that there is no harsh line to spoil the secret of your seemingly perfect tan.     
You can repeat this process on the tops of your feet before completely removing your latex gloves (and throwing them away).     
6) Let your body air dry before putting on loose clothing or going to bed. Just like with lotion, if you put on tight clothing immediately after application, all of your tedious work will be for naught, as the tanner will transfer from the top of your skin onto your lovely nightie.     
7) The next morning, you will wake up looking tanned and wonderful. However, you may look at some parts of your body, such as the bottom of your palms or your stomach, and see blotches. This is because you have not yet showered off any excess product. The morning-after shower is very important. Wash your body thoroughly, cleaning your newly tanned skin with a luffa, but perhaps not scrubbing as stringently as you did previously, when applying the product. If there are any areas of your skin where you see blotches or darker pigmentation, merely take your pumice stone and lightly scrub the designated areas until your skin is one even tone.
You will now have a perfectly even tan that will last uncorrected for about three days, before completely fading away by day five. Reapply as you see fit, but always remember the effects of lazy application. If everyone knows that you use a tanner, then what is the point in applying it in the first place? Keep your secret to healthy, tanned skin by having the patience to repeat this tedious process. The outcome will be worth it when you have a beautiful, bronzed complexion, without the damage of UVA rays. But remember to continue applying SPF when you go in the real sun, because even though you look like you have a tan, your skin is just as fragile and vulnerable to its rays as it was before, just now with a sexier brown glow.