5 Best Tanning Oil in 2024

best tanning oil

Banana Boat Deep Tanning Dry Oil

The Banana Boat Deep Tanning Dry Oil is the best tanning oil for those who want a nice golden tan and don’t want to shell out the big bucks.

This tanning oil is dry so it doesn’t get greasy on your skin and is easily sprayed on. It even offers some sun protection, although it is designed to be used in tanning beds and indoor situations.

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What are the two types of tanning?

best tanning oil

If you are into maximizing your tan, you may be interested in the best tanning oil.

Tanning oil is a very loosely defined term that can mean two things: indoor tanning lotion or sunscreen.

Indoor tanning lotion is used to enhance tanning in a tanning bed while sunscreen is more used outdoors to block ultraviolet rays from damaging your skin. In general, tanning oil refers to lotion that is meant to be used indoors on tanning beds and sparingly outside.

What does tanning oil do to your glowing skin?

They promote the production of melanin that is brought to the top layers of your skin by increasing the blood flow in the skin. This leads to a better tan. That’s right, tanning oil is all about aesthetics.

Most tanning lotions have little to no protection from UV radiation and the sun’s rays. On the other hand, sunscreen usually has a sun protection factor (SPF) and helps protect your skin from sun damage.

It contains chemicals that reflect harmful UV rays and absorb certain useful UV rays. Sunscreen is less about looks and more about actually protecting your skin.

What tanning oils to get for my skin type?

Most tanning oil has an SPF range of 0 to 20, meaning you are bet not to use this when there are high UVs. This means if your skin type is very white or fair, then it is best to use sunscreen oil. If you have a beautiful tan skin, then a standard 10 or 20 SPF should do.

Sunscreen can range from 10 to 75 or more. The whiter the skin you have, the higher SPF you need to use. So if you have a very fair type of skin, ensure you go to the pharmacist and get the appropriate sunscreen SPF. You can always ask the pharmacist to advise you.

The best tanning oil can come in many forms such as liquids, roll-ons, or sprays. Some tanning oils are scented, others are dry and scentless, and some even temporarily paint on a tan color for you. If you want to learn more about buying the best tanning oil for your needs, please refer to our buying guide below.

Best Tanning Oil – Reviews 

  1. Banana Boat Sunscreen Ultra Mist Deep Tanning Dry Oil Sun Spray (Top Pick)
  2. Maui Babe Browning Lotion
  3. Millenium Tanning New Solid Black Bronzer Tanning Bed Lotion, 100x

1. Banana Boat Sunscreen Ultra Mist Deep Tanning Dry Oil Sun Care

best tanning oilIf you are looking for the best tanning oil, you may be interested in the Banana Boat Dry Oil.

This is a spray-on tanning oil that acts very fast and leaves a thin layer of continuous coverage. Since it is a dry oil, it doesn’t leave any slimy or sticky residue on your skin and instead gets absorbed into your skin.

This means cleaning it up is simple and oftentimes, you don’t even have to rinse it off. It is only SPF4, so not much in terms of sun protection, but with the avotriplex technology the SPF4 actually helps absorb some of the useful rays needed to create a gorgeous tan instead of reflecting it away.

The Banana Boat Dry Oil is a lightweight formula that is water resistant, which also means it can be applied at any angle and still get consistent coverage. It is made of some nice and natural ingredients like coconut and grape seed oil. In terms of active ingredients, you have homosalate and octocrylene.

And yes, this stuff is designed to be sprayed on your face as well. You can use this product anywhere from outdoors to indoor tanning beds. Some people claim that the oil will harm the plastic on the tanning bed, but we never saw any of that when testing the Banana Boat Sunscreen Ultra Mist.

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2. Maui Babe Browning Lotion

best tanning oilIf you want the best tanning oil that has become a local homemade phenomenon, you should definitely try that Maui Babe Browning Lotion.

This stuff is fit for people of all skin types and skin tones and creates a lush natural looking tan. The way it works is that it accelerates the release of melanin to the top layer of skin when in contact with either the sun or a tanning bed.

We must warn you, however, that there is no sun protection, so if you want that, you’d have to apply some sunscreen with SPF. Also, this lotion runs very greasy and may end up clogging pores.

While you can certainly wipe it on your face, be very careful not to get it in your eyes or nose. And don’t worry about the Maui Babe staining your swimwear or towels. It is not a fake tanning product or bronzer, so it doesn’t really have permanent dyes that stain.

Maui Babe has become a phenomenon in Hawaii and is locally sourced. The good thing is it doesn’t smell bad and is made with all-natural Hawaiian ingredients, antioxidants, and essential vitamins and oils. We don’t know what the secret is to creating such luscious golden tans without going too dark, but it certainly works.

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3. Millenium Tanning New Solid Black Bronzer Tanning Bed Lotion, 100x

best tanning oilIf you want the best tanning oil which is a bronzer and specifically designed for the tanning bed, the Millenium Tanning Solid Black is a great product for your needs.

It is a 100x silicone bronzer, which basically means it is one of the strongest bronzers on the market. 100x is usually the top limit and represents the level of acceleration for the tanning level after one-time use.

Of course, you shouldn’t be turned off by the strength of this product. It won’t make it black after just one use. Also, it is not a self-tanner or spray-on tan, meaning you must use a tanning bed to activate this product.

If you have very pale skin, this product will take you to a base tan after the first use. If you already have a decent base tan, you will definitely get noticeably darker after a few uses on the tanning bed.

Be sure not to get it in your eyes if you are planning on applying it to your face. The Millenium Tanning Bronzer works much faster than traditional tanning oils because it works with the tanning bed to accelerate your tan.

It has a bit of a sweet chocolate smell and leaves your hands a bit tinted orange, but we find these to be a minor annoyance.  For those who want a serious tan using a tanning bed, this is by far the best tanning oil for a quick fix.

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Best Tanning Oil Buying Guide

best tanning oil

You should be using the best tanning oil if you frequent tanning salons and want to optimize your tan color and depth.

If you want that plush rich tan, there are certainly many products that can help you get to this and a lot of products that will only damage your wallet.

It is good to educate yourself on the various types of tanning oils on the market. Please see below for a detailed list.

Indoor Tanning Oil

With indoor tanning oil, typically you have oil in liquid form that you can just rub onto the skin and spray on oil, which comes in aerosol form. If you don’t really like residue on your skin, you can use dry tanning oil, which soaks into your skin with feel any kind of slippery oil on your fingers.

Dry tanning oil is a very popular choice because people like to be able to clean off the oil easily. Regardless of the form, it comes in, indoor tanning oil comes in several levels of tan color from light tan to very dark tan.

Before committing to a certain type of tanning oil, you should figure out how deep you want your tan to be. Tanning oils are great for getting a deep dark tan and usually don’t offer much sun protection.

They usually include natural ingredients like sunflower oil and stay on your skin for long periods of time. We recommend tanning oil for those who already have a nice base tan and want a darker deeper look.

For those with light skin, we would look into tanning lotions and creams. The best tanning oils can be scented or unscented. The tanning oils with a fragrance offer no tanning advantage over unscented ones. The only reason you would want a scented tanning oil is that it smells nice and could add to your tanning experience.

Indoor Tanning Lotions and Creams

Tanning lotions and creams are slightly different from tanning oils in that they don’t really leave a greasy look. Tanning lotions soak into your skin and usually offer higher levels of sun protection than tanning oils. We recommend tanning lotions and creams to people who have lighter skin and want to have a bit higher level of sun protection.

Additionally, these indoor tanning lotions and creams could enhance the effect of UV rays rather than block them. This is why you should not be using sunscreen on a tanning bed because some of the chemicals in sunscreen could pretty much counteract the benefits of a tanning bed.

Your options for tanning lotions and creams also have a wide variety of hues from light tan to deep dark tan. They are designed for shorter and more intense tanning sessions to get a golden crisp quick tan.

You should be careful about certain tanning lotions and creams that damage tanning beds. Some of the cheaper tanning lotions and creams could restrict tanning by making a thin layer of film on the tanning bed. This is why it is important to just stick to the name brands and the tanning products that most people trust.

References

 

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