The simplest way to protect your face in a tanning bed is to cover it with a physical barrier like a towel, cloth, or purpose-built tanning face shield, and to turn off the bed’s facial lamps if your salon’s equipment allows it. Facial skin is thinner and more vulnerable to UV damage than most of the body, and tanning beds emit up to 12 times more UVA radiation than natural sunlight. That intensity makes protecting your face worth the extra effort, even if you’re comfortable tanning the rest of your body.
Why Your Face Needs Extra Protection
Tanning beds predominantly emit UVA rays, which account for up to 98% of their radiation output. UVA penetrates deeper into the skin than UVB and is the primary driver of premature aging: wrinkles, loss of elasticity, dark spots, and leathery texture. Your face gets more cumulative UV exposure over a lifetime than almost any other body part, so adding high-intensity indoor sessions accelerates visible aging faster there than anywhere else.
The cancer risk is real, too. Indoor tanning is associated with a 69% increased risk of early-onset basal cell carcinoma, the most common form of skin cancer. Among women, the risk roughly doubles. Research published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology estimated that about 43% of early-onset basal cell carcinomas in women could be prevented if they had never tanned indoors. The face, ears, and nose are among the most common sites for these cancers because of how much UV they absorb.
Turn Off the Facial Lamps
Many modern tanning beds have a separate set of facial tanners, usually smaller bulbs positioned near the head end of the bed. These can often be switched off independently. Ask the salon staff to show you how, or look for a clearly labeled button or switch on the bed’s control panel. Turning off the facial lamps is the single most effective step because it eliminates the most concentrated source of UV hitting your face. Not every bed has this option, but it’s always worth checking.
Physical Barriers That Work
If the bed doesn’t have adjustable facial lamps, or you want an extra layer of defense, covering your face with a physical barrier blocks UV directly. A few options:
- A clean towel or cotton cloth draped over your face. This is the easiest, cheapest method. A standard towel blocks a significant portion of UV, though thicker, tightly woven fabric blocks more. Make sure you can still breathe comfortably.
- Disposable tanning face masks or shields sold at many tanning salons. These are designed to fit around your nose and mouth while covering the rest of your face, and they’re lightweight enough to stay in place while you lie still.
- A cotton t-shirt works in a pinch, though the weave is typically looser than a towel, so it lets more UV through.
No fabric barrier is perfect. Some UV will pass through, especially with thinner materials. But even partial coverage dramatically reduces the dose your facial skin absorbs per session.
Applying SPF to Your Face
Sunscreen adds another layer of protection, and it’s especially useful for areas a towel might not fully cover, like your ears, jawline, and neck. Choose a broad-spectrum sunscreen rated SPF 30 or higher, which blocks about 97% of UVB rays. Mineral-based formulas (containing zinc oxide or titanium dioxide) are a good choice because they sit on top of the skin and physically reflect UV rather than absorbing it, and they start working immediately.
Apply it at least 15 to 30 minutes before your session so it has time to form a stable film on your skin. Use enough to actually cover every exposed area of your face. Most people underapply sunscreen by half, which significantly reduces its effectiveness. If you’re combining SPF with a towel or face shield, you’re getting meaningful protection even in a high-UV environment.
Always Wear Goggles
This one is non-negotiable. Tanning beds can produce UV levels up to 100 times what you’d get from the sun, and that intensity can damage both the external and internal structures of your eyes. The risks include photokeratitis (essentially a sunburn on the surface of your eye), cataracts over time, and even cancer of the tissue layer beneath the white of your eye. Closing your eyes or placing a towel over them is not enough. UV passes through eyelids. Proper tanning goggles with opaque or UV-blocking lenses are the only reliable protection. Most salons provide them or sell them cheaply.
Skincare Ingredients to Pause Before Tanning
Certain ingredients commonly found in facial skincare routines make your skin significantly more sensitive to UV, which increases both burn risk and long-term damage. The biggest culprits are products that exfoliate or speed up skin cell turnover, because they strip away the outer layer of dead cells and expose newer, more delicate skin underneath.
Retinol is the most well-known offender. It’s widely used for anti-aging and acne, but it makes skin markedly more vulnerable to UV damage. Sunlight also breaks retinol down and makes it less effective, so using it before a tanning session is counterproductive in two directions. Alpha hydroxy acids (like glycolic acid) and beta hydroxy acids (like salicylic acid) carry the same photosensitizing risk. Hydroquinone, a common skin-brightening ingredient, works by reducing melanin production, which lowers your skin’s built-in UV defense.
If you use any of these products, skip applying them to your face for at least 24 hours before a tanning session. Some dermatologists recommend a longer window for retinol, since its effects on cell turnover persist for days. Continuing to use these ingredients while regularly tanning can undo the cosmetic benefits you’re paying for, since UV exposure causes the exact aging signs (wrinkles, uneven tone, dryness) that retinol and acids are meant to treat.
Taking Care of Your Face After a Session
Even with protection, your facial skin will absorb some UV. What you do afterward matters for both skin health and preventing that tight, dried-out feeling.
Start with a gentle, hydrating moisturizer as soon as you can after your session. Look for formulas containing aloe vera, which soothes mild inflammation, or hyaluronic acid, which pulls moisture into the skin and helps restore the barrier. Vitamins C and E are antioxidants that help neutralize some of the free radical damage UV triggers in skin cells. A serum or moisturizer with these ingredients, applied post-session, gives your skin the best shot at recovery.
Stay hydrated by drinking water. UV exposure pulls moisture from the skin, and dehydration shows up on the face faster than anywhere else. Eating antioxidant-rich foods like berries, nuts, and leafy greens supports skin repair from the inside, though this is a long-term habit rather than a quick fix.
Save your retinol, glycolic acid, and other active treatments for at least several hours after tanning, ideally until the next morning. Applying exfoliating acids to freshly UV-exposed skin increases irritation and the chance of a reaction.