The professional indoor tanning community supports the proper usage of sunscreen products outdoors on occasions when sunburn is a possibility. The International Smart Tan Network does not recommend the daily usage of sunscreen – as this is unnatural and has been demonstrated to block the natural production of vitamin D.

Smart Tan’s position on using SPF products is as follows:

1. The professional indoor tanning industry, in promoting the proper use of sun protection factor (SPF) sunscreen products for outdoor usage, promotes and teaches what we refer to as The Golden Rule of Smart Tanning: Don’t ever sunburn.
2. The indoor tanning industry has been more effective at teaching sunburn prevention than those who promote complete sun avoidance. Non-tanners sunburn more often than people who tan indoors.
3. An estimated 30 million North Americans patronize indoor tanning facilities at some point during the year. Every year, millions of indoor tanners successfully develop “base tans” before embarking on sunny vacations – tans that, combined with the proper use of sunscreen outdoors, help them prevent sunburn.1
4. A tan is the body’s natural protection against sunburn. Your skin is designed to tan as a natural body function. If you have the ability to develop a tan, having a base tan multiplies the effectiveness of sunscreen in preventing sunburn.
5. Smart Tan believes that SPF products should be used outdoors to prevent sunburn in situations where sunburn is a possibility. However, the public should be aware that daily usage of sunscreen product in environments where sunburn is not a possibility may inhibit natural production of vitamin D from normal sun exposure and therefore may potentially be harmful to human health.
6. The professional indoor tanning community is part of the solution in the ongoing battle against sunburn and in teaching people how to use sunscreen product effectively and in identifying a proper and practical life-long skin care regimen.