Spring break is just more than a week away, and students are hopping under the UV lamps at local tanning salons to get base tans before hitting the beach.

Mike Byrnes, owner of SunKissed Tan & Spa, 2540 Iowa St., said people who had planned ahead by getting a base tan four to six weeks before their vacations would benefit, but those who began building their base tans two and three weeks in advance would not. He recommended trying to squeeze in a few sessions or using spray tanning as options for developing color before traveling.

“A lot of people don’t want to be the whitest person walking on deck,” he said.

Byrnes said SunKissed offered spray tans, hydration therapy and multiple tanning options to help people maintain their tans longer.

Byrnes said getting a base tan before spending a lot of time in the sun could prevent sunburns, because the body learned to produce melanin faster. Melanin is a pigment responsible for skin tone.

“It’s not that you won’t burn, but you’re less likely to get fried,” said Kristie Lawrence, owner of Mango Tan, 4000 W. Sixth St.

Lawrence said Mango Tan had been busy during the past few weeks.

Lawrence said everyone produced melanin differently because of genetic differences in skin types. Mango Tan performs a skin-type analysis to determine which tanning plan will fit an individual best.

Ashley Barnes, Garnett junior, said she had been tanning almost every day to prepare her skin for the Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., sun.

“I don’t want to get burned and be miserable,” she said. Barnes said she liked using the mid-level tanning bed in combination with a bronzing lotion. She said using a tanning bed with higher wattage required less time. “I hate knowing that I could be doing other stuff.”

Byrnes said using a higher wattage bed was far more beneficial than using a lower one provided by many entry-level tanning beds. He said high-pressure, 1,000-watt tanning beds would produce a better tan that would last longer because it had UVA rays, which produced darker tans. At SunKissed, clients have four tanning bed levels and three high-pressure options.

Byrnes and Lawrence agreed it was essential to keep skin hydrated by using an indoor-tanning lotion, applying a post-tanning lotion and drinking lots of water.

“If you don’t use a lotion, you’re wasting your time and money,” Byrnes said. “We’re not just peddling lotions.”

He said using a lotion allowed the body to absorb the UV rays.

Lawrence said Mango Tan offered tanning intensifiers, bronzers with tanning accelerators, and tingle lotions. She said the tingle lotions were meant to bring blood to the surface and assist with the production of melanin.

“I think the bronzer makes you a lot darker,” said Cara Lauster, Leawood sophomore. Lauster, who uses a bronzer each time she tans, has been tanning for the past month in preparation for her spring break trip to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. She said she didn’t use tingle lotions because she heard they brought blood to the surface, which sounded dangerous.

Lawrence said someone shouldn’t use a tingle lotion unless they had a base tan.

“I can’t imagine that’s helpful for your skin,” said Lee Bittenbender, a dermatologist who has practiced in Lawrence for 32 years. He said he saw skin damage from artificial tanning and sun exposure on a daily basis.

“If your skin is tanned, it’s damaged,” he said.

Bittenbender said that UV exposure not only burnt the top layers of skin but also that the damage penetrated into deeper layers in the skin’s collagen. Collagen is one of the skin’s essential fibrous proteins responsible for cell structure. Bittenbender said excessive sun exposure ruined skin elasticity, which caused visible aging.

“People wish they had known the effects of the sun,” Bittenbender said, reflecting on patients he had seen throughout the years. “It’s important for people to know the consequences of what they do now.”

Bittenbender said anyone traveling to a sunny spring break destination should use a sunscreen with an SPF of at least 35.

“Enjoy all the stuff you want to do, but use a sunscreen and don’t go out midday when the sun is most intense,” he said.

Bittenbender said one ounce of sunscreen should be used and reapplied after perspiration and swimming.

“About a shot glass,” he said. “That should be a familiar measurement.”

— — Edited by Chris Horn