Hot Bulbs

The term HOT BULBS is another overused description, but generally means a lamp that is higher in UVB. At first glance, that sounds great doesn't it? Faster means better, right? Short answer: no. While there are several good reasons to use high UVB lamps, most people who end up getting them regret them. The reason is simple: The hotter the lamp, the faster you burn. You get a little tan fast, but in the long run, the quality of your tan is much lower and it fades much faster.

Some salespersons might tell you the exact opposite, and they are simply wrong, or are misleading you to get you to buy a lamp that is cheaper to make but can be sold for more (ie: more profitable). Ask an engineer and they will agree with me on these points. Let me try to explain this in straight forward talk:

A 7.5% lamp has LESS UVA than a 5% lamp. You tan for less time with a 7.5% than you do for a 5% lamp, or risk burning. The net result is that you get about the same UVB in 15 minutes with a 7.5% lamp that you would get in 20 minutes with a 5% lamp. UVB, however, does not tan you. UVB makes your skin produce melanin, but it is the UVA that makes it oxidize and turn brown.

The problem is the 7.5% lamp already has LESS UVA than the 5% lamp. The 5% means 5% UVB and 95% UVA, while 7.5% means 7.5% UVB and 92.5% UVA. So in 10 minutes, you would get less UVA with the 7.5% lamp. Now, add the fact that you are staying only 15 minutes, and not 20, and as you can see, you end up getting 30% less UVA with the 7.5% lamp. Since this is where the actual bronzing happens, you will not get as dark and your tan will fade fast.

Now, the 7.5% lamp WILL get you red fast, and help you develop a very basic base tan faster, but it comes at the price of reducing your overall darkness and quality, over time. This is part of the reason why a tan in the sun lasts longer than a tan in a tanning bed: You got it slower, you received more UVA, the tan is deeper from the sun. When you get lamps that are much higher than 5% UVB, you amplify this.

In short, if your goal is to get the darkest possible tan, stay away from lamps that have a UVB rating higher than 6.5%. If you just want a very basic tan and want it faster, then 6.5% or higher is fine. If you are not sure what you want or need, stick with something in the 5% to 6.5% range.