Everyone wants the same thing from a sunbed: colour that shows up sooner and looks even. So here's the honest answer up front, because plenty of brands won't give you it: no cream on this site or anywhere else changes what UV does. What actually gets you there faster is making every session count, and that comes down to skin prep, the right formula and steady habits. All of it is cheap, most of it happens in your bathroom, and none of it is a secret.
One thing before we start: sunbeds are for over-18s in the UK, full stop, and "faster" never means longer sessions. Stick to the times your salon recommends for your skin. Colour keeps developing for hours after you've gone home, so pushing past your time doesn't speed anything up. It just punishes your skin.
Exfoliate the day before
A tan develops in your skin, and if the surface is rough, flaky and uneven, the colour comes through rough, flaky and uneven. Exfoliating the day before a session takes off the dull outer layer so colour develops evenly across fresh skin instead of clinging to dry patches. Do it the day before rather than the day of, because freshly scrubbed skin appreciates the recovery time.
Moisturise like it's your job
This is the single biggest lever, and it's the least glamorous. Dry skin takes colour patchily and lets it go early. Hydrated skin takes colour evenly and holds onto it. Moisturise daily between sessions, not just on the day. If your skin runs dry by default, a richer formula like Pineapple Butter earns its keep here — it's the most moisturising texture we make.
Arrive with clean skin
On the day, turn up with nothing on your skin but your tanning cream. Perfume, aftershave, deodorant residue and makeup can all react under UV, and at best they sit between the cream and your skin, stopping it doing its job. A quick shower before you head out, plain and unscented, is the right starting point. It's a small habit that removes a whole category of patchy-tan complaints.
Apply your cream properly
Even application is the difference between a tan and a map of Scotland. Work your cream in with circular motions just before your session, cover everywhere you want colour, and wash your hands straight after. Palms don't need a tan. If it's a new formula, patch test 24 hours first: small amount, inner arm, wait and see. A minute of effort that saves a bad afternoon.
Pick the formula that matches your skin
The right cream for your skin does more than an expensive wrong one:
- New to sunbeds? Mango Mousse — light, fast-drying, no tingle. Start simple.
- Seasoned and chasing depth? Extreme Coconut carries double the peptide blend of our standard mousses — the strongest formula we make, still no tingle.
- Experienced and like the heat? Banana Tingle — strong tingle, patch test first, genuinely not for beginners.
The whole shelf lives at sunbed creams, every full-size jar £20.
Keep a steady schedule
A tan is built over sessions, not in one heroic afternoon. Regular, sensible sessions with recovery time between them beat any attempt to cram. Your salon staff set session times for your skin type for a reason; listen to them, and let the colour develop between visits rather than stacking sessions back to back.
Look after it afterwards
The session's only half the job. Moisturise the same day and every day after, drink water, and skip the scalding shower straight after — lukewarm is kinder to skin that's just worked. The prep gets the colour in evenly; the aftercare decides how long you keep it. We've written a separate guide on keeping a tan longer if you want the full routine.
What doesn't work
- Longer sessions. Covered above, worth repeating: more minutes isn't more colour, it's more punishment.
- Skipping prep. The most expensive cream in the world can't fix flaky, dehydrated skin.
- Perfume, deodorant and makeup on the bed. They can react under UV and block your cream. Arrive with clean skin.
- Miracle promises. Anything claiming to double your colour overnight is telling you a story. We'd rather sell you a £20 jar and the truth.
How fast is fast, honestly?
We're not going to give you a number, because anyone who does is guessing about your skin. Colour builds over sessions, at a pace set by your skin type, and the habits above make each of those sessions count instead of half-count. What we can promise: prepped, hydrated skin with the right formula gets more from every visit than dry, unprepped skin with the wrong one. That's the whole game.
The short version
Exfoliate the day before. Moisturise every day. Apply evenly, wash your hands, stick to your session time. Match the formula to your skin, and give the colour time to build between sensible sessions. That's how you tan faster — everything else is marketing.