Maybe it's warm weather now and you want to show off some skin but are feeling self-conscious with how pale and dull your skin looks, or perhaps the warm weather is long gone but you don't want your skin looking any less than its best. Unfortunately, sun tanning is dangerous; sun exposure can lead to painful and not-so-pretty sunburns, to say nothing of the risks of skin cancer and prematurely wrinkled skin. Luckily, there are ways to get that summer glow for your skin without all the risks that sun tanning brings.

One of the best ways to get the summer glow is to use a self-tanning lotion. Early self-tanners left your skin looking orange and splotchy, and they didn't smell too great either. Today's products are much better. They can give you a much more natural golden glow without the harsh chemical smell. They can still leave splotchy marks if they aren't applied carefully, but today's self-tanners are easier than ever to apply. Some spray on and others are tinted so you can see where you have applied them and where you haven't. It is also a good idea to exfoliate your skin before you begin applying the product. This will prevent the tanner from sinking too deeply into dry, scaly patches of skin, leaving some areas that are darker than others.

A more subtle way to get a summer glow is to use a gradual darkening lotion. These lotions contain the same active ingredient that self-tanners use, only in much smaller amounts. The idea behind these products is that you should use them every day, and gradually, a natural-looking tan will develop. There are never any splotchy areas, because the tan develops slowly and there isn't enough of the active ingredient to cause unevenness with any single application.

Another way to get a summer glow for your skin is to use a lotion with fine shimmer particles. These lotions look pearlescent in the bottle but give your skin a fine shimmering sheen after application. The shimmer particles are finer and more natural looking than glitter. The lotion will not darken your skin, but can give it an instant golden glow. There is absolutely no risk with these lotions, as application is easy and there is no way for them to become splotchy-looking. These products wash off easily in the shower.

A final way to get your skin looking great is to simply use an exfoliating product wherever you want your skin to glow. These are simply products which scrub the dead skin cells away, leaving you with shiny, fresh-looking skin. This is probably the easiest option, and is good when you don't want to darken your skin tone.