I’ve seen this bit of advice for avoiding tan lines in senior pictures so many times:
If you have senior pictures scheduled in the summer, be sure to wear lots of sunscreen and avoid being in the sun.
Cue the sad ‘Waaa Waaaah’ sound bite. Sure, it works. But let’s face it, it’s summer! No one wants to miss out of pool time and fun just to make sure they don’t get tan lines before their senior pictures. So, here are a few practical ways to help minimize tan lines so you don’t have miss the fun.
- Change up your swimwear. When you are looking for swimwear this year (or even outfits for parties where you’ll be in the sun a lot) pick ones with different lines and straps. If you are like me, I have a favorite style that I love and know looks good on me. So I wear it a lot. But, this means I also get dark tan lines. Grab a suit that is strapless. One with thin spaghetti straps. Onother one that is a halter and ties around you neck. This way each time you wear your suit, a different area gets sun. This won’t eliminate tan lines. But it sure will help to help blend blend them making them less noticeable.
- Plan your senior pictures before any big vacations. Or times you may spend a lot of time outside, like all day soccer practice. This is when you tend to get way more sun than normal. Planning your pictures before a vacation will help not only with tan lines. But also help you avoid an overly dark tans. I know what you may be thinking. Is there really such a thing as too much sun? Or too much of a tan? Believe it or not, the answer when it comes to pictures is, yes. I know we all love a glowing tan skin. But that sunkissed glow can show up as an unnatural skin tone in pictures. Especially when it is a very dark tan. If it’s too late and your vacation is just around the corner, plan your session a few weeks after your return to give the sun and tan lines a bit to fade.
- Pick the outfits you will wear for senior pictures with tan lines in mind. If you know that no mater what you try, you will end up with dark tan lines (that would be me!) another easy option is to strategically select your senior session outfits. Picking tops and dresses that hide the lines is easy enough.
- Lastly, I know we talked mostly about swim suit tan lines. But don’t forget about your feet and hands. Believe it or not, the most common tan line I see is on the wrist from a smart watch. Apply the same strategies and change up your shoes to avoid flip flop tan lines. Go without a watch or at least switching wrists will help a lot.
