No matter how careful you are, if you wear everyday clothes outside, you will get a farmer’s tan. As your skin tone changes unevenly, a farmer’s tan makes you look weird. You might have spots on your arms or strange tan lines down your legs.
That tan can be removed with a few easy steps. Keep in mind that it won’t go away right away, so you’ll need to be patient to see results.
What is a Farmer’s Tan
Sometimes called “golfer’s tan,” “sailor’s tan,” “twat tan,” or “tennis tan,” a “farmer’s tan” is the tan lines you get from being outside a lot while wearing a short-sleeved shirt. The farmer’s tan normally starts with a tan on the arms and neck that are exposed.
In a unique way, the shoulders, chest, and back are not affected by the sun. When you play tennis or golf and wear shorts and socks for long periods of time in the sun, you can get a tan on the middle of your legs.
The “Texas tan” is similar, but the shoulders are also tanned because people work outside in open shirts.
14 Ways to Get Rid of Farmer’s Tan
1. Lemons
Before you take a shower, rub half of a newly cut lemon on your tan. This will help get rid of dead skin cells, which will help the tan fade faster. After that, stay out of the sun for an hour.
2. Potatoes
They have a lot of Vitamin C, which helps sunburns heal and makes skin lighter at the same time. It’s easy to make a paste with potatoes. Just peel and cut them up, then blend them in a blender until they are smooth. To get some of the same results, you can even rub half a potato on your tan.
3. Dry Baking Soda
If you’re out in the sun all the time, your face can get spots. Wet the area and rub baking soda on it in a circle motion to get rid of it. Baking soda is safe and most people have it in their kitchens.
4. Honey, Orange and Yogurt Mask
It is very easy to get rid of a strong tan with the peels of bitter oranges. An enzyme in the peels can help the body make more melanin, which can lighten dark spots. To make a fine paste, grind up some dried bitter orange peels and mix them with yogurt and honey. Put it on evenly, let it sit for a while, and then gently peel it off. Do this twice a week, and your tan will slowly go away.
5. Aloe Vera
Aloe Vera juice can heal skin that has been burned and can also help lighten skin that has been tanned. Just put it on at night and wash it off in the morning.
6. Turmeric Paste
To make a smooth paste, mix turmeric powder, yogurt, and water together well. It will make your skin more flexible and protect it from the sun’s UV rays if you put it on. Do a light scrub and then wash it off after it’s dry. If you use this mask twice a week, stubborn tans will go away on their own.
7. Buttermilk
You can put buttermilk straight on your skin because it has lactic acid in it, which helps your skin naturally lose its top layer, called the epidermis. Because of this, the tan slowly goes away, revealing new skin that can breathe.
8. Lotions
You can get rid of farmer’s tan by putting a small amount of cream with alpha hydroxy or hydrogen peroxide on a cotton ball and rubbing it over the affected areas. If you use too much of it, your face could get irritated.
Wearing high-SPF sunscreen on parts of your body that will be exposed to the sun is always a good idea before going outside. In short, it blocks the sun from reaching your face and keeps it from getting too tanned.
9. DO NOT Go to a Tanning Bed
Not because you’ll get stuck (unless you’re living out a Final Destination movie), but because tanning is bad for your skin. Even though this might help even out your tan, tanning beds can cause problems in the long run that are worse than having to deal with uneven tans for a few weeks.
10. DO NOT Get a Spray Tan
Not unless you’ve looked into it. You might not know which salon is best for you if this is your first time getting a spray tan. In the worst case, your skin could turn orange, which would make the problem area bigger.
11. Exfoliate & Moisturize Daily
Brenna Davis of Healthy Living Index says that to get rid of that awful tan line, you should put lotion on your skin every day (or a few times a day if you’re really afraid). Davis says that scrubbing gets rid of the dead skin cells that tanning causes, and the lotion will make the skin feel better if it’s dry.
12. Use Body Scrub
A rough body scrub, like a lemon and sugar scrub, will help get rid of dead skin cells and make your skin tone more even faster.
13. Avoid the Outside World
Even though it’s clear, this key could be the most important one. The tan line would get worse if you stayed out in the sun. To be exact, if you wear sleeves of different lengths every day.
14. Use Self-Tanner
Probably the best thing you can do is use self-tanner. Just make sure you try it out first. If you pick the wrong tanner, you might look like a cheese puff instead of a goddess after a day in the sun. The best choice for you is one of those slow ones, like the one from Jergens.
Every day, put the lotion on the light parts of your skin. In the evening, you can check to see how well it fits. That will hide the farmer’s tan until your skin tone gets more even on its own.