Determining a client's skin type helps you and your tanning salon operators decide how an individual client's skin will react to UV light. It helps you determine safe exposure times so you can help protect the client from overexposure and other potentially harmful reactions.

Skin type depends on several factors including a person's heritage, natural hair color, eye color, un-tanned skin coloration, and tanning history.

Feel free to use these charts to help figure out a customer's skin type:

Skin Type Determination Based on Hereditary Characteristics

 01234Points
Eye ColorLight blue, gray or greenBlue, gray or greenBlueDark BrownBrownish black 
Hair ColorSandy RedBlondBlond chestnut or dark blondDark brownBlack 
Color of SkinReddishVery palePale with beige tintLight brownDark brown 
FrecklesManySeveralFewIncidentalNone 

Skin Type Determination Based on Tanning History

 01234Points
What happens when you stay in the sun too long?Painful redness, peeling, blisteringBurns regularly with peelingBurns sometime with peelingBurns rarelyNever burns 
To what degree do you turn brown?Hardly or not at all brownTans a little with light colorTans moderatelyTans very easilyQuickly turns brown 
Do you turn brown immediately after tanning?NeverHardlySometimeOftenAlways 
How does your face react to the sun?Very sensitiveSensitiveNormalBarely sensitiveNever a problem 

Score from Two Charts Above Indicates Skin Type

Total PointsSkin TypeSkin Reactions to the Sun
0-71Burns easily and severely; peels and does not tan
8-162Burns easily and severely; tans minimally or lightly
17-253Burns moderately; tans about average
25 or more4Burns minimally; tans above average