There are two things to note here: 1) A tan is still a burn and 2) The 'protection' is SPF 4, which might as well be nothing. We all know that a sunburn is bad, both in the short term (ouch, red, peeling, sore) and in the long term (potential melanoma development, i.e. skin cancer, and accelerated ageing of the skin, which typically manifests in dark spots and wrinkles) but many of us still think that as long as we go brown and not red, we’re in the clear. Dr Shergill rubbishes this claim. "There’s a common misconception that it’s only sunburn that’s bad for your skin, as a tan is often associated with looking healthy. However, a tan is a sign of skin damage and that our skin is being harmed by UV radiation. The tanning is your body’s way of trying to defend itself against further damage."