Back in the day, people used to recommend tanning to clear up skin. And in the short term it does kind of work. The sun dries out your skin and UV rays do have an antibacterial element, but tanning is so not the way to go. For one, we already learned that over-drying your skin will cause it to produce more oil.

Also, tanning causes your skin to increase cell production (which means more dead skin cells), so while you might get a bit clearer at first, tanning will end up giving you more breakouts. And don’t even get me started on all the skin damage, cancer risks and wrinkle issues.

Next: Treatment options