How to Get a Tan in Animal Crossing: New Leaf

Last Updated: July 11, 2020

Animal Crossing is a great game, that is filled with fun things to do. You can get quite a lot out of a single day, or you could kick back and relax. Of course, there are some details you’ll miss out if you don’t check on it regularly. Like, say, getting a nice tan during the summer!

Steps

1
Wait for summer. The best time you can get and maintain a tan is during summer, and the summer period of the game lasts from July 16 to September 15. After that, your tan fades away, and you can’t maintain it until the next summer rolls around.
2
Head to the Island. If you have unlocked and can afford to get to Tortimer’s Island on a regular basis, you can get and maintain a tan year-round by going there in the mornings. You can unlock the island by paying off the first house upgrade, and the following day you’ll be introduced to Tortimer when you start up. Afterwards, you can then take trips to the Island for 1,000 Bells per round-trip.
- You can make several round trips to the island a day as long as you have enough bells.
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3
Get out a lot. Of course, you’ll need to get out a lot to get a tan. Leave your umbrellas behind, and get some sun on you! The best times to tan are from 10 AM to 4 PM, since it’s when the sun is out. In this particular version, you get darker every 15 minutes until you reach the darkest tan.
- When you take a long break from the sun, your tan starts to fade. Staying inside, or venturing out on rainy or cloudy days would make your tan fade much more slowly than getting one. It takes roughly 15 days to go from the darkest tan to no tan at all, and requires you to stay indoors a lot or to use an umbrella constantly.
4
Check your clothes. Your clothes can determine how fast you’ll tan. Wearing clothes that cover most of your body like dresses and long-sleeved tops, hats, and most facial decorations can slow down or prevent tanning. So you’re better off wearing tank tops or short-sleeved shirts, shorts and skirts if you want to tan.
5
Get a Mii Mask. If all of this sounds too much effort, just get a Mii Mask with a tanned skin color! You’ll have to make a Mii first in the Mii Maker available in your 3DS, and select a darker skin color, but once you have one, you can head on over to Shampoodle and ask for a makeover. It costs 3,000 Bells, and uses a Mii you have stored in your unit. If you have the Welcome Amiibo update, it will change you skin color to match the mask! Any hat and face accessories will be removed when equipping a Mii Mask, so make sure you have enough free space for your stuff when you equip it.
- To unlock Shampoodle, you need to spend a total of 10,000 Bells between the Able Sisters’ Store and Kicks, and have Kicks open for at least 7 days before building Shampoodle. It’ll take 4 days to be built, and can be found above the Able Sisters’ Store in Main Street.
- You can put on your Mii Mask via the Designs window, which you can access by tapping the pencil icon with your stylus. Just select your Mii Mask from the window, and you can walk around with a new face.

Community Q&A

Question

So does the tan fade away?

Ellie Farron

Community Answer

Eventually... yes! Stay indoors when possible and use an umbrella during the day. Letting the sun beam down on you will make your tan darker.
Question

Do I need to move around or can I stay still?

Community Answer

As long as you are in the sun, you can move around. You don't have to stay in one place.
Question

Not including mayor, can the other humans go to the island?

Community Answer

Other players from other towns can go with you, but they are also the mayor of their town. Unless you bring another player to the island (via the train station), there is no other possible way to have another human on the island. Plus, the only human characters in the ‘Animal Crossing’ series are the mayors/players.