Do what you want, but sunscreen may help avoid sunburn, but doesn’t usually help with skin cancer. If you really want a tan, you are best off working up to it. Get out into the sun for a limited time initially…15 or 20 minutes. That is 15 or 20 minutes of exposure to the sun of all areas of your body you want tanned. After that, wear lightweight clothes to cover your skin. Wear a floppy hat. As time goes by, slowly increase the amount of time you are in the sun. It takes a while, but you will eventually have a nice base tan and will be able to spend a little more time outside. For reference, I am part Irish and part Scottish and part English. I’m a redhead at birth. I am as fair skinned as they get. I spent most of my life dodging sunburn. I could be out for 20 minutes and be white as a sheet but if I stretched it to 21 minutes I would burn. Now I am living in a southern coastal region. I did the slow build up and now I can be outside in just shorts and flip-flops for a couple hours and I don’t burn.