Unfortunately there is nothing you can do about them except moisturise, but they do fade with time and some creams help to diminish their appearance, but they're here to stay. I have some on my inner thighs due to weight loss that was probably too fast, and they turned from purple to pale white and are almost not visible. I have some very slight ones on my bum from puberty but my boyfriend still hasnt noticed so they can't be that visible.
Palmers is great - it does help them to fade a bit faster, but there is no mirracle cure. I always found that it worked better than the expensive stuff, and they did a survey in the UK where they gave very expensive products ($140 a pot), then mid-expensive (Dior stretch mark stuff, that kind of stuff), and the cheap Bio-oil and Palmers to women who did not know what they were using on their stretch marks. After 4 weeks, the winner was Palmers, followed by Bio-oil.
The key really is to keep the skin moisturised, however this wont prevent them from forming (although it might lessen their extend, just like wrinkle cream may help reduce the depth of wrinkles) unfortunately. Stable weight loss and avoiding yo-yo weight changes is the key.
A bit of fake tan does help - gradual self tanners may help (they dont make you orange as its gradual) and make wobbly bits look better too. Another thing that helps is to mix 50/50 moisturising cream like Palmers and fake tan. If you do try that, make sure you really rub it in as it can make stretch marks look worse otherwise.
Sunblock does not affect fake tan and vice versa. I'd try getting sunblock with the highest UVA protection as well as at least SPF 30 (SPF only applies to UVB protection and not UVAs - UVAs do more damage as they penetrate the skin more deeply). I cannot give more advice though as in europe (you live in the states right?) we have different sunblock rating systems, and one of the best ingredients against UVAs hasnt been approved in the US yet (or at least wasnt a few months ago) - I was surprised to find out that a lot of Americans import French sunblock.