10 tips on proper "Tan-In-A-Can" application!!

There are many of us who are looking for an even shorter short-cut than going in to your local professional spray tanning salon and getting spray tanned professionally... we want to do it ourselves!  Well, here are 10 quick tips as to how to correctly apply a "spray-tan-in-a-can"!!

1.  Properly prep your skin (we have an entire blog entry on what to do and how to do it properly)
2.  Shake the product well before applying
3.  Get someone to help you for those "hard to reach places".
4.  Start with the areas that you can easily see and reach... legs would be a good start!
5.  Spray between 4-6 inches away from your skin and apply in circular movement.
6.  Do not start and stop once you have started... keep a momentum going and be consistent with your circular strokes.
7.  Go lighter on these areas: hands, feet, ankles, neck, elbows, and knees.  They tend to develop darker as the skin can be different in these areas. 
8.  Once you have completed one healthy, even coat - let dry.  Allow your skin to develop for 8-12 hours before showering, sweating or getting wet. 
9.  Wait until after you have developed and showered before making a decision on color depth.  Do not keep applying spray until you reach your desired color depth (chances are.. you will turn out too dark or even orange!!)  You can always re-apply a light coat the next day to darken your skin.  Trying to go too dark - too fast can turn you orange (esp will lower quality tan in a can products).  Take it slow and spray in coats until you can get the hang of the indv product and how your skin is absorbing it.
10.  Start building your spray tan 48 hrs out from an event - so you have time to make adjustments to your color or uneven areas if necessary~

If the tan comes out un-even and you are unhappy, soak your skin in a warm bath for 10-15 min.  Using a mixture of peroxide and baking soda in a paste consistency, scrub your warm skin with a washcloth.  This should help decrease the uneven areas.  You could even try toothpaste too!  Good luck!!

To tip... or not to tip??

Customized Spray Tanning is a newer service to become available to the market and there seems to be confusion on what's appropriate or acceptable when it comes to tipping your customized spray tan technician. We get a lot of questions and inquiries in the salon as to what they should do. Our typical response to this is...

Tipping is a personal preference, always... so it's up to you!

But you might want to think about this too…

If you think your technician did a good job on your customized spray tan, I am sure they would appreciate an additional "Thank You" in the form of a tip, as any service related technician would appreciate. It is important they make you feel comfortable and provide excellent results!

If you were unhappy with your spray tan or the technician, perhaps a tip is not necessary. The same as you would alter your tip if you received bad service at a restaurant or a bad haircut.

One way you can think about this is... Customized Spray Tanning, although a newer service, is a service based industry none-the-less. If you think about other industries where you might typically tip someone, other serviced based industries should come to mind, such as nail salons, hair salons, spa estheticians, cosmetologists, waiters, massage therapists, etc.

If you typically tip these technicians for their customized services, than I would say you might want to tip your spray tan technician as well… but ONLY if you are happy with the service you received!

Proper Spray Tan Prep and Maintenance

Believe it or not, there is a proper way to prepare your skin for a spray tan. Here are the most important steps!

1. Shower and exfoliate your skin. Use a wash cloth to help get all the dead skin cells off your skin so that your spray tan can last as long as possible. Skin tends to slough off about every 14 days, so you want to make sure you exfoliate all the dead skin cells off your skin to provide a nice, clean slate for the spray tan to develop on.
- It's also a good idea to purchase BodiBronze Collection BodiCleanz pH Balancing Body wash to use as your prep and maintenance body wash. Being able to create and maintain properly balanced skin pH can have a direct impact on the spray tan outcome.
- Women going through menopause, pregnancy, monthly cycles, or those with poor eating habits (anything that can affect hormone levels) can have acidic tendencies in their skin. This can create a negative interaction with the spray tan solution as it develops. High acid levels in the skin can create an unattractive yellow or even orange "tint" to the spray tan results. This is why we want to make sure we neutralize any acid in the skin so the spray tan has the opportunity to develop properly.
- People that have very dry skin should be sprayed with a prepatory serum (such as a pH balancing spray or an Anti-Aging spray) that can add moisture to the skin before spray tan application. Dry skin will tend to over absorb the spray tan solution, so we want to add a prep spray onto the skin before applying the spray tan solution.

These things are all key to making sure you have great spray tan results each and every time!!

2. After you have showered and exfoliated your skin, it is important that you NOT apply any lotion, makeup or deodorant to your skin after showering.
- Depending on the lotion you use, the lotion can create a barrier between your skin and the spray tan solution. This barrier can affect how the spray tan develops, how it absorbs into your skin and how long the spray tan will eventually last.
- I do not recommend using salt scrubs or sugar scrubs to exfoliate your skin with before your spray tan appt. The oils that these scrubs can contain are barriers against a good spray tan as well.
- We do not want any makeup on your skin for the same reason. A lot of makeup can contain oils, mineral oils, chemicals, etc. We can avoid any negative interactions in the development process if makeup is not applied.
- We recommend that you not wear deodorant for the same reason... we understand this is difficult, but is needed to ensure great results. There are a lot of various types of deodorants on the market that contain chemicals for preventing perspiration... these chemicals could prevent the spray tan from developing at all or you could end up with white armpits, green armpits, yellow armpits or even orange armpits! So, please do not wear deodorant before your spray tan or during the 8-12 hrs you are developing.

3. Wear something dark and loose-fitting to spend the next 8-12 hrs in after your spray tan.
- We recommend that you wear dark clothing due to any cosmetic bronzers that may transfer onto your clothes. Typically, most sunless solutions should wash out from your clothing, but it's no fun to be going about your day with bronzer on your shirt. :)
- I recommend wearing loose-fitting clothes because tight fitting clothes can affect how the spray tan develops. You want the solution to absorb and develop on your skin, not on a pair of tight fitting jeans - leaving your legs lighter than the rest of your body.
- The spray tanner that we use here at BodiBronze Sunless Spa requires at least 8 hours of development. At 12 hours the spray tan is fully developed. There is no need to wear the solution on your skin for 24 hours, thinking that the longer you leave the solution on, the darker it will get. This is not the case. So feel free to shower at 12 hours or after a good night's sleep.

4. Please do not wash your hands or face, shower, sweat or get wet in that 8-12 hrs of development time.
- Interaction with soap, water, or sweat, can stop the bronzer from developing and leave affected areas lighter than the rest. So please refrain from dishes, washing the tub, washing your car, going to the gym, etc! Being spray tanned is an excuse to just relax :)

5. When you are ready to shower after 12 hrs (and throughout the life of your spray tan), do not use a loofa or washcloth in the shower. Just use water with a gentle soap (BodiCleanz pH Balancing Body Wash) and your hands.
- Using an exfoliating agent during your shower while you are airbrushed will decrease the life of the spray tan.

6. After you shower, it is imperative that you keep your spray tanned skin hydrated.
- Lotion your skin as much and as often as you can. A plain lotion is fine and will help to maintain your spray tan for 7-10 days. BodiBronze Collection makes a great bronzing lotion that can help maintain your spray tan for 10-14 days and can also help to create a tan all on its own called BodiExtendz Bronzing Moisturizer. This product is amazing and you will quickly become addicted to it, like me!

- If you do not moisturize your skin enough, your skin and the spray tan can become dried out and that is when you see problems with the spray tan flaking, peeling or becoming scaly.

So moisturize, moisturize, moisturize!!

Until next time... try these tricks out and you will be amazed at the results you can see!

Welcome... we won't turn you ORANGE! Promise...

My name is Kristin and I own BodiBronze Sunless Spa.  I have been eating, sleeping and living sunless tanning since 2007 and have experienced a lot in that time.  I feel that I have a lot to experience and advice to give.  I've dealt with skin conditions ranging from Vitiligo, tinea-vesicolor, extreme sunburns, sensitive skin, albino skin, and one rare care of a skin eating disease.  I have seen all there is to see and nothing suprises me anymore... so please don't hold back on your questions! 

Let's start off with one of the questions we get all the time:

ARE YOU GONNA TURN ME ORANGE??  My response... absolutely NOT!

I am new to this whole blogging world... but let's see if I can help ease the minds of many people out there thinking that sunless tanning = ORANGE tanning results!  This is not the case... sunless tanning has come a long way since the days of iodine and baby oil, people!

All natural ingredients, anti-oxidants, vitamins, botanicals, organic ingredients (if not entirely organic)... this is the new sunless world we live in now.

Now there are many various sunless solutions out there, and I cannot speak for them all.  We still have clients walking into the salon asking if we can "fix" their bad sunless tan.  I can tell you, that I would avoid Mystic tans in general.  We have more people coming in for a "fix" after being Mystic tanned than any other application... well.. outside of trying to do it themselves via a Walmart brand sunless tanner!  Which is never a good idea.  If you are paying $15 for a spray tan.. you can pretty much be assured, you are getting what you pay for!

Now Mystic does work for some people... and those Walmart specials work for others, but the majority of us need a little extra attention and advice!  And that is what I am here for. You have come to the right place for all your sunless tanning needs, questions, advice, complaints... etc!  So let me know what's on your mind!