A Longer Sunless Tan

Our customers ask us on a daily basis how they can go about prolonging their spray tan. Basically, they just want their golden airbrushed tan to last a little longer. There are a few things people can do to lengthen the life of their spray tan.

One of the first things we ask our customers to do is to exfoliate their skin prior to getting airbrushed. The outer layer of skin, the area that gets tanned, is subject to the regular, natural exfoliation that the body goes through. The body naturally leaves some areas drier than others and using a dermal exfoliator helps remove the dry skin leaving it fresh to serve as the base for the sunless tan. Exfoliating helps prolong the tan because your body won’t shed the fresher skin as quickly as it would have the drier skin.

The second step to getting a longer lasting sunless tan is by preparing the skin with a PH balance spray just prior to the spray tan. The PH balance treatment will help remove excess oils and perfumes and helps the tanning solution penetrate the outer skin layer.

Showering immediately after airbrush tanning is a huge mistake. Showering, and doing any activity that may cause sweating, right after tanning could cause streaks to form and does not give the skin enough time to absorb the tanning agent (DHA). It is best to ask your supply representative how long customers should wait before showering given that various airbrush tanning solutions have different development periods. There are accelerated solutions that require about 4-5 hours, and the more common solution requires about 10-12 hours to set.

Since the active ingredient (DHA)in the tanning solution has a drying effect, it is imperative that moisturizer is used, afterward, to help make the tan last longer. Keeping moisturized helps the body refrain from naturally exfoliating the skin as quickly, leading to a longer tan. In addition to regular moisturizing, there are moisturizers with DHA that help keep the tan maintained a little better by lightly tanning the skin.

Wearing loose clothing also helps prolong the tan. Any clothes that may cause friction against the skin acts as an exfoliator. Basically, you don’t want your skin to exfoliate, because that would mean you losing your tan at a quicker rate.

Three Tips to a Better Tan

If you have a home tanning bed or if you are considering tanning at a tanning salon, you want to make sure you get the best possible tan. Following are three tips to get a better tan when using a home or commercial tanning bed.

Use a tanning accelerator – Most indoor tanning lotions have ingredients that help you produce more melanin while tanning. More melanin produced means a darker tan. Tanning lotions also have ingredients to keep your skin moisturized during and after your tanning session.

Use a daily moisturizer – Tanning in tanning beds causes most people to sweat. This can make your skin dry if you are not using an accelerator or a moisturizer to replenish the moisture lost. Having dry skin can actually deflect the UV tanning rays and if this happens, you are not getting the most out of your tanning session.

Do not overexpose – I know we live in a society where we want to get the most out of what we pay for. This can be a negative when trying to achieve the best tan. For example, you pay $8.00 for a tanning session and the maximum time on that tanning bed is 20 minutes. The tanning salon attendent makes a recommendation of 12-14 minutes based on your skin type. You argue that you can go in longer and actually talk them into the full 20 minutes. If you burn, your skin will exfoliate faster and you will end up back at the beginning. Building a tan is a gradual process. It is better to gradually build up your tan than to be overexposed.