Clients always ask us “how long will my airbrush spray tan last?”so lets take a minute to talk about it. We always tell our clients that your spray tan will last between 5 and 8  days, but some clients can get their tan to last longer. How do they do that? With our “prep and maintenance” tips! These tips are some things that you can do before you tan to prep your skin, as well as some thing you can do after to extend the life of your tan.

Lets talk about prepping your skin for the spray tan, the first thing you want to do is wax. If you do wax you will want to do this about 2 days prior to your airbrush spray tan treatment. The reason for this is that left over wax residue will block the absorption the spray tanning solution, which you don’t want. It’s also important to note is that you will not want to wax after you tan because you will actually wax off your tan. If you shave you can do this the night before or the same day as you airbrush treatment, whichever you prefer. The next and most important thing you can do to prep is to exfoliate your skin. Most people don’t know that humans are actually like snakes, we shed our skin every 28 days. So when you exfoliate your skin you are getting rid of the dead and dying skin that is ready to fall off any ways, that way the tanning solution will adhere to your soft, fresh, new skin. You can use a wash cloth, body brush, or a scrub to exfoliate your skin, they will all work well.

Immediately after you tan, wear LOOSE dark clothing. Remember that the color you are seeing is just the spray tanning bronzer and it takes about four hours for the solution to absorb into your skin and give you that natural and healthy glow. So if you put on something tight, like a bra, it will rub the solution off of your skin before it has a chance to absorb and it will look like you wore that bra when you were tanning. Also don’t wash your hands for at least eight hours. This is important as well because if you get wet at all or get any splash marks it will wash away the solution and you will be left with what ever water spots you see. And finally don’t put on any lotion until after you take your fist shower and wash off all the bronzer.

To prolong the life of your tan we recommend that you wait at least 8-10 hours before you take your first shower, preferable the next day. If you do decide to sleep on your tan remember that the bronzer has a tendency to rub off; lay some towels out on your bed so it doesn’t get on your sheets, but if the bronzer does rub off it will come out very easily. Whenever you decide to take your first shower remember that you will see some color running off and going into the drain. DO NOT PANIC, this is just the bronzer and its completely normal. When you do shower remember that the solution is sugar based and when sugar gets warm it melts, so do not take long hot showers, quick and cool. After your shower pat yourself dry with a towel, do not rub. Then apply a generous amount of lotion. The best advice we can give you is to put on as much lotion as you possible can, remember we are like snakes so the more moisturized your skin is the longer your tan will last.

For more tanning tips check out our “Prep and Maintenance” page.