I have done spray tanning for almost 10 years now, and I’ve done tons of spray tans on all kinds of clients. Throughout my years of experience I have compiled a list of things that can affect the results of a spray tan.
For starters some medications can affect the result of your tan, with thousands of medications to address all kinds of health issues; sometimes it becomes almost impossible to say exactly what medications can cause issues with your tan. But for the most part here is a broad list of what medications can affect your spray tan.
Some birth control pills
Thyroid medication
Antibiotics
Hormone injections, therapy or balancing pills.
Chemotherapy
Any medication that affects the skin or skin health can also affect a spray tan
If you notice most of the items on this list affect our hormones. More on our hormones below, so keep reading…
Some beauty practices and/or products that can affect your tan are:
The use of toners containing high amounts of alcohol or witch hazel might fade your tan (witch hazel extract is more gentle)
Waxing will fade or remove a tan faster
Soap bars, can be very harsh on the skin and your spray tan. Use an SLS (Sodium Lauryl Sulfate)-free body wash for a longer lasting tan and avoid at all costs DOVE soap bars before and after your spray tan.
Deodorant/High fragrance soaps should also be avoided during the life of your tan.
Anti-aging, brightening, smoothing, or skin renewal products are designed to accelerate our cells turn over causing rapid fading of your tan and/or blotchiness.
Body hair bleach products will also bleach the underlying skin.
Long hot baths, swimming pools (chlorine), fresh or salt water (applying a waterproof sun block before this practice it will help protect your tan).
Makeup remover, cleaning preparation or oils can fade a tan (avoid mineral oils).
Rough wash implement for daily washing (loofah, scrub mitts or scrub gloves, etc.)
Insect repellent.
Anti-acne products can cause faster fading, peeling, and blotchiness.
Showering to close to the appointment.
Conditioner residue on your skin, to avoid this wash your hair first then your body. This way you can make sure no product residue is left on your skin.
The list can go on, but this list does not mean it will affect you as each person is individually different. Most of the time it comes down to the PH of your skin, if any of your daily beauty routines and/or medications affect your skin’s PH balance it will most definitely affect your spray tan results.
Another interesting thing that might affect your spray tan is your period. Sometimes I will get a client mentioning that the previous tan was lighter than her past times. Most of the time we figure out it might have been something different in her skin care routine, meds etc. But it can also be if the client was on her period. Yes, during our periods out hormones are off and this can affect our skin. So if you are on your period, you might see lighter results. I don’t know about you guys, but I’ve had a few vacations times where I booked my vacation and aunt Flo decided to join in. Now at days with certain period tracking apps you might be able to avoid this dilemma when booking your holiday trip. But sometimes some special events are out of our control and if it is impossible to avoid going on vacation during your period due to other scheduling conflicts my recommendation is; if you want to get a darker looking tan is to book 2 spray tan sessions. The first spray tan should be done 3 days before your vacation and the second one the night before you leave for your holiday.
A spray tan is a cosmetic application; you still need to wear sunscreen to protect your skin. Make sure your skin is in the best shape for optimal results. If you have any particular questions before booking your appointment give me a call. I’ll be happy to discuss with you the best approach to achieve the best results possible for your individual concerns.