Posts Tagged ‘spray tanning’
Labor Day Weekend Festivities
This weekend is Labor Day Weekend aka the unofficial end to the summer season. For one last hurrah before the kids go back to school and I return to work we will venture out to the beach. Before we go, my eldest daughter and I are going to get spray tans.
It will be a nice treat for me and her. She is about to be a senior in high school, which means next fall she’ll be off to college. While the technicians are applying the sunless tanning solution, she and I can have a nice chat. I’m looking forward to our bonding time and to the weekend festivities.
Hawaiian Vacation
After saving up for quite some time, I was finally able to take the Hawaiian vacation of my dreams. I opted to visit Oahu, the most visited of the islands. I visited all the famous sites including Diamond Head, Pearl Harbor, and the Polynesian Cultural Center. Of course, I also spent a lot of time on the beach at Waikiki lounging about, swimming, and attempting to surf.
In anticipation of the trip, I bought a few new swimsuits, sarongs, and decorated flip flops. To hide the fact that I work in a sunless office all day, I opted to get a sunless tan from a local mobile sunless tanning company. They gave me a great glow that looked fantastic with my vacation wardrobe.
Getting Rid Of Tan Lines
We’ve all been there before. When planning a tropical vacation we want to pick a bikini that’s flattering without causing obvious tan lines. Full-piece bathing suits are great for swimming laps in the community pool, but a poor choice for sunbathing. When you wear a Lycra bikini you will notice those unsightly folds of fat are smoothed and those droopy bits are supported.
Lycra material has a miraculous effect on hiding embarrassing bulges. So even if your body isn’t perfect you can still wear a bikini-just make sure it’s made from Lycra. You will appreciate the lack of obvious tan by using a sunless spray tan to eliminate lines and feel confident about your sex appeal.
Spray Tan Preparation
To achieve a perfected sun-kissed look, sunless spray tan is the way to go. Before getting a tan there you will need to prepare your skin. Make sure your skin is clean. That means you should not wear perfume, lotion, deodorant, or other products on your body. The ingredients in these items can cause the tanning solution to apply unevenly or the wrong color.
Just prior to your sunless spray tan session, the technician may ask you to put on a hairnet. This will keep the solution from getting into your hair. Barrier cream should be rubbed over your fingernails, cuticles, and any dry skin areas (i.e. elbows and knees). The barrier cream will keep the solution from pooling.
Getting Vacation Ready
I live in the Pacific Northwest and even though it’s now mid-July we’re still experiencing what I consider to be spring weather. Most days it’s been slightly breezy and in the 60s – far better than the sweltering 90 plus degrees weather other parts of the country have been experiencing. The cooler weather has kept me in jeans and light sweatshirts thus far, which would be fine except that I’m going to the Southwest on vacation next week.
The weather down south is far hotter and more humid than it is here. I’ve neglected tanning since I’ve been so covered up, so I needed to find a quick solution. Fortunately, I got a great spray tan salon recommendation from a friend. I explained to the technician the color I wanted and she adjusted the DHA levels in the spray tanning solution accordingly. Now that I’ve got a natural looking glow, I’m truly ready for vacation.
Golden Age of Spray Tanning
Spray tanning has experienced a boom over the last decade. Once considered to be in the realm of celebrity, now everyone has access to fake tans. From noticeably darker politicians to reality stars like Snooki and Kelly Osbourne, everyone is jumping on the spray tanning wagon.
In an article I recently read, an owner of a spray tanning salon in Virginia said that his business has grown by 50 percent over the last year. He estimated that he mixes 6,000 gallons of spray tan solution each week. Pricing for spray tans ranges from affordable to expensive, with some sessions going for as much as $100. One high-end technician justifies the cost by saying that some of her elite clientele will spend $300 just to have their make-up done for one night. In this golden age, there is a lot of money to be made.
Extending the Life of Your Tan
Spray on tans are a fantastic alternative to baking on the beach, but a spray tan tends not to last as long as a natural tan. There are a few simple steps you can take to extend the life of your artificial tan. For starters, exfoliate your skin prior to getting a tan. You want the spray tan to soak into healthy skin, not come off with dead, flaking skin.
Second, do not put on any moisturizer prior to getting a spray tan. Any lotion left on the body will cause the spray tan to come out blotchy with some areas of skin soaking in more of color than other areas. Do not exfoliate in the days after your tan. Finally, ask your technician about lotions that will moisturize your skin and extend the life of the tan.
Getting Beach Ready in an Instant
This past Friday, I received an invitation from a good friend to take a day-trip to the beach over the weekend. The weather just recently jumped from spring to summer, so I wasn’t fully prepared for a beach outing. Still, a weekend at the beach was a break too good to pass up.
I rummaged through my drawers and found some bathing suits from last season that still fit, thanks in part to Zumba classes over the winter. My skin, on the other hand, was pale as can be. A quick trip to the salon for some airbrush tanning took care of that. The technician customized the tan to my skin tone so I looked naturally sun kissed. By the next morning I was ready to hit the beach!
Preparing for a Sunless Tan
Before I get a sunless tan, I have a beauty regimen I strictly follow to prepare my skin. First, I thoroughly exfoliate my skin with a body polisher used on dry skin. Then, I hop in the shower to wash away dead skin cells. I pat my skin dry and check that all cuts and scrapes have healed properly.
When I’ve completed my exfoliating ritual I’m ready for a spray tan. I’ve found a great technician who makes house calls with her mobile tanning booth. Her concierge service allows me to get a perfect tan from the comfort and privacy of my own home. My beauty regimen gets big thumbs up from the technician because it makes her job easier in terms of ensuring that the spray tan absorbs evenly and easily into the skin.
Troubleshooting Client Complaints
Every now and then a client will call in saying that their tan is somehow messed up. As an experienced technician, chances are that you did nothing wrong in the application. The problem lies with the customer, so keep a few of these tips in mind to pinpoint why a customer’s tan doesn’t look the way she or he wanted.
For instance, if a client says that they have white marks going down the sides of their legs, ask them if they wore skinny jeans the same day as their session. Seams on skinny jeans can rub against the legs causing the sunless spray tan to rub off. Complaints of light patches behind the knees, inner arms, and back may be a result of night sweating. Have your client get sprayed first thing in the morning and then they can shower at night before bed. Finally, if a client claims they have no color on their calves and feet, a pedicure is probably the culprit, as the foot bath washes away color.