Spraying an Airbrush Tan

Customer’s skin should be clean, dry and exfoliated (exfoliate and shave the night before if possible). This means no makeup, deodorants, perfumes, moisturizers, etc. Have baby wipes available for any last minute wash ups. Follow up with water and a towel in case of moisturizer in the wipes. Any oil residue on the skin can interfere with the tan color or even prevent it from tanning the skin.

Most clients will want to tan topless. Some will go completely nude or wear a bikini or thong bottom. Darker colors (not white) are recommended, although Healthy Glow tanning solution will wash out. If you want to purchase tanning stickers, these are a great way for your tanners to see the results and show them off.

Pin up any hair off of ears and neck. DHA will not react to anything but skin, so you can assure your clients that their hair will not tan, nor their eyebrows. On most clients, even blondes, the tanner's guide color tan doesn't even show up on the hair. The only thing hair caps leave is an unwanted hard tan line on the forehead, neck or ears if they slip. Clips are best in the long run.

Use vaseline on feet, hands, elbows, heels, anywhere you think you might be drier and need to moisturize. It's ok to moisturize with X-Tend before a tanning session. Use petroleum jelly to block tanner from getting on palms and soles of feet. This can also be used on acrylic nails and/or cuticles. Contact paper on the soles of feet is also more convenient than disposable footies, which leave lines.

There are various client stances that can be used, depending on your facility.

Use small circular motions. Begin moving your hand before you press down on the trigger. This will help you avoid "hot spots". Stay about 6 inches from the body at about 10 psi on your air compressor. Be sure to remember to back off and go lightly on hands, feet and elbows.

It's good to start at the ankle, work your way up to the thigh, watch the knees, and then go back to the foot. Then do the back of that leg. Switch legs. Then start the torso at the bikini line. Do the front and back torso and back of neck before moving on to the arms. Pick and arm and completely finish it before going to the other arm. Be careful on elbows and hands. Have client bend the arm to get the elbow well, minding the inside of the elbow for creases in the tan that can be fixed. Have client bend fingers so you can get the knuckles, but don't spray them until they're soaked. Go easy on the fingers, they'll soak up more color than the rest of the arm. After 24 hours, they'll look as dark as the arm with less product. Then do the face. Don't forget to pre-arrange a hand signal when they need to breathe. Make sure their eyes are closed. Don't go too hard on the ears and don't get inside the ears. Be sure to get under the chin and neck well. Now, go back and do touch ups on missed or lighter areas. Check the undersides of the arms, those are the most often missed because of unavoidable shadowing. Check the insides of the thighs. Check under the buttocks for the "smiley face" white line. You may need to have your client squat so you can get some tan there, too. Although I think it gives a more natural looking tan to have some areas, like the cheek crease, that don't tan as dark naturally.

Amount of solution will vary, depending on your psi, the size of your client and depth of color desired. 2-3 ounces is the average.

If you make a mistake and get a run or blotch, pat area gently with a paper towel (flat not crinkled). Do not try to rub the area. You can re-spray lightly to blend in new color.

The following products will lighten or make an airbrush tan spotty:

-Dove Soap and Shower Gel

-Curel Lotion

-Hair Thinning Lotion or Removing Lotion

-Anti-aging products or AHA's

-Beta Hydroxy Acids-salicylic acid)

-Retin-A type products (Retin-A, Renova, Tazorac, Tretinoin)

-Toners containing Alcohols or Witch Hazel

-Anti-acne products(Accutane, salicylic acid)

-Loofas

-BandAids pull off layers of "tan"

-Facial masks and scrubs

-Pore cleansing facial strips

-Wax depilatories

-Depilatory products

-Shaving with a dull razor (try to always have a fresh new razor for shaving legs)

-Pat dry instead of rubbing

-Bleach products for body hair

-Hot tubs, chlorine and salt water

-A woman's tan can be directly affected by her hormones. Considering her cycle, it can cause blotchiness or the color not to develop as dark as normally. It's not common, but it happens.

-Oily skin types usually develop lighter and require and extra spray in 24-48 hours to get your base color.

-Bug sprays - try to spray your clothes instead of you. If you must have it on you, spray a "cloud" to go through.

-Excessive sweating, such as that in sneakers in the summer, can make your color guide look greenish or yellowish, and will fade your tan. Try to avoid sneakers and excessive sweating (like workouts) until your colorguide has been showered off 6-8 hours later.

Sunless tanners contain DHA (dihydroxyacetone) which reacts with the amino acids in the top (dead) layer of skin. DHA reacts with amino acids to make bronze-colored melaninoids.

Sunless tanners are great for people with Rosacea who want to hide the pink and red splotches caused by a flare-up. It is also a miracle worker for those with Vitiligo, although they may need to tan as often as every other day, depending on skin color.

Scars - if they get any color at all it's usually light. The newer the scar, the less tanner it will absorb. Old stretchmarks will be covered by airbrush tanning. Newer ones won't as much, but as they age and heal, they will disappear under your airbrush tan.

Putting a dab of petroleum jelly in your belly button will keep it from getting too dark.

Your tan will not fully develop for 24 hours. It is recommended that you wait at least that long before getting a 2nd spray. You may get darker than you think. Wait 6-8 hours after your tan to shower off your guide color. The longer your leave it on, the better.

Moisturize your airbrush tan every day, twice a day if you have dry skin.

Tanning Statistics
According to the American Association of Dermatology, over one million people visit some form of tanning bed a day despite all warnings about the link of UV rays (natural and artificial) to the development of skin cancer. Half of all new cancer cases are skin cancer. There are more than one million new cases of skin cancer every year. The cases of Melanoma (the non-treatable form of skin cancer) have more than tripled among Caucasians from 1980 to 2002. Despite the clear and present danger of Cancer, there is also wrinkling, sun poisoning and communicably transmitted diseases from unclean, unsterile tanning beds.