Graphic courtesy of Eva Erhardt.
Although the sun is still shining at about 80 degrees here in Atlanta, the fall season is approaching, and cooler weather will be here before we know it. Maybe you spent your summer catching some sun rays near the ocean or on a blazing hot rooftop pool in Midtown (with proper SPF, I hope), but now that school is back in session, who even has the time and patience to achieve a natural tan? Not to mention the health risks that can come with a sunburn if you’re out baking for too long — a red and peeling tan is precisely what you don’t want when catching up with old friends and taking new photos. And trust me, your skin doesn’t want that either.
Luckily, I spent my summer working full-time at Palm Beach Tan. I spent entire afternoons mixing custom spray tan cartridges, helping clients choose the perfect after-sun moisturizer for their skin type, and even testing PBT’s best-selling spray tan products myself after going home and clocking out. On average, I recite my spray tan spiel for our spray tanning booths to new clients at least 10 times a week, but that average has only grown in recent months as wedding season picks back up. After working at Palm Beach Tan for over a year at this point, I’ve learned every single tip and trick for achieving a flawless and natural-looking sunless tan.
If you’re considering trying a spray tan this fall, look no further. I’ve compiled my spray tan routine and expert advice into an easy, breezy, beautiful 12-step guide to help you get that gorgeous glow — no matter the occasion.
Step 1: The Everything Shower
We girls know The Everything Shower all too well. It’s exactly what it sounds like — the shower where you wash… well, everything. A typical Everything Shower can consist of any of the following: a hair mask, a shampoo, a conditioner, a face wash, a body wash and of course, shaving cream and a razor. But to be best prepared for a spray tan, you’ll also want to grab an oil-free exfoliator for your Everything Shower.
Whether you wash your hair or not during this Everything Shower is none of my business. But you definitely don’t want to skip exfoliating and shaving prior to a spray tan. Exfoliators are the key to a clean, smooth canvas that allows your spray tan to set evenly on your skin and last much longer. Otherwise, any dry or patchy areas of skin can flake off and cause inconsistencies in your tan.
For best results, start a warm shower and apply your exfoliator to damp skin, using circular motions all over your body, making sure to concentrate on your driest areas — think elbows, knees, hands, feet, and the backs of your ankles. I’ve tried a lot of different exfoliators, but my all-time favorite is the Black Label Body Exfoliant from the Premier Collection at PBT. This exfoliator is explicitly designed for spray tanners, so it does a phenomenal job removing everything, especially week-old spray tan. The entire Black Label line is a Palm Beach Tan exclusive — so you’ll have to stop by in-store to get your hands on it — but trust me, it’s totally worth the trip.
After exfoliating, rinse, apply a shaving cream and grab your razor. Lately, I like shaving with the No Apologies Tan Extending Shave Lotion from Designer Skin (which is also available at Palm Beach Tan). It’s a peach-tinted shave lotion that provides some instant color and necessary hydration. Plus, it acts as a shave minimizer, which helps your leg hair grow back thinner and slower. This is crucial for a spray tan; shaving while you have a spray tan on isn’t impossible, but it isn’t recommended if you want to preserve your color for a few more days.
Once your Everything Shower is complete, dry off and skip the lotion. Lotions (especially those that aren’t made for spray tans) will create an unwanted barrier between your skin and your tan — which not only makes your tan harder to put on, but easier to slip off. For best results, save the lotion until after the tanning salon.
Step 2: Arrive at Your Tanning Salon
When you arrive at a Palm Beach Tan near you, wear something black and loose-fitting with open-toed shoes. Avoid wearing perfume, makeup, jewelry, tights, socks, and boots. Perfume and makeup can hinder the spray tan from properly developing onto your skin, your jewelry will stain, and tight clothing and shoes might rub off some of your tan and cause uneven results.
A spray tan will look the most natural if you spray two days before the event you need a tan for, so if you’re a bridesmaid in a wedding on a Saturday, you’ll want to come by the tanning salon on Wednesday or Thursday. If you can, try and get to the salon between 10 a.m.- 6 p.m. to avoid long wait times. Palm Beach Tan is walk-in only, so you don’t need to call ahead of time to make an appointment.
When you check in, your tanning consultant will ask how dark you want your spray tan to be. For the SunScape spray booth, you can choose between a light, medium or dark cartridge. In my experience, a light spray tan doesn’t provide any color for me at all, and a medium spray tan gives me a nice and subtle glow. But when I get a dark spray tan, my regulars at PBT often ask me if I just got back from a tropical vacation.
Spray tans at Palm Beach Tan are also fully customizable, which helps your spray tan look like your natural tan, not just something that came in a bottle. Your tanning consultant will check to see if you have warmer or cooler skin tones and will color-match you with bronzers according to your skin type.
You can also add other additives to your spray tan, including color stay, rapid enhance and scents. Color stay protects against rain and sweat while helping ensure your spray tan doesn’t transfer onto any clothes or bedsheets. The rapid enhance speeds up the development process, and the scents keep you smelling fresh and not like that terrible spray tan odor.
Once you choose your spray tan additives, your tanning consultant will mix everything up for you and walk you back to the SunScape spray booth.
Step 3: Prime, Prime, Prime
Priming your skin right before a spray tan is a must. After all, you wouldn’t paint a wall without priming it first, right? The paint won’t apply as even and smooth otherwise. Treating your skin the same way will make for a perfect spray tan every time.
My all-time favorite primer is the Black Label Flawless Primer from the Premier Collection. Its bronze tint provides some extra color, but it’s also super hydrating with a slight tackiness that ensures that my spray tan binds to my skin. For best results, I apply a light, even layer of this primer to my entire body — including my face — about two minutes before I get into the spray booth.
If you’re in a time crunch, another great primer option at Palm Beach Tan is the Sunsational Purple Priming Mist from the Premier Collection. This priming mist is great for prepping hard-to-reach areas before a spray tan, but I love this one because the purple mist specifically works to neutralize orange tones in your tan. Regardless of your primer choice, you’ll want to apply it and let it dry before moving on to barrier cream.
Step 4: Apply Barrier Cream to Dry Areas
Barrier cream is what’s necessary for an evenly blended spray tan. Fortunately, Palm Beach Tan keeps their spray rooms stocked with barrier cream, completely free of charge. But barrier cream can get tricky if you don’t know what you’re doing.
After priming, you’ll want to rub a thin layer of barrier cream into your hands and feet. If it’s too thick, the barrier cream will act as — well, a barrier. The key here is to help your spray tan blend with your skin, not block the spray tan from your skin. I also like to put a light layer of barrier cream on my dry areas, focusing on my elbows, knees, knuckles, and ankles.
I learned this last barrier cream tip the hard way: make sure to put the cream on your nails, too, so they don’t stain. If I have a fresh pink manicure, I apply globs of white barrier cream on top of my nails until I can’t see the pink polish anymore. I do the same for my toenails, too. That way, they don’t turn brown as my spray tan develops. Once all your lotions are on, there’s just one more step before you start your spray tan session.
Step 5: Prep the SunScape Booth
In addition to the barrier cream, Palm Beach Tan will fully stock your spray room with hair nets, nose plugs, lip balm, and baby wipes. You’ll want to take advantage of these for best results.
First, make sure to secure your hair with a hair tie before putting on your hair net. I like to double up on hair nets to ensure the spray tan doesn’t stain my hair. Just check that your hairnets are sitting right where your hairline starts — if your hairnet is in the middle of your forehead, you’ll have a bizarre tan line.
The nose plugs are also a must for me. Otherwise, I’m blowing bronzed snot out of my nose for the rest of the afternoon. The nose plugs help ensure that the spray tan is actually going on you, not inside of you.
I also apply the pomegranate lip balm that PBT provides before my spray. It’s thick and moisturizing, and I wipe the lip balm away after my session so my lips stay pink and don’t stain.
And last but not least, the baby wipes. Before my spray tanning session, I’ll place two baby wipes on the metal foot pads in the SunScape booth, which has saved my life many times. You won’t want to get any spray tan on the bottom of your feet — not only is it a dead giveaway that you got an artificial tan, but it’s also hard to remove once the damage is already done. Luckily, the baby wipes keep the bottoms of my feet nice and clean. And once step five is complete, it’s finally time to spray.
Step 6: Spray!
In the SunScape booth, you’ll wave your hand in front of the green flashing censor after you’re all prepped and ready. Honestly, the prep work takes longer than the actual spray tan itself — the spraying process only takes about three to five minutes.
When it’s time to spray, turn your palms away from you. The SunScape will talk to you the entire time, and she’ll tell you exactly when to turn — so don’t worry, I promise you won’t end up like Ross from Friends.
Step 7: Conclude Your Session
After your session, remove your hair nets and your nose plugs, and be sure to wipe your hands off with baby wipes, especially your palms. For me, this final baby wipe trick at the end helps my spray tan look a lot more natural. Because, let’s face it, no one’s hands are that tan after a week at the beach.
Step 8: Wait 6 to 8 Hours
You may not notice much immediate color right after your spray tan, but this is completely normal. Spray tans develop darker and darker over time, and it’ll take about six to eight hours before your spray tan is fully developed (unless you added a rapid enhance additive to your spray tan, which will only take about two to four hours).
It’s crucial to avoid sweating, swimming, or showering within those six to eight hours after your spray. Otherwise, your tan will drip right off. If it’s raining, stay inside. And if you’re feeling sad, don’t let anyone make you cry! Save those tears for your first rinse.
Step 9: Rinse (and Moisturize!)
Once your tan darkens to its fullest, it’s time to rinse off in the shower. But don’t pick up your soap! This first rinse is just so your spray tan can lock in that color and moisture. Pat dry with a towel and follow up with an oil-free moisturizer. Hydrated skin holds a tan far better than dry skin does, so this moisturizer will be your best friend for the next week or so when it comes to maintaining your spray tan.
My holy grail is the Black Label Black Ice Moisturizer from the Premier Collection. It’s a hydrating tinted lotion that gradually builds a spray tan color over time while working to cool and tighten the skin. Plus, it smells amazing, just like the rest of the Black Label line. Remember: wash your hands after using this lotion — I learned that one the hard way, too.
Step 10: Shower with a Hydrating Body Wash
Later the next day, I shower with my Black Label Indulgent Body Wash, which is formulated to cleanse and moisturize skin without stripping away spray tan. A little bit of this stuff goes a long way; I only need the tiniest bit compared to other body washes. If you can’t get your hands on a body wash made for spray tans, find one without oils or sulfates for the best results.
Step 11: Touch-Up with Spray Your Way
To lengthen the life of your spray tan for as long as possible, you’ll want to invest in a great touch-up item. Your local tanning salon will have plenty of sprays, mousses, and lotions to choose from, but for me, the most effective is the Spray Your Way Customizable Self-Tanning Mist from the Premier Collection. This product is essentially a SunScape spray tan in a little to-go bottle. Your tanning consultants at Palm Beach Tan will take those same color-matched bronzers and scents from your SunScape spray tan and add them to a Spray Your Way bottle for you to take home. That way, if you need to make any touch-ups, you won’t have to worry about finding a different product to match your spray tan.
I love spritzing a little bit of my SYW on my face every few days to freshen up my tan. I wash my face a lot, so my face tends to get a little paler over time compared to the spray tan on the rest of my body — which, I can’t lie, can look a little alarming by the fifth day. Whether you’re blending it all over or just using it to contour your forehead and your cheekbones, the Spray Your Way mist gives spot-on color every single time. With this product (plus the others mentioned in this guide), my spray tans can last up to 10 or 12 days after my initial spray.
Step 12: Repeat!
Once your event is over and you’ve reached the point where you’ve touched up for as long as you can, you can go back in with your exfoliator to remove the rest of your spray tan. And since you’re already exfoliating… you might as well take another Everything Shower and head back to the tanning salon for another one!
After all, you finally made it through this spray tanning guide, so you’re definitely one of the pros now.
