At home tanning…

You WERE planning a lazy night in watching absolute junk on telly and all of a sudden your BFF calls and tells you have an hour to get ready because you’re both going out no excuse!

So, If you’re anything like me the first thing you dread is tanning yourself *SIGH*
And for pure laziness you think “Hey, I’ll just tan the places that are showing!”
First things first though before you rush to the first bottle you see on your shelf…

• Tanning mitt/gloves or as a last resort even an old sock! “Yes I’ll own up to it I’VE DONE IT but I swear I had no other choice”  The last thing you want is really dark hands as if you’ve been eating your favourite curry with your hands…

• Find the best lighting for applying the tan “the best place is usually where you take all the best selfies like the bathroom for me” You DONT want one leg darker than the other.
Try not to put too much on the rough places like knees and elbows they can sometimes grab the tan and may look grubby.

• Slow down on the face there Lindsay Lohan! Bronzer can help with making your skin more sun kissed without it looking like you’ve singed up to Movember.

Or you could ignore all this and just wear a full body suit!

Now spray tanning…

Patchy Feet
Combination of too much tan, sweaty feet and not exfoliating your foot proper before tanning.
If we look closely “not that you’ll like to” we can see it really is too much tan and the customer may have put their shoes on straight after their tan. As said earlier dry skin areas can ‘grab’ the tan so if the skin is quite dry apply a ‘small’ amount of barrier cream to create a light barrier (it shouldn’t completely block the tan).

The Fix
(Sticky feet) are a great invention in the tanning world – they will prevent the soles of your feet becoming tanned. Leaving your shoes off a little bit longer immediately after tanning to give your tan time to fully soak into the skin will prevent the tan rubbing off so easily – slippers/ flip flops are most peoples chosen footwear to wear to their appointment.

Wrinkly arms and knees
Women and men of all ages get spray tans. Those of a ‘certain age’ may have various wrinkled parts such as the elbows which you may need to pay particular attention to  “in other worlds elasticity is heading off south”

The Fix

Make sure your arms are slightly bent when getting a spray tan. This isn’t easy to rectify but easier to avoid, make sure you check as you probably won’t know until someone points it out *EMBARASINGGG!.

Sweaty Feet
Gym goers and feet sweat “SEXY”. Summer does pose some challenges for tanning!

The Fix
Looser footwear is a must! Obviously I wouldn’t recommend going to the gym barefoot but I also wouldnt recommend going straight to the gym after getting a tan. The only fix is to either exfoliate and re-visit the salon or self tan the area to bronze those feet!

Tinea Versicolour
White dots that appear almost instantly mostly found on the face, neck, shoulders trunk or legs.

Sweaty Pits
This happens a lot in summer and can also appear from poor application.

The Fix:
When your tan has developed have your usual wash but grab a flannel and try to exfoliate around the area so as to try to blend it out. Ring your spray tanner for a touch up on that area! If it’s a small area some bronzer will help blend it in. Prevention is better than the cure – try to wear loose clothing and stay cool.

The Crocodile/ Lizard Look
This “amazing” look can be achieved by continual tanning on top of each other, can be caused by dry skin or DHA sensitivity.

The Fix
Apply less tan or you can try heavily moisturising (with water based moisturiser) 24 hours before your tan and before you exfoliate to hydrate your skin. For DHA sensitivity lower the percent of the solution – it maybe because you’re using a much a higher percentage than your skin will accept “or you could LAY OF THE TAN for a bit tanning addicts”