How to Make Your Spray Tan
Last 10 days.
We’ll tell you in the studio and text you the full guide, but if you’re someone who likes to understand the whybehind a rule, here’s the long version.
A spray tan lives on dead skin
The color from your tan sits in the outermost layer of skin — the part that’s already made of cells your body is done with. That layer sheds constantly (a full turnover takes about two weeks). Everything that makes a tan fade is either speeding up the shedding or stripping the color off the surface.
Every single aftercare rule is about slowing one of those two things down.
The short list that matters
1. Moisturize twice a day
Hydrated skin sheds more slowly than dry skin. Apply a lightweight, oil-free moisturizer every morning and every night, starting 24 hours after your first rinse. Ceramide-based lotions are ideal (CeraVe daily moisturizing lotion, Aveeno daily, drugstore options work great). Skip anything with body oil or high cocoa butter content.
2. Short, warm showers
Long hot showers are the single fastest way to fade a spray tan. Hot water accelerates cell turnover and the tan goes with it. Keep showers under 10 minutes and lukewarm — warm enough to be pleasant, not hot enough to steam the bathroom.
3. Skip oils, exfoliants, and bar soap
- Oils break down the DHA/melanoidin bond chemically. Bath oils, body butters, anything with high coconut oil or argan content — put them on pause for 10 days.
- Exfoliants physically strip the tan off. Scrubs, loofahs, anything with micro-beads, chemical exfoliants (AHA, BHA, retinol body lotions).
- Bar soap leaves a film that dulls the tan and is often more alkaline than liquid body wash. Switch to a gentle sulfate-free clear body wash.
4. No chlorine, no hot tubs
Chlorine is basically custom-engineered to strip color off skin. A single 30-minute dip in a chlorinated pool can take a fresh tan down to 50% in one sitting. Hot tubs are worse (heat plus chlorine). Saltwater is slightly more forgiving but still fades faster than a regular shower.
The small stuff that compounds
Pat, don’t rub
When you towel off, pat. Rubbing is physical exfoliation. Same goes for a washcloth — just let warm water run over the skin and use hands. No scrubbing.
Loose clothing for the first day
Tight waistbands, tight bra straps, and tight leggings can leave pressure marks and friction patches in the first 24 hours while the tan is setting. Dark, loose, drapey clothes are your friend.
Don’t shave too aggressively
Shaving is fine — it’s mild exfoliation, not a tan-killer. But dragging a dull razor over the same spot 4 times strips the tan from that spot. Fresh, sharp razor, single passes, plenty of shave gel.
Drink water
Dehydrated skin flakes faster than hydrated skin. It’s not a dramatic effect but it’s a real one. Drink your water.
The biggest mistakes
The things that cut a tan in half, in order of how often we see them:
- A long hot shower within 24 hours of the tan. Cuts the tan lifespan roughly in half by itself.
- Coconut oil or body oil applied in the first 48 hours. Breaks the tan down chemically.
- Dry brushing, loofahs, or exfoliating gloves. Physically removes the tan from wherever they touch.
- Chlorinated pools. A single long swim can take 2–3 days of color off.
- Bar soap. Less dramatic than the above but compounds daily.
What fading looks like
A good tan fades evenly — it goes from “bold” to “natural” to “subtle” over 7–10 days, then finally disappears. A tan that’s been abused fades patchy — dark on the legs, faded on the elbows, blotchy around the knees. If you’re seeing that, it’s usually one of the mistakes above.
Ready for the next one?
If you’ve been patchy in the past, it’s probably aftercare, not the tan itself. Book your next one via the Request Appointment form and let us know — we can walk through it at the appointment. The full aftercare guide also lives on the Pre/Post Tan Care page.