LadyH's

advice column

about

advice

Ok well its summer and all and i want to try to do a airbrush tan and the one where someone does it for you. it takes me a while to get tan and when i do it goes away after like a week....okay so i was wondering does it really work? or does it turn you orange?

I was always iffy about the idea of airbrushing/spray tan, until a few days ago. I finally decided to try spray tan when I knew a few people who went to my tanning salon & actually looked really good from it. There are things about it that aren't great & there are things about it that are wonderful. I believe the paler you are, the more orange your results will be. I am naturally pale & when I went, it did look a little orangish, but ONLY for the first day. The thing is, if you don't want orangish blotches/streaks you have to: shower/exfoliate beforehand, don't wear any makeup & apply lotion afterwords to even it out. Yes, it really is a hassle the first day, so don't go on a day you plan to go anywhere or wear nice clothes. My clothes got gross (I expected it & I was prepared), I had to be careful with what came in contact with my skin because anything that rubbed against it would cause a streak or some type of uneveness on my skin. Technically, it wasn't completely set in/dry until about 5 hours later. I had to apply lotion to continue evening it out about 2-3 times before the day was over. The next morning, the orangish went away after my shower & it looked completely fine! It actually doesn't look bad AT ALL if you know what to do & do it right. It only cost me $15 for one session when I went. Expect to pay anywhere from there to $30 a session & go 2-4 times a month to maintain it. I don't know how much more it is to someone personally do it for you. The upside of it is - you don't need to worry about skin cancer. I am someone who has definitely had too many years in a tanning bed & will never get in one again. So the spray tan/airbrushing is definitely a better alternative, even if I have to do a few things to get the results I want.

[view]