Your Spray on Tan Guide: aka We Only Want Terrific Tans!

If you want a spray on tan for yourself, your best friend, or hundreds of people a day. It doesn't matter how many. It doesn't matter how often. You've found the right place.

The Sunless Spray Tan Process in a Nutshell

1. Spray tanning solution on the client's skin.
2. DHA inside the solution reacts with proteins in the skin cells.
   
3. The client waits 4-6 hours before showering.
   
4. Voila! They're tan.

Questions to Ask Yourself Before You Begin

1. Who sprays the tan?
   
2. Where is the tan sprayed?
   
3. Why spray someone?
   
4. What equipment do you need?
   
5. How can you get trained?
   
6. What safety issues exist?
   
7. What problems, aka troubleshooting, will you run into?

Who sprays the tan?

• People spray themselves. Well, a friend or spouse usually does the spraying which generally results in the least expensive tan.
  
• You or your employee sprays the client.  A well trained airbrush technician sprays the highest quality tan with the most room for special requests.
  
• A machine sprays the client which generally results in the fastest, most consistent tan.

Where is the tan sprayed?

• Home (usually in the shower).  This is usually the least expensive place to be tanned.
  
• Tanning Salons generally offer lots of choices and speed.
  
• Day Spas offer the best experience.
  
• Dermatologist offer skill.  They are specifically skiled atl concealing various skin problems.
  
• Mobile Service are convenient.

Why spray someone?

Before you can decide how you're going to deliver a spray on tan you really should know what kind of spray on tan you wish to give.

To aid you in this decision let me introduce the project triangle.

You can only choose up to two options.

This means that you can give...

1. A fast, quality airbrush tan that's expensive.
2. A cheap, fast spray on tan that won't be very good.
3. A cheap, quality spray tan, that takes time.

Think about your goals. Different people want different things. It's okay to focus on cheap, or quality, or speed, but know what your focus is so that you can do it.

Me? I always choose quality. My projects, articles, and endeavors can be really slow, really expensive, somewhere in-between, but always the best I can write.

What equipment do you need?

The 'who', 'where' and 'why' determine the kind of equipment you'll look at.

Products compete for your attention. If you don't know what you're looking for it's a confusing mess. And when you're starting out how can you possibly know what you shoul dbe looking for?  

Don't panic.

There's really only two ways to choose your equipment.

• Mix and Match—I like to call it the Do It Yourself path:

  Mixing and matching your equipment will be more involved, but it's well worth the extra up-front effort.
  

• Spray Tanning Kits

  Kits are like coveralls.  You'll still need to know the basics to choose the a good fit but most of the choices have already been made for you.

How can you get trained?

Delivering a quality spray on tan requires both knowledge and experience.

• Educate the client

  If you're getting sprayed you need to know these things!
  

• Educate the technician

  If you're doing the spraying you need to know these things!
  

• Customer service and etiquette

  Service, service, service...and you!  People like to do business with people they like.  Be the person they like to do business with.
  

• Business concerns

  I won't get too deep here.  This is just a general overview. Especially because running a business has been covered by people who know the subject much better than me.

What safety issues exist?

For the most part, spray on tans are safe. Many authorities will tell you 100% safe. I choose the over protective route.

Don't breathe the sprayed solution

Avoid certain areas of the body

Cleanup

For a more in-depth answer check out the article How Safe Is Airbrush Tanning?

What problems, aka troubleshooting, will you run into?

Everybody, every service, every product has its own share of problems, screw ups, and general weirdness. The three big areas are...

• Client Screw Ups
  
• Equipment Malfunctions
  
• Technician Screw Ups

Got Questions?

Check out the Spray Tanning FAQ.  Each question comes complete with an In-Depth explanation.

If your question, or a similar question, isn't on the list feel free to contact me.  After all, how can a question get on the Frequently Asked Questions list if it isn't asked frequently?