How Spray Tanning Works
HOW SPRAY TANNING WORKS
Spray tanning involves applying an active ingredient, dihydroxyacetone, or DHA, to your skin using a specialist low pressure spraying machine. DHA is a colourless sugar. It interacts with the proteins and amino acids in the outer layer of your skin to produce a golden brown colour.
The spray tan will contain various amounts of DHA depending on the solution you choose. The DHA starts to activate immediately, 60% of this process is complete after the first hour yet the actual tan will continue to develop over the next 24 hours. All the cosmetic instant bronzers will wash off when showering. Your therapist will tell you how long to wait until you can bathe or shower depending on your skin colour and how dark you want your tan.
Spray tanning involves applying an active ingredient, dihydroxyacetone, or DHA, to your skin using a specialist low pressure spraying machine. DHA is a colourless sugar. It interacts with the proteins and amino acids in the outer layer of your skin to produce a golden brown color.
Most spray tans contain an instant cosmetic bronzer that gives you a color guide and instant color when you are first sprayed. These instant cosmetic bronzers will wash away after your first shower and have no impact on the end result for your tan. It’s not the amount of cosmetic bronzers that make the individual solutions darker from one another, it’s the amount of DHA in the solution that creates varying results.
The Active Ingredient Comes in Different Strengths
All spray tan products contain the same active ingredient, but that doesn't mean they all contain the same percentage of it. Generally speaking, the higher the percentage of DHA, the quicker (and darker) the spray tan will develop, lets likens it to medication.
"Some people need 10 milligrams; some people need 15 milligrams; some people need 20 milligrams, right?
When you go to a doctor and they prescribe you something, sometimes they have to change your dose based on how you respond. Every body,every human being has a completely different makeup and chemistry."
In regards to DHA, this means that the percentage can be customised by the spray tan artist to accommodate your unique skin and desired result.
The best way to find out what percentage of DHA works for you is to talk with your spray tan artist ahead of the actual application. Just like you do with a hairstylist ahead of a new cut or colour, you should converse with your spray tan artist to ensure you're both on the same page when it comes to your desired level of tan.
Aside from having a conversation with the spray tan artist, another way to decipher which DHA percentage is best for you is through good old trial-and-error.
This is especially true if you're planning on getting a spray tan before a big event (brides beware!).
Think about it: If you're attending a major event, and you want to look and feel your best, you don't want to risk getting a spray tan for the first time just days before, you want to make sure you'll get the result you desire. We would recommend a trial tan for a big event, like a wedding.
"Come in at least two weeks before." (Two weeks is just enough time for a spray tan to develop and subsequently disappear due the skin's natural exfoliation process.)