Tanning on Wednesdays

It's Weigh in Wednesday, but I don't have a weigh in.  I started my sugar detox on Monday, and while I feel better, I don't want to know if it's working or not. LOL. Yeah, it's only been a couple of days, but psychologically, it could make or break me.  Not to mention, we had a very. long. night. last night and I straight up forgot to weigh in. (oops!) So... I figured I'd wrap up my spray tan post that I had hinted around at, yesterday.

For those of you that DO have a weigh in, don't forget to link up with Ashlee over here.

 

Last week-ish, Skinny Meg posted about tricks to make you look skinnier, without an app. You can read that post here. After reading it, I def agreed with most of her post. And just the day before... I had a spray tan done!

My friends Kim & Becky had gone and bought themselves a spray tanning set-up and they FINALLY started offering tans to us common folk.

So... I set myself up with a party at my place (after a couple of weeks of wishy-washy people going in and backing out) and Wednesday before last, we got our tan on.  Now, these ladies use Sjolie products and my first experience was great!

After deciding I was actually getting sprayed (in all my buff-ness), I immediately started researching. Cause that's what I do. OCD, CDO, whatever you wanna call it... I gotta be informed before I jump in to anything.

As their flyer says, you must shower, shave and exfoliate. Showering is always good, no matter a tan or not.  And unless you wanna have to immediately shave after tanning, you better do it the night before or right before you get sprayed.  As for the exfoliating, I started two or three days before and made sure that I hydrated and moisturized every day leading up to the spray.  The more hydrated your skin, and the more exfoliated it is, the better the tan takes, and the longer it lasts.

I started with my homemade recipe for a scrub... I use a mixture of Sea Salt, Sugar, Coconut Oil and vanilla right now... although, one of my favorites to make has coffee grounds in it! Yum! Make sure that you SCRUB all things that will be exposed.  ESPECIALLY your elbows, knees, heels, feet, etc. And if you're gonna have your face tanned, make sure you've kept it up well. I can not stress to you HOW IMPORTANT it is to be sufficiently scrubbed.  The day of, they suggest using St. Ives Apricot scrub to do your whole body with.  It doesn't have any oils or lotions, so it's perfect to "prime" your skin.

After your shower the day of, DO NOT use lotions, sprays, oils... ANYTHING. You want you skin as plain and clean as possible for the tan to be sprayed on.  Just before you tan, you'll put a "barrier cream" on the palms and heels of your hands, between your fingers, around your cuticles, your elbows, knees, your heels, toes and feet. this keeps the pray from penetrating these especially "dry" areas too much and from turning orange. I learned from experience, you CAN NOT have too much barrier cream on! Places that you've put it, and places you think you've gotten enough, WILL change colors. I promise!

However, do not fear! With all of the research that I did, I knew exactly how to get rid of the places that tanned and shouldn't have, and how to lighten the tan that was just a little too much.

Enter: Lemon Juice

Seriously, lemon juice can solve all problems. It works on my headaches, it lightens hair, it disinfects, it cleans, and hey... it lightens a spray tan! Put a little bit on a cloth or napkin, lightly rub it over the area that is too dark and you'll slowly start to see it lighten. Works perfect for the tops of your feet, your rough spots, or your hands.

Next: Magic Eraser

Yup.  Works like a charm! But ONLY on places you want to REMOVE your tan. I used this on the bottoms of my feet, the heels of my hands and just a couple spots that were WAY too dark. I'm so glad I had some off brand ones in my cabinet! AND... if you use lemon juice to wet the eraser, it works even better! :)

My tan lasted about 11 days before I decided it was time to scrub it all off. It had lightened in the cleavage part of my chest, but it was from sweating and rubbing the sweat off. The next place I noticed it, was some light "spotting" on the underside of my forearms. This is a common area because of the constant friction in that area,  Rubbing on your shirt, desk work, etc. It wasn't SO bad that it made me self conscious, but it was enough that *I* noticed.  After that, my neck area decided to wear off.  Mostly in the crease where you sweat, and if I were smaller, I probably wouldn't have had this problem. So, I decided to scrub it off.  Again, I used my homemade scrub, while soaking in a tub and it all came off pretty easy.  There were a couple places that I had to scrub a little harder, but pretty easy, nonetheless.

The best way to make sure that your tan lasts it to take care of it. Scrub, moisturize and hydrate yourself several days before your tan, make sure to moisturize morning and night while tanned, and no loofas or anything harsh when showering. No harsh soaps or anything that contains alcohol.

We've scheduled another tanning party tonight at my place.  I learned a lot from the first tan, and this time I'll use MUCH more barrier cream on my feet and hands!

Have you done spray tans before? What are your experiences?