How To Avoid An Orange Spray Tan

If you’ve been spray tanning for any length of time you’ve probably heard a client (or multiple) say something to the effect of, “I just don't want to be orange!” when asked how dark they are looking to go during their appointment. Although we most likely want to roll our eyes to the back of our head when we hear this comment, as a professional, that’s not always an appropriate response (LOL!). A better response to this comment would be to assure the client that you customize each tan to the individual person based on their wants and their unique skin tone so that they always come out with a natural looking bronzed glow. Doesn’t that sound much more comforting!?

There’s been massive elevation in the sunless industry and with sunless products themselves, but somehow we just can’t seem to get around the stigma that has unfortunately followed sunless tanning for decades, causing them to think that spray tans will turn them orange. Although you’re a Glow Boss and know for a fact that this will not happen to them, you will still get those clients that will do their best to make sure that you understand how much they DO NOT want to be orange. 

As the professional that you are, it’s not only your job to give your clients the most amazing glow of their lives, it’s also your job to assure them that their concerns about spray tanning that they have, including being orange, will be put to ease. You can calm these fears by simply educating them on WHY anyone could turn orange from a spray tan. You can also follow up this education with reassuring them that you're a knowledgeable professional who’s biggest goal is for every client of yours to feel like a walking bronzed goddess and that orange tans are not what we do here, sis!

Spray tans turn people orange for one of the following reasons:

1. Over Saturation of product
2. Spraying too dark for a client’s skin tone
3. Dry skin

If you have a client that comes in and expresses their concern for looking orange during their pre-tan consultation, these are the three scenarios you can go over with them to help educate them on why they could turn orange during a spray tan, but why they won’t when they’re tanning with you.

Over Saturation of Product

When you’re spraying your client, one of your goals is to spray light, even coats of solution over the entire body, right? A client could potentially turn orange if there is too much product being sprayed onto them during the appointment. Over saturation may take place if you do too many heavy passes while spraying or if your gun is put on a setting that allows for too much solution to spray at a time. To negate this issue, make sure that your gun isn’t spraying too heavy and that you are standing about 6 inches away from the body at all times. If you’re a beginner in the spray tan industry, it may take you some time to learn your gun enough to know what setting you feel most comfortable spraying at. 

Spraying Too Dark

Okay girl-fran, you and I both know that you offer a luxury service that allows you to customize your spray tans to each individual client. What’s important is that your clients know this as well! Customizing each tan allows you to create the most perfect natural looking glow for each client that is unique to them. When going through your pre-consultation with your clients before you start spraying them, your goal should be to match up their tan goals with the best option that will make them look the most natural. For example, if you have a very fair skinned client that would be considered a Fitzpatrick skin tone level 1, you wouldn’t want to choose a solution that would be too dark for their skin because it could potentially cause too high of a contrast on the skin, and therefore, pull an orange tone - a big no, no! We all know those clients that just want to be DARK AF, no matter what their skin tone is. To handle this situation, use your expertise to explain the potential of looking unnatural and then recommend something that would be appropriate for their particular skin. If they still but heads on your opinion, you can always still do what the clients want in order to make them as dark as they can be while still looking as natural as possible, but make sure they are aware of the potential to pull orange if they spray too dark. 

Dry Skin

This point correlates with the possibility of over saturating the skin. There’s a very good reason we tell our client’s to stay moisturized and hydrated to make their tans look as deliciously bronze as possible! That reason is because if the skin is not properly hydrated or moisturized, it can cause tanning solution to seep into these drier areas and over saturate them, making them look orange. Generally you see this on elbows, knees, hands and feet. Using barrier cream on these areas and spraying each client with prep spray prior to their tan, especially if they have a dry skin type, can help to make sure all areas of the skin are flawlessly bronzed. It’s also beneficial to educate clients on their pre-tan prep so that they can experience the best possible results from their appointment. If a client does have dry skin, let them know that they should moisturize more heavily the week leading up to their appointment to prep their skin properly for the solution. 

I hope this helps you navigate the NUMBER ONE concern that most clients have going into a spray tan, especially if they’re a newbie!

For more tips and tricks on making your services the best of the best, head over to the Beauty Babes Podcast on iTunes and Spotify!

Xoxo, 

Kelly