How To Do A Tan Line Correction

We are in the midst of summer-like days. Hello (almost) June! That means you may get a client that comes in who has laid out in the sun and got some gnarly tan lines! As much as we advocate for healthy sunless tanning so that our clients stay out of the sun and wear their SPF, there will be clients that come to you after spending those warm summer days outside and need you to help them even out their skin tone. Luckily for them, as a spray tan artist, you can use your skills and techniques to help these clients get a more seamless tan without such harsh tan lines. You will most likely find this request often from bridal clients that come to you looking to help them cover their tan lines before they put on their beautiful white dress for the big day!

What’s most important when working with clients who are looking for tan line correction is to SET EXPECTATIONS! As much as we want to help everyone to the best of our abilities, the reality is that we are not magicians! We may be very good at our jobs, but we can not perform miracles, unfortunately. Setting expectations for the outcome of a tan line correction appointment will help the client understand that the work you do will most likely help even out their skin tone, but the tan line may still be visible to a certain extent. Through explaining this, it will help you navigate a potentially unhappy client situation when they look in the mirror and can still see a reminiscence of their old tan line.

Now let’s get to the tea! Here is a step by step process to correcting tan lines during your appointments:

• Adjust your gun so that there is a minimal product being sprayed on the body and the fan pattern is very narrow
• Spray in a combination of vertical and horizontal directions, applying the product only on the inside lines of the tan line
• Blend out any edges with spray tan solution that gets outside of the tan line with the X-TAN Blending Brush
• Dry frequently and continue to darken the solution to the desired depth of color

Remember, as much of a supremely talented artist you are, your work can only blend so much. Make sure to have a conversation with your client that explains that you will do everything you can to neutralize the tan line, but you are using spray tan solution on a tan line created by the sun so there is never a 100% guarantee that it will be completely covered. 

Another thing to remember: we cannot spray over sunburns! If your client comes to you with “tan lines” that are actually burn lines, you will have to refuse service for the integrity of the spray tan itself. Spraying over a burn will cause the spray tan to peel once the skin starts peeling. And girl, it’s just not a good look! Not to mention, you have to protect your reputation in these types of situations, as much as we do not like turning clients away. 

Our goal at Spray Tan Class is to prepare you for tricky sunless situations such as a tan line correction. We want you to be a confident artist that is able to provide a service that is unmatched. That’s we have put everything we know about creating the perfect sunless tan into our Master’s Spray Tan Certification course. To get a more in-depth education on this technique and more, register you can register for our Master’s Spray Tan Certification Course.

Xoxo,

Kelly