The web has spoken. It’s a tan girl summer. Scrolling through Tik Tok, there was an influx of videos of Black women testing out at home tanner. The outcomes—golden brown skin that glows. You might be considering, why would a Black woman tan? Well, throughout the winter months, once we aren’t laid out catching rays, our skin complexion can turn out to be dull and fewer vibrant. So applying a self-tanner or going to a tanning salon specializing in spray tanning, to not be confused with a tanning bed, may help revitalize the skin again.
Self-tanning and getting spray-tanned does greater than just bronze up the skin. It might be described as makeup for the body. It conceals discoloration and evens out the complexion, and it could possibly give the illusion of shape and dimension by contouring your face and body. Tanning ought to be seen as one other type of self-care or one other option to enhance your features. Consider it as getting your nails or hair done—just one other option to make you’re feeling confident in your skin. And if you happen to are scared that self-tanning will make you seem like an Oompa Loompa, I can safely assure you that for Black women, self-tanner doesn’t get dark enough on our skin to offer us an orange tint.
In the event you are still skeptical, know lots of your fav celebrities tan to get that red-carpet-ready skin. We caught up with spray-tan stylist Sabrina Johnson, founding father of Gold Trim Tans, on her viral Tik Tok and the way Black women can introduce at home and repair spray-tanning into their beauty routine.
ESSENCE: What are the several types of tanning, i.e., spray-tanning, going to a tanning bed, or at-home self-tanner, and which is the perfect tanning method for Black women?
JOHNSON:Yes, I’d avoid UV tanning altogether. They’ve UVA and UVB rays, which cause cancer and drastic skin aging. I don’t recommend tanning beds in any respect. Spray tanning is whenever you go right into a salon, and a stylist will style you full 360. You do the appointment nude or as you’re comfortable. We do offer underwear and pasties if you happen to need them. After which, we guide you thru a series of poses so we are able to access various areas of the body for an all-over tan. Lastly, self-tanning you do at home. You possibly can buy self-tanning products online or at your local drug store, and also you apply the product with gloves or a mitt all around the body.
Which might you say is the perfect method?
I like to recommend seeing a twig tanning stylist since you get a more even tan that way, but I do know it could possibly be difficult to search out a POC stylist. It’s something you need to consider when searching for a store. The difficulty with at-home tanner is there’s loads of room for error since you’re doing it yourself. It might be difficult to succeed in the back of the body and see if it’s rubbed in, which might leave streaks. But there are a lot of really good at-home tanning options, and if you happen to mess up, it fades in just a few days anyway. Between the 2, they’re each great options; it just is determined by your personal preference
Are you able to talk in regards to the importance of getting a Black or POC spray tanning stylist? Are there different tanning levels that a non-POC may not find out about when tanning someone with a darker complexion?
Yeah, the lively ingredient in spray tanning is DHA, dihydroxyacetone, and the tanning solution comes in numerous percentages of DHA. Consider the paper bag test. Anything deeper than the paper bag, you will want a DHA percentage over 12% to even have the opportunity to see a difference. In the event you want that bronzy look, the DHA level have to be higher than 12%.
So, depending on the demographic in your area, the salons near you would possibly not have tanning solutions which have the next degree of DHA because their clientele doesn’t need that. I’m not going to purchase an answer that I do know I’m never going to make use of based on the clientele in my area. So whenever you call the salon, you’ve to ask the suitable questions. Which is, have you ever tanned POC before? And do you’ve an answer that’s over 12%? The at-home tanner doesn’t often get that top, so it’s going to just even out your complexion. They formulate them so that you just won’t get super dark if you happen to make a mistake. It leaves room for error.
How must you prep for a salon spray-tanning session?
Prep is a necessary a part of the method. You desire to be drinking water leading as much as the appointment to make sure that your skin is hydrated enough to soak up the tan and sustain it. Twenty-four hours before, you need to shave and exfoliate. We’re body-positive, though, so if you happen to don’t need to shave, that’s okay too. I also recommend no later than two hours before, you need to do one other shower where you rinse off all products. Be sure there’s no deodorant, lotion, perfume, or makeup on the skin. Deodorant might be crucial thing. The aluminum within the deodorant reacts with the DHA and can turn your tan green.
What must you expect during your spray-tanning appointment?
Whenever you come into the salon, you desire to be wearing baggy clothes and flip-flops. You’ll undress as much as you’re comfortable. You can be completely nude much like your waxing sessions. We don’t care and have seen all of it. Or undress as much as you might be comfortable. We often have disposable underwear or pasties. Then we’ll start spraying you and guiding you thru poses to get all of the cracks and creases. It feels quite a bit like yoga. We’ll allow you to check within the mirror to see if you happen to are pleased with the colour. Often, people want their legs darker to cover the cellulite. We dry and powder at the tip of the service since the tanning solution tends to feel slightly sticky.
How must you go about maintaining your tan?
Avoid water throughout the development stage—no sweating, crying, dog licks, sex, baby drool, breastfeeding, etc. This will result in your tan streaking and patching. Avoid anything that may exfoliate the tan off, like body scrubs, shaving, retinol or chemical exfoliants, or abrasive exfoliating cloths.
How long would you say at-home tanner versus spraying tanning lasts?
Spray tanning solutions last about 7-10 days, depending on what you might be doing and the way you deal with it. Self-tanner, I’d say, lasts about 5-7 days, but again it is determined by the way you deal with your tan.
I believe many ladies are concerned about transferring onto bedding or furniture. How do you go about stopping that?
It’s going to be the identical for each. So during development time is whenever you would have issues with transferring. There may be a rinse time and development time. So throughout the development time, you would wish to wear dark baggy clothes and chill because there’s loads of room for error during this stage. A lot of my clients designate sheets or clothes for tanning. Because if you happen to’re sitting down, there will probably be transfer. Try not to sit down together with your legs crossed because on the place where there’s skin-to-skin contact. It might cause your tan to develop unevenly. I often recommend a rapid rinse for first-timers, so that they don’t need to sleep in it. You’ve got to be extremely careful. This can be a very delicate chemical process. Every little thing out of your seatbelt in your automobile to putting your bag in your shoulder could destroy your tan and cause transferring.
What would you want Black women on the fence about tanning to know?
That is just one other type of self-care, similar to we use our makeup and hair to specific ourselves. You should use tanning to body contour, express yourself, and enhance your features. Release the colorism out of your mind on the subject of the stigma of appearing darker. Just rejoice with it.
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