Before a trip
Arrive already glowing.
Book a spray tan in the few days before you fly, so you arrive with colour instead of spending the first days of the trip pale and tempted to burn. A spray tan gives no protection from the sun, so wear sunscreen exactly as you otherwise would. Pool chlorine and salt water both shorten a tan. Studio Rhema tans by appointment in Dundas, Ontario.
A large share of the studio's appointments are women flying out in a few days. The point is not to skip the sun. It is to not spend the first three days of your holiday pale, self-conscious, and tempted to burn yourself fixing it.
Written by Studio Rhema, Dundas, Ontario. Last reviewed .
Why it is worth doing before you fly
You feel different in a swimsuit on day one instead of day five. That is genuinely the whole argument, and it is the reason clients keep rebooking before trips. The secondary benefit is that you are far less tempted to chase colour with a long unprotected session on the first afternoon, which is how holiday burns happen.
You also arrive without tan lines from home, which matters if you are switching between swimsuits.
When to book
The same rule as any event applies: one to three days before you leave, with two days being ideal. That gives the colour time to develop fully and gives you a normal shower or two before you are packing and sitting on a plane in fresh clothes.
Keeping it alive while you are away
This is where most vacation tans are lost, and all of it is avoidable.
Use a non-aerosol sunscreen
Rinse after the pool or the sea
Moisturise, and drink water
Ask about a touch-up spray
It is not sun protection
Important, and often misunderstood. A spray tan does not change how your skin responds to UV. If you normally burn, you still will, at exactly the same rate. Wear SPF regardless of how bronze you look.
You can absolutely still tan in the sun over top of it if that is what you want. But the tan you already have offers no shielding, and a fresh burn or recent sun damage is a reason to postpone an appointment rather than book one.
Prep still matters
Exfoliate and shower the night before, not the morning of. Skip lotion on the day. The prep and aftercare guide has the full routine, and it is the difference between colour that lasts the whole trip and colour that patches by day three.
Packing dark, loose clothing for the journey home from the studio is also worth remembering, since the guide bronzer can rub before your first rinse.
Ready when you are.
Tell Rhema your departure date and she will confirm the right appointment to have you glowing when you land.
Keep reading
- How long does it last?Why it fades rather than washes off, and what buys you extra days.
- Is spray tanning safe?What is in it, what the FDA and Health Canada actually published, and the three questions to ask any studio.
- Prep & aftercare guideThe full routine, before and after your appointment.
- What to book before and afterWaxing, nails, hair and lashes, in the order that protects the tan.