Spray tanning and white legs?

I did 2 spray tans last night. Im still practising but I feel I have finally started to get it right. When I left, I was happy with how it all went and how the tans looked. They were all even and covered well.
Today Ive seen one of the ladies and she told me her legs are white! (she showed me too) They have taken a small amount of tan, but not as dark as the rest of her body, which has come out really nice. I used LATan cocktail (14%).

She assured me today that she hadnt used anything when she shaved the night before and didnt use moisturiser. The last time I tanned her this didnt happen.
Could it be something I did? something she did? I just dont know :-(

Caz
xx

There is a couple of things.

A) legs never tan as well as the rest of the body.

B) shaving should be done 24 hrs.before as it is similar to exfoliation and depending on the products used can also change the skins ph level and effect the tan outcome.

In a nutshell it might not be something You have done so don't be hard on yourself!

I tend to disagree and would say that I have found that legs always look much darker than the top half of the body. I dont know why, I have just put it down to the fact that generally people's legs are dryer than the top half of their body.

I do have 1 customer though that, NO MATTER what percentage we use her shin area just does not tan! She also says they don't tan if she uses her own fake tan. She preps properly so I know it's not her, and I've sprayed her so many times I know it's not me! It's just that her skin does not take to the tan very well in this area of her body. What I'm saying is, you could offer to respray her legs again (and fingers crossed it works) but it could be something that neither of you have any control over.

Just wondering, if you are still practising,what is your routine? Do you start on the legs, do you kneel down to get to them or do you just bend over? You may not be close enough to the legs when you spray if you don't get down there.

I would also offer to do her legs again, but remember the tan does take up to 24hrs to fully develop.

Let us know how it goes

CazCardiff said:

I did 2 spray tans last night. Im still practising but I feel I have finally started to get it right. When I left, I was happy with how it all went and how the tans looked. They were all even and covered well.
Today Ive seen one of the ladies and she told me her legs are white! (she showed me too) They have taken a small amount of tan, but not as dark as the rest of her body, which has come out really nice. I used LATan cocktail (14%).

She assured me today that she hadnt used anything when she shaved the night before and didnt use moisturiser. The last time I tanned her this didnt happen.
Could it be something I did? something she did? I just dont know :-(

Caz
xx

Click to expand...

If she has been fine with it before then it is not going to be the solution. In my experience when legs don't turn out as dark as expected it is often hormone related (e.g. they may be on their period).
It could also be that you haven't sprayed as close to the skin as on the top half so although the colour guide shows up there is not enough solution (this is common at the start as newbies can worry that they are going to close) It could be you're not getting right down onto your knees to get in close enough (will normally be paler on the bottom half), or just moving faster.
I would double check if it could be hormone related though x

Top half of your body is exposed more to the sun than legs and are naturaly darker than legs and legs don't tan as quick as arms etc.

When I have a spray tan done, my back doesn't tan and the therapist needs to put more on my back and than it's fine, so it might be just that the skin is different and doesn't take the colour as well

I have been spray tanning now for 11 years, started with the original Sudo and went on from there. I have always found that bottom legs are the hardest to tan. This goes for natural tanning too and with the use of sunbeds and is something that clients will often say before they are tanned, that their bottom legs never tan properly.

I always pay special attention to the legs and get down level with them when I am spraying. I don't have a problem with them after all these years but I did when I first started out.

CazCardiff said:

I did 2 spray tans last night. Im still practising but I feel I have finally started to get it right. When I left, I was happy with how it all went and how the tans looked. They were all even and covered well.
Today Ive seen one of the ladies and she told me her legs are white! (she showed me too) They have taken a small amount of tan, but not as dark as the rest of her body, which has come out really nice. I used LATan cocktail (14%).

She assured me today that she hadnt used anything when she shaved the night before and didnt use moisturiser. The last time I tanned her this didnt happen.
Could it be something I did? something she did? I just dont know :-(

Caz
xx

Click to expand...

Hi Caz
reading your posted question as well as the responses here it seems there is an element of truth in all.

The areas of the body that tend to be the most difficult area for DHA to react with tend to be areas where there is little flesh under the skin like on legs(particularly the shin) ,nose,ear and so on.

Indeed women that have breast implants tend to also have problems to the breast area due to the lack of flesh below the skin.

In terms of some people...well they simply do not react to DHA so never tan through this method..even if they may develop a skin tone with UV light...as in sunshine lol...however this phenomenon doesn't seem to apply to this customer as the problem lies with one area alone...the legs

Given that you are fairly new to this I suspect it is simply a case of lack of application usage and experience and awareness that this area due to erosion issues(shaving,weather,rubbing on material etc) as well as the reduced flesh behind the skin.

It is worthwhile when you next do this customer ,and indeed any others that may have experienced similar problems,that you apply a bit more solution to this area

HTH and good luck

I had exactly the same problem when i practised on friends & family. I agree with previous posts - don't be afraid to get closer to the client - i always end up kneeling for legs - bending over isn't enough. I suspect a bit more solution on legs & a well deserved boost in confidence is all that you need to get past this. Good luck xx