I thought I'd start this as I've recently seen something similar on the nail geek forum with nail polish & it looks nice & helpful... so I thought why not do a spray tanning one, everyone is welcome to add there own tips & tricks.
To anyone who is a long term tanner these tips possibly won't help you lol. But I think if you are only just qualified or thinking of doing a tanning course some of these tips might help, & they say you learn something new every day so we might all pick up new tips along the way.
*preparation - make sure your client is thoroughly informed of the preparation as its so important to the end result!
exfoliation the day before & wearing product free skin to there app is vital, also wearing loose clothing & footwear is essential as what will happen if your client dresses in skin tights & leather thigh high boots after the tan?
*Barrier cream - some don't use it, but I like too, rubbed thoroughly into the hands, elbows, knees, feet & ankles, I use nouvatan barrier cream, I've tried lots of different ones that were either too thick or too greasy, I didn't like aqueous cream either, but nouvatan barrier cream is perfect! another good one is sunless solutions drench2quench moisturiser, it smells so nice!
*sticky feet - I know not all use these, but I do, I bought my last lot from nouvatan for a reasonable price, but I think there a little too sticky on the feet as when I peel them off half my clients DNA is stuck on the sticky foot lol, also I've had a couple of clients complain that they tickle there feet when removing so I've been on the search for some less sticky sticky feet ha & omg do a version with just 2 strips of stickiness, these look much better than the all over sticky ones so i will be investing in some of these.
*protecting hair - I use hairnets, some say don't bother with the dark haired clients as your not likely to stain there hair colour with there hair already being dark.. which is fine but for what they cost it doesn't hurt to give everybody one, also i like them because it keeps all the hair out of the way, you can buy them in bulk for not a lot of money, make sure when they wear them they are pushed right up to the hairline though otherwise you get a dodgy white line were the net has covered the top of forehead slightly.. not a good look.
*buffing hands / feet - something I like to do, I bought my black buffing mitt from Dennis Williams wholesalers, it is a sienna x one & isn't too expensive, can be machine washed. I buff around the wrist with my buffing mitt using a light gentle touch & also buff round the ankles & sides of feet to blend, people often comment on my attention to detail so it's all good.
*Palms & nails - I wipe the palms of hands with baby wipes & also the finger nails & toenails with baby wipes, I make a point of saying to the client your palms are now clean so if they end up stained its because you have touched your skin whilst your tan was developing.
*Spray tan application - I start on the back of a client, my dial on my gun is set inbetween quart to & twenty to & I spray the whole body twice, the second spray being slightly quicker. Hands & feet only need a little mist, i spray hands/feet from a slight further distance. I ask client to claw hand & spray in three vertical stripes on hand then ask then to put thumbs together to spray thumbs then I ask them to claw hands again & spray in an X shape on both hands, for feet - I spray in three vertical stripes again making sure to also catch the in sides & outsides of feet, again I finish off with an X shape on both feet. Armpits don't need a lot of tan, but I've seen some people say they miss the arm pits out completely to not over tan but I tested this on my husband & hmm lets just say I will spray them lightly because they were completely white when I missed them out as a tester & it looked odd as I say I spray the body twice so on the second spray on the legs I ask client to bend knees, this gets into any creases & doesn't leave white lines were the tan hasn't got.
Under bust I didn't use to spray I will be honest because I didn't want to make a client feel awkward lifting her (.) (.) up but one of my clients went on holiday & I see a pic of her in her bikini & I spotted little white marks under so I now ask clients to lift boobs with there arms obviously not there hands because of barrier cream I have applied on hands, ankles look horrific with too much overspray on so as your coming down the leg pull away a little so not so much tan hits the area.
Larger clients (no offence intended) need to stretch out a bit to expose all of there creases & folds of skin, like for example my sister has love handles & if I didn't get her to stretch about a bit when spraying this area then the little creases of skin not exposed to me would be white.
*loyalty schemes - not everyone offers one, not everyone feels they need to, but I do - mine is 5 tans get your 6th free on an ongoing offer so once the cards filled I will give them a new card. (I keep the cards with my consultation cards so the client doesn't 'forget' it or 'lose' it.. just easier all round for me to keep it safe with consultation card.
*Aftercare - this is so so important, no point doing a good tan but not giving your client the correct after care because then the tan is going to look rubbish afterwards, I have aftercare leaflets I give to each new client. Existing clients even if they've been to me consistently still get told the aftercare - think of me as a broken record but you need to be.
*Bridal tans - I will not do a tan for a bride with out a trial before hand, I have this written on my website in black & white. Your wedding day is one of the most important days of your life so a trial tan before hand gives the spray tan tech chance to tailor the tan to suit your needs, ie 'oh that tan you did for my trial was a little too dark for my skin' no problem we will go a shade lighter for the big day, *or* 'that tan you did for my trial was a bit lighter than I expected' no problem we can go a shade darker on the big day, I mean every tan you do is important of course! but a wedding - all eyes on the bride and all that......those pics are on the mantle piece until the divorce so the tan has to be spot on! I know some techs won't even do bridal tans because of the pressure of it.. I will but only with a trial first, no trial no tan!
*male clients - people say for a hairier man to spray upwards as the air from the gun parts the hairs, I just spray as I would for a female & never had a problem, my brothers friends are regulars & are hairy guys & I've never had a problem spraying as I usually would so for me I don't change it for a hairier client. If your male client has a bald head down forget to lightly spray it or he will look a bit of a plank
*pricing - (this is an important one) charge what your worth, but you also need to take into account your area, how much others charge, what tan you use etc etc.. I use LA tan & charge £15 a tan, I use to do regular offers for £10 a tan, but I don't bother anymore, bugs me doing someone a tan for a tenner when usually I'd be getting £15! So I charge £15 but obviously i do have my loyalty card scheme as I've mentioned above, charge low & people will wonder whats up with your tans, also if you charge low & you want to increase in future people will get annoyed at you.. say you charge a permanent price of £10 for a few months then whack it up to £15, you will likely lose clients, so think of your pricing carefully before you set it in stone.
Obviously everyone has there own methods, not everything works for everyone but these help me out so thought I'd pass it on.
I've plenty more to add but my husband is taking me out for tea so will add what I can when I return, look forward to reading other people's tips etc.. xx
To anyone who is a long term tanner these tips possibly won't help you lol. But I think if you are only just qualified or thinking of doing a tanning course some of these tips might help, & they say you learn something new every day so we might all pick up new tips along the way.
*preparation - make sure your client is thoroughly informed of the preparation as its so important to the end result!
exfoliation the day before & wearing product free skin to there app is vital, also wearing loose clothing & footwear is essential as what will happen if your client dresses in skin tights & leather thigh high boots after the tan?
*Barrier cream - some don't use it, but I like too, rubbed thoroughly into the hands, elbows, knees, feet & ankles, I use nouvatan barrier cream, I've tried lots of different ones that were either too thick or too greasy, I didn't like aqueous cream either, but nouvatan barrier cream is perfect! another good one is sunless solutions drench2quench moisturiser, it smells so nice!
*sticky feet - I know not all use these, but I do, I bought my last lot from nouvatan for a reasonable price, but I think there a little too sticky on the feet as when I peel them off half my clients DNA is stuck on the sticky foot lol, also I've had a couple of clients complain that they tickle there feet when removing
so I've been on the search for some less sticky sticky feet ha & omg do a version with just 2 strips of stickiness, these look much better than the all over sticky ones so i will be investing in some of these.*protecting hair - I use hairnets, some say don't bother with the dark haired clients as your not likely to stain there hair colour with there hair already being dark.. which is fine but for what they cost it doesn't hurt to give everybody one, also i like them because it keeps all the hair out of the way, you can buy them in bulk for not a lot of money, make sure when they wear them they are pushed right up to the hairline though otherwise you get a dodgy white line were the net has covered the top of forehead slightly.. not a good look.
*buffing hands / feet - something I like to do, I bought my black buffing mitt from Dennis Williams wholesalers, it is a sienna x one & isn't too expensive, can be machine washed. I buff around the wrist with my buffing mitt using a light gentle touch & also buff round the ankles & sides of feet to blend, people often comment on my attention to detail so it's all good.
*Palms & nails - I wipe the palms of hands with baby wipes & also the finger nails & toenails with baby wipes, I make a point of saying to the client your palms are now clean so if they end up stained its because you have touched your skin whilst your tan was developing.
*Spray tan application - I start on the back of a client, my dial on my gun is set inbetween quart to & twenty to & I spray the whole body twice, the second spray being slightly quicker. Hands & feet only need a little mist, i spray hands/feet from a slight further distance. I ask client to claw hand & spray in three vertical stripes on hand then ask then to put thumbs together to spray thumbs then I ask them to claw hands again & spray in an X shape on both hands, for feet - I spray in three vertical stripes again making sure to also catch the in sides & outsides of feet, again I finish off with an X shape on both feet. Armpits don't need a lot of tan, but I've seen some people say they miss the arm pits out completely to not over tan but I tested this on my husband & hmm lets just say I will spray them lightly because they were completely white when I missed them out as a tester & it looked odd
as I say I spray the body twice so on the second spray on the legs I ask client to bend knees, this gets into any creases & doesn't leave white lines were the tan hasn't got. Under bust I didn't use to spray I will be honest because I didn't want to make a client feel awkward lifting her (.) (.) up but one of my clients went on holiday & I see a pic of her in her bikini & I spotted little white marks under so I now ask clients to lift boobs with there arms obviously not there hands because of barrier cream I have applied on hands, ankles look horrific with too much overspray on so as your coming down the leg pull away a little so not so much tan hits the area.
Larger clients (no offence intended) need to stretch out a bit to expose all of there creases & folds of skin, like for example my sister has love handles & if I didn't get her to stretch about a bit when spraying this area then the little creases of skin not exposed to me would be white.
*loyalty schemes - not everyone offers one, not everyone feels they need to, but I do - mine is 5 tans get your 6th free on an ongoing offer so once the cards filled I will give them a new card. (I keep the cards with my consultation cards so the client doesn't 'forget' it or 'lose' it.. just easier all round for me to keep it safe with consultation card.
*Aftercare - this is so so important, no point doing a good tan but not giving your client the correct after care because then the tan is going to look rubbish afterwards, I have aftercare leaflets I give to each new client. Existing clients even if they've been to me consistently still get told the aftercare - think of me as a broken record
but you need to be. *Bridal tans - I will not do a tan for a bride with out a trial before hand, I have this written on my website in black & white. Your wedding day is one of the most important days of your life so a trial tan before hand gives the spray tan tech chance to tailor the tan to suit your needs, ie 'oh that tan you did for my trial was a little too dark for my skin' no problem we will go a shade lighter for the big day, *or* 'that tan you did for my trial was a bit lighter than I expected' no problem we can go a shade darker on the big day, I mean every tan you do is important of course! but a wedding - all eyes on the bride and all that......those pics are on the mantle piece until the divorce so the tan has to be spot on! I know some techs won't even do bridal tans because of the pressure of it.. I will but only with a trial first, no trial no tan!
*male clients - people say for a hairier man to spray upwards as the air from the gun parts the hairs, I just spray as I would for a female & never had a problem, my brothers friends are regulars & are hairy guys & I've never had a problem spraying as I usually would so for me I don't change it for a hairier client. If your male client has a bald head down forget to lightly spray it or he will look a bit of a plank
*pricing - (this is an important one) charge what your worth, but you also need to take into account your area, how much others charge, what tan you use etc etc.. I use LA tan & charge £15 a tan, I use to do regular offers for £10 a tan, but I don't bother anymore, bugs me doing someone a tan for a tenner when usually I'd be getting £15! So I charge £15 but obviously i do have my loyalty card scheme as I've mentioned above, charge low & people will wonder whats up with your tans, also if you charge low & you want to increase in future people will get annoyed at you.. say you charge a permanent price of £10 for a few months then whack it up to £15, you will likely lose clients, so think of your pricing carefully before you set it in stone.
Obviously everyone has there own methods, not everything works for everyone but these help me out so thought I'd pass it on.
I've plenty more to add but my husband is taking me out for tea so will add what I can when I return, look forward to reading other people's tips etc.. xx
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