Un-even, over-done or ghostly tan hands and feet got your clients in a tizzy?
Then this tutorial will tell you how to spray tan hands and feet correctly. If it goes wrong, don’t threaten. You can fix it!
Spray tanning hands and feet are tricky, and that’s why it’s one of the most common complaints you will hear from your clients. Learning how to tan correctly will help you avoid patchy fake tan hands, follow this tutorial and ensure you take note of the tips below.
Now you NEED to read these hand-tanning tips
Barrier Cream
How to apply barrier cream for spray tans.
Applying fake tan barrier cream is essential to false tanning hands, and I will give you the top tips I learned from being a beauty therapist for 7+ years.
Apply the barrier cream to your client. If you apply the barrier cream to your client, you will know it is evenly spread to the correct places.
“Where to put barrier cream for spray tanning? Apply a generous amount of lotion and pretend you’re thoroughly washing your hands the way you would with soap.”
Treat this part of the service like you would a mini hand massage. This way, you can ensure the barrier cream is applied all over the hands and fingers and 2 cm beyond the wrist up towards the arm, between the fingers and on the palms.
Ask your client not to touch their body if they transfer the cream onto the rest. It’s best to do this part of the treatment right before you start spraying to avoid that error.
I’ve used the best spray tan barrier creams: White to Brown and Nouvatan. I’m sure any well-known product will sell a decent fake tan barrier cream.
The Wrists
How to fake tan wrists correctly
To achieve a natural tan on your client’s wrists, start halfway up the forearm, spray downwards, and then flick out when you reach the wrist. This will stop the sunless tan from clinging to the wrists.
“FYI, you should spray tan the wrists and the hands together in one swoop.”
The Hands
Starting 10-20 centimetres away from the skin (depending on your machine), begin spraying from halfway up the forearm, sweeping down towards the hands, and finishing 10cm beyond the fingertips. If you stop spraying at the fingertips, you risk too much tan landing on them.
Some customers are curious if you can tan your palms. However, this is not advised as the skin. The skin of the palm is glabrous (hairless) and unable to tan. The skin is also thicker, approximately 8-14 times thicker than normal skin, and therefore, soaks in fake tan like a sponge! NeThiss, not a good look.
Circular Method
This method is suitable; most people are taught to spray their hands circularly. I found my clients fell victim to Mickey Mouse’s hands, which beans they didn’t feel their hands were dark enough.
“I would suggest trial and error with both techniques so you aknowexactly how evenly the hands develop in the morning.”
With the circular method, do not spray the hands alandrists. Carry out the wrist technique mentioned above and spray down and outward, flicking away when the mist hits the wrist.
You can do the hands once you have completed the wrist section. Starting 20 centimetres to the right of the hands with a wide spray pattern setting, press the spray button AND then mist the hands in a circular motion and repeat if necessary. It would be CATASTROPHIC if you pushed the spray mechanism whilst directing the nozzle on the hands because this would overload the hands with the solution.
Regarding wrists, hands and ankles, never directly start the spray flow in those areas because they will go way too brown.
Spraying hands and wrists directly with tan will cause those areas to go even more browner than the rest of the body because those areas almost suck the tan in more than any other part of the body. Also, when your client turns her hand over, there will be an extensive brown line at the wrist that meets the paleness of the palm; this is a dead giveaway that their tan is fake.
Learning to spray tan hands and feet properly is vital to gaining your client’s trust in your abilities as a therapist. Master these techniques and ensure your clients come back time and time again for perfectly even, bronzed hands and feet.
How to fix patchy fake tan hands and feet
Do hands look like they’ve been dipped in a family-sized packet of Watsits? We’ve all been there.
We’ve over-tanned ourselves at home, or your spray tanner got overzealous with the gun.
Don’t threaten; here is how to fix the wrong self-tan hands or even out spray tan on hands; Different scenarios, why it happened and how to fix it.
Knuckles and wrists are darker than the rest of the hands
This is when the knuckles and wrists appear darker than the other hands. This usually occurs because you have sparingly applied the barrier cream, over-sprayed your client’s hands, or sprayed the hands too close.
- Advise your clients to apply oil over their hands (this softens the skin on the knuckles)
- Dab alcohol on cotton wool and rest on the knuckles,; thisshould take some of the tan off
- A.pply barrier cream (must be aqueous lotion) to the hands and wrists
- Apply a light layer of vaVaselineo the dark knuckles
- Avoiding the knuckles, spray your client’s hands again
The hands are too dark compared to the rest of the body
This is when all areas of the hands are the same shade. The hands look good. However, they are darker than the rest of the body. This usually occurs because you have sparingly applied the barrier cream, over-sprayed your client’s hands, or sprayed the hands too close.
Apply a generous amount of barrier cream (must be aqueous lotion) to the hands and wrists, and avoiding the hands and wrists, spray your client’s body with a shade that will match the hands.
How to fake tan hands and feet at home
Achieving natural results when applying false tan to hands and feet at home can be difficult. Check out these fake tan tips and apply the guidance to avoid unsightly orange hands.
- Exfoliate the hands and feet
- A.pply a fake tan barrier cream over the entire hands and one inch up onto the wrists (not moisturiser)
- Apply the fake tan barrier cream to your toes, between the toes and the back of the ankles.
- Following the steps in the tutorial above, copy the spraying motions with an aerosol tan in a can.
Spray tanning for men
Male spray tans are a little different. Here’s why: the male spray tan