As a tanning expert I’m often asked if I’ve experienced any tanning disasters. The answer is yes, and it’s through these mishaps that I’ve learned to become a perfectionist and an expert.
So back in the early days of fake tanning I would apply with my hands for a Saturday night out. It would be a ritual in our house with either me or my sister leaving a fake tan tide mark in the bath which would drive our Mum mad!
I remember on more than one occasion standing at the bar waiting to get served trying my best to hide my hands because they’d be covered in fake tan! This was a difficult task when exchanging money and handling drinks, but by the end of the night I didn’t care! It didn’t put me off fake tanning though as practice really does make perfect and I got there in the end 😊
Many years later I attended a spray tanning course to set up my mobile tanning service. I was advised to practice on a few friends/relatives before I actually started charging for tans.
So my first willing guinea pigs were my mum and my cousin. I’d spent £800 on the course, insurance a starter kit which included the pop up tent, machine and tanning solution. After wrestling to open the tent in my mum’s spare room (which they both found amusing), I started to wonder how I was going to manage this mobile business idea when I couldn’t even fold the tent without looking demented!
Anyway, I tanned both relatives and was pleased there were no streaks visible. The tan looked really dark, in fact so dark I could only see their teeth and eyes when they stepped out of the tanning tent! I reassured them that it would be fine in the morning as I’d followed all the instruction from the course.
The following morning though things looked a lot different! My poor mum looked like Marge from the TV sitcom Benidorm (even after her shower) and my cousin looked like an Oompa Loompa! It was a disaster, I actually lost confidence in what I was doing altogether. However not being one to give up, I contacted the training academy who asked me what my gun setting was set on, to which I replied ‘what setting?’ I was informed that the setting should have been on 1 or 2 not 10!
More recently whilst out in LA, I tanned very late at night after a long tiring day. I tanned one leg and got distracted (I usually tan legs together and arms together), then I got back to tanning and finished both arms and went to bed. The following morning I went downstairs for breakfast in a pretty red dress, only to look down and realise i’d only tanned one leg! Really! The beauty with Tanya Whitebits is that it can be applied instantly, dries quickly, and isn’t sticky so I was able to correct my tanning faux pas – just goes to show it can happen to the best of us!
S x
