How to Fix a Bad Spray on Tan

Dr. Neal Schultz: Hello, I’m Dr. Neal Schultz and welcome to DermTV. Welcome to this special episode of DermTV. I have with me today a guest, a friend Lucy Danziger who also was the editor-in-chief of Self Magazine. It’s April. It’s time to start thinking about getting ready for the summer and if you want to get a little jump start on looking a little bit better there’s no better way to do it than with the self tanner treatment and Lucy has been gracious enough to share with us today her recent experience with self tanners.

Lucy Danziger: Well, as Dr. Schultz says, one of the things that women like is to be a little prance in anticipation of bathing suits season. So, whenever I go to Florida or on spring break I like to get a spray on tan. This time I got a little too much tan. Now, I believe in the spray tan because for someone who’s blond like me. I don’t like to go off the beach and look pale. I do like to have a little bronzing but Anna who is brilliant. Everything he’s on uses a very organic formula and against darker overnights so woke up this morning with too much tan.

So I said to Dr. Schultz this is a real issue for women. I hear from women who don’t want to go to the tanning spray on lady. What if I turn orange or they don’t want to use a self tanner because I think it look fake. There’s always a danger whenever you change Mother Nature. You’re going to look a little fake. So, I said to Dr. Shultz, “You know I want women to get a spray tanner or a fake tan but what will you do if it goes a little orange or little too brown which is what happened to me. What do you do?

Dr. Neal Schultz: I’m happy to tell you, this is an easy fix. If your tan becomes a little bit too dark from the self tanner because the basis of how a self tanner works is it stains the dead cells on the surface of your skin and those dead cells with the extra darkening can be removed very easily with exfoliation. The exfoliation which means taking off the dead cells can be done either with a granular cleanser or granular base of cleanser or it can be done with gentle glycolic pads used on a regular basis or you can even come in to a dermatologist office and have a superficial lunch time glycolic peel. It doesn’t really make your skin peel but all of these mechanisms will gradually remove that extra darkening and restore a more a natural looking color. One thing though that we have to stress.

Even if you have this tan from a bottle or spray on, it offers you no protection against ultraviolet light and you still need you sun sunscreen with an SPF of between 15 and 30 with UVA protection.

Lucy Danziger: So, the one thing that self wants you top know is if you insist on being bronze making a fake tan that is the only safe tan and so use your SPF. Thanks Dr. Schultz.

Dr. Neal Schultz: Lucy thanks for joining us today. Please join me again at your DermTv.com if you have a question please send to me by visiting DermTV.com/question. I’m Dr. Neal Schultz and thank you for watching today.