My Favs on Thursdays: Getting the Perfect Summer Glow+Giveaway

My Favs on Thursday is a weekly link up with my best bloggy buddies Katy and Nicole and share our favorite thing of the week.

It’s Thursday so I’m sharing my newest favorite. This week I did something very out of my comfort zone, but was more than pleasantly surprised about the entire experience and can’t wait to do it again!

This week I received my very first spray tan! I know, I know, you may not think it’s a big deal, but it was pretty earth shattering for me. Going into it, I just knew I was going to look like this afterwards: 
Spray Tan Disaster!
borrowed from ks95.com

But spray tans have come so far! The results were impressive. This is how it turned out on my skin:

Check out my legs! They’re almost impossible to get that dark and that uniform! (Also you’ll be seeing this outfit on Monday…) It looks like I was just out in the sun for the day or just home from the lake or beach. And it only took five minutes!
Since it was my first time, I’m not going to lie, I was nervous. Trying new things– yes, even a simple spray tan– gives me tons of anxiety. Due to my allergies, it scares me to try anything new. I tend to ask tons of questions hoping to avoid severe allergic reactions. Besides having had exposure to airbrush tans and self tanners, my experience with a spray tan booth doesn’t go beyond what I’ve seen the Real Housewives do. (It’s my trash TV, OK? Don’t judge. 😉 ) Rachel at Palm Beach Tan here in Athens was amazing! She was the perfect person for me to talk to for my first spray tan and ease my fears. Every Palm Beach Tan needs a Rachel! She let me ask as many questions as I wanted, showed me around, and made sure I was 100% ready before leaving me to spray tan.

On Rachel’s very knowledgeable recommendation for my light complexion, she set me up in the Mystic Tan HD for my first spray tan and recommended trying the VersaSpa booth next time. There are add-ons for the spray shade. Add ons-are scent, bronzer, and accelerator. After choosing the “light” shade to start, I added the accelerator and bronzer. I skipped the scent. They were nice, but not my thing. If they turned out any stronger than the smell from outside the box, there would be no way I could handle any of them.


It may have taken all of five minutes after I was set up to do the spray tan. Five may even be over estimating it. I turned around four times, heat dried, and emerged already starting to glow. I was stunned. I walked out and Rachel ask me how my very first experience was and I ask her if that was it because I couldn’t believe how quick and easy it was to look like I had just spent a day in the sun– without the extra lobster tone because I don’t really tan easily at all. She assured me that was it and she reviewed rinsing after I was as dark as I wanted to be within the next 2-8 hours. Here’s a peek at the progression:

The first picture is an immediate before and after. Before I went into the booth and right after I came out and wiped off my hands. Already quite the difference on my arms. The second picture is my shoulders. You can faintly see my tan line from the beach in early June. The spray tan covered that up nicely. That’s a before and after washing off the formula after four hours. Rachel told me I could leave it on up to 8, so next time I want to leave it on longer. The last picture is also a before and after washing off at my leg line. It also gives you a good idea of how much darker I am than my natural tone.

These were the tips given to me that really helped:

  • Exfoliate:: Done and done. I used a Baking soda and water paste and it worked great before hand.
  • Skip Deodorant before:: It’s supposedly a blocker and could make it look weird
  • Bring dark clothes:: Definitely good advice, since the bra I took was covered in the tanner when I got home.
  • Use lots of the blocker lotion in the room:: This made a huge difference in how natural my hands and feet looked with the spray tan. I can tell where I didn’t do a great job with it on my feet.

Over all, besides eating some the first time the sprayer went over my face, I’m excited about how great it went. Next time I want to leave it on longer and make sure I use the nose plugs. I can definitely see the benefit of those. It was great to try something new and enjoy how I felt afterwards. It’s nice to find things that leave you feeling pampered and great about yourself. After these crazy past three weeks, it was relaxing to take even five minutes to make myself feel better. Sunless, Inc is generously sharing one free spray tan for a reader so you can get pampered too! Make sure you enter the giveaway below!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Also make sure you link up with me, Katy, and Nicole this week and share your favorites!

Have you ever gotten a spray tan before? Did you like it? Do tell.

Though I did receive an amazing Mystic Tan HD glow as compensation for sharing my opinions, they for sure can’t be bought. Honesty is the best policy.
*Disclaimer:  I was provided with a sample of this product free of charge, for review purposes.  This did not alter my opinion of the product and the opinions I have expressed in this post are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the United States Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

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14 Comments

  1. I have done spray tanning before, twice! Only I always choose to stand there with a paper thong on while someone does a custom air-brush job. I trust it more than a booth, and they can do some sweet countouring. 🙂 Having grown up around Korean spas I have no issues being naked in front of someone painting me. LOL

  2. Ive never had a spray tan! Ive always been curious but super scared of coming out orange, Im sure like you I just have preconceived notions of like what spray tans were like 10 years ago. Ive only tried bed tanning and hated the experience, I realized it doesn't work for me and the health implications but spray tanning I would try.

  3. I'm not down with tanning beds and it's only occasionally that I feel like I need a little tan so spray tanning was perfect for me. Make sure you enter the giveaway to try one for free! The ladies at the tan salon told me that even in the past few years they've come a long way. Supposedly the new Mystic Tan HD booth that I tried is brand new and even much better than what was available previously.