Why You need a Lotion or Moisturizer After Your Tan

Let’s start with the essential question - why do you need to use lotion after your spray tan? 

As you know, moisturized and fresh skin will not only absorb the spray tan solution better, but maintaining your tan also requires moisturized skin. In order to do that, we need to make sure that we are using a lotion that will not “strip” off the spray tan. Certain ingredients can be harmful to your tan, which is why we talk about which lotions and soaps to use after your spray tan.

In particular, anything that will cause your skin to begin to exfoliate will make the spray tan come off because the tan is only absorbed into the first layer of your skin. In addition, other ingredients, such as mineral oil, will strip the tan off your skin.

Therefore, it is important to make sure that you use a good moisturizing lotion while you have your tan. Immediately after your shower, you should apply lotion to your skin in order to help it absorb some of the water/moisture from the shower. That is why most skin care professionals recommend applying lotion immediately after your shower.

There are a number of things to avoid while you have a tan. These ingredients can cause the tan to come off immediately, or they can at least speed up the exfoliation process causing the tan to come off quicker than it would otherwise.

Here are some ingredients and types of products to avoid while you have a spray tan:

• Mineral oil
• Fragrances
• Most essential oil
• Anti-aging products
• Toners
• Hair removal products
• Retin-a
• Make-up removal products

This is not by any means an all inclusive list, but these are some of the types of products and ingredients we recommend for people to avoid.

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s talk about the types of products and ingredients that we want to use after a spray tan. Remember, keeping your skin moisturized is key, but what you use is just as important.  We want to look for the following products or ingredients:  

• Shea butter 
• Fragrance-free 
• Oil-free Aloe-vera 
• Coconut oil