Part One of: Where can I find organic spray tan solution? Allergens to avoid

Let’s face it, your clients aren’t coming to you for a spray tan because it’s the most convenient way to get a tan; they are coming to you because they want a healthy, natural-looking alternative to getting a tan from the sun. Your clients are trusting you with their well-being; you want to be sure to return the favor by providing them with a healthy, clean, and, most importantly, allergy-free solution.

It's an unfortunate truth that no spray tan solution in the world can be 100% organic, or certified organic through the USDA, but there are plenty of things to look out for when deciding what spray tan solution to use.

There are several things to be on the lookout for:

Walnuts, peanuts, cashews, hazelnuts—nut allergies in general--

I’m not going to insult your intelligence by naming more nuts, but feel free to send me Pistachios at any time.

Why are there nuts in my solution?

In England alone, 4,000 people are diagnosed with a peanut allergy every year; in America, 55% of the population has allergies. How much are you willing to bet that none of your clients have allergies? I’ll take whatever odds you’re giving.

Nuts are usually used for their oil. See what happens is this: a company produces a spray tanning formula with DHA, which both tans and dries out the skin. This same company then chooses the less expensive nut oils to use as a moisturizer instead of water (which is of course natural, healthy, and safe). By choosing the oils over a water-based moisturizer this company is announcing three things: they would rather make a cheap solution than a good one, they don’t know much about skincare (or they would know that oil is bad for your skin), and, worst of all, that they would rather risk your life than simply make a better solution.

This same company also needs to cover up the smell of poorly treated DHA. (DHA only smells bad, and only needs to be “covered up with a scent”, if it has not been properly formulated). Companies like this hide their mistakes by offering you solutions that smell like coconut, lavender, strawberries, and things like that. What they can’t hide is that:

If a solution has any added fragrance then it most likely also contains nuts and other allergens.

Alcohols—used to counteract the sticky, tacky feel that an oil-based moisturizer leaves on your skin, alcohol is introduced into a badly made formula as a “quick fix”. Only problem is that this “quick fix” dries out your skin faster than salt on a slug. I don’t recommend treating your customers like slugs and really don’t recommend drying their skin out with alcohol.

Gluten and other grain allergies—As many Americans suffer from Celiac’s disease as there are people in Houston, Texas. Think about that for a second or two: Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States!

Even if the product you are using includes none of these—it may still include other allergens: be careful what you buy.


COMING UP: PART TWO--AN ORGANIC SPRAY TAN CHECKLIST