Bronze Your Bod in 60 Seconds

Self tanner has been my savior.  There are so many types and products out there, if anyone has tried them all, it is me.  For over eight years now I have been consistently using the same thing when I need a tan, and I need a tan that is fast!  Mystic Tan developed a spray tan booth in 1998 that has been a huge hit with everyday people and celebrities alike.  DHA (dihydroxyacetone) is the main FDA approved ingredient that most self tanners contain.  Tanning salons and spas all over the country have this unit and charge anywhere between $15-$40 a tan.  I buy mine in packages to get the best deal.  If you think about it; you spend money to tan in a bed that takes several visits to achieve your ideal color, add on the crazy hyped up $60 bottle of tanning lotion and you will find that spray tanning is in fact less expensive and much faster.  Oh, and you wont look like Clint Eastwood later down the road.

I will never be tan naturally (thank you Irish genes!)  It took me over a decade and a bout with squamous cell carcinoma  to figure that out.   I slapped on the oily lotion and fried in tanning beds for years trying to be a bronzed, exotic beauty.  Instead, I got more freckles and a few wrinkles.  As a child, I aspired to look like Brooke Shields on Island of the Blue Lagoon.  But no, I was better off aspiring to be casted in Children of the Corn, as you can see.

Albino with a perm?

Tanning in the Mystic Booth:

You literally disrobe, apply a barrier cream to your hands and feet, step in, assume position, spray one side, turn around, the knobs move up and down spraying evenly and efficiently.  After the spray is complete you step out and towel off and get dressed. Ta-da!  In under 10 minutes you are done.

Some tips from me:
*Exfoliate heavily before you do it
*Do not wear any lotion or cream the day you do it
*Wait as long as possible before you shower-while they say 4 hours, I say let it marinate over night.
*Maintain your tan by moisturizing twice a day and not exfoliating.
*Face backward away from the sprayers your first time when you start so you do not get too startled and pee.
*Do not plan on having a hot date the same day you spray.

Thank you Mystic Tan.  And Photoshop.



PHOTOGRAPHY:  Rob Mills