When can I shower after a spray tan?

This is the question we answer at the door every single time, and it is worth having written down because it is also the easiest thing to get wrong.

How long, by shade

The stronger the tan, the longer it develops. As a rough guide:

Tan	Rough development time
BeautyRokz Tan	Around 4 to 6 hours
Bondi Sands Medium	Around 4 to 6 hours
Bondi Sands Dark	Around 6 hours
Bondi Sands Ultra Dark	Up to 8 hours
St Tropez	Around 6 to 8 hours

These are guides, not your instruction. We will give you an exact time before we leave, based on what we have used and the colour you are after. If you want it a shade lighter, rinsing at the earlier end does that. If you want it deeper, leave it longer. That is a genuine lever and most people do not realise it.

Some people leave an overnight tan on until morning. That is fine with most products, though not all, so ask us rather than assume.

How to do the first shower

This is the bit that matters more than the timing.

• Lukewarm water only. Not hot. Heat opens pores and lifts colour
• No soap, no shower gel, no body wash. Just water
• No exfoliating, no flannel, no loofah, no scrubbing. Nothing that rubs
• Keep it short. Two or three minutes is plenty
• Rinse until the water runs clear. That is the guide colour coming off, not your tan
• Pat dry with a towel. Do not rub

The water will run brown and it looks alarming the first time. That is the temporary guide colour doing exactly what it should. Your actual tan is underneath and it is not going anywhere.

What not to do

Do not shower early to lighten it. Tempting if you think it looks too dark, but cutting development short gives you a patchy half-finished colour rather than an even lighter one. If you want lighter, tell us beforehand and we will use a lighter product. There is more in our piece on what to do if you hate your spray tan.

Do not have a bath instead. Sitting in water for twenty minutes is the opposite of a quick rinse.

Do not shave in that first shower. Give it at least a day.

Do not go to the gym first. Sweat during development causes streaks, particularly in the creases of your arms and behind your knees.

After the first shower

Once that first rinse is done, you are back to normal showering, with a few habits that make the difference between five days and ten.

• Moisturise every single day from now on. This is the biggest one by a distance
• Keep showers short and lukewarm rather than long and hot
• Pat dry rather than rubbing
• Go gently with soap on the first couple of days
• Skip long baths, and expect the pool to fade it faster

Full detail in our aftercare guide, and there is more on getting the maximum out of it in how long does a spray tan last.

Before your first shower

While it is developing, keep dry and keep loose. No washing your hands more than you have to, no washing up, no getting caught in the rain without a jacket, which in Ayrshire is worth planning around.

Loose dark clothes, and there is a full rundown in what to wear for a spray tan.

The short version

Wait the time we give you. Lukewarm water, no soap, no scrubbing, keep it short. Pat dry. Then moisturise every day.

Not sure what your time was? Message us and we will tell you. We would far rather answer that than have you guess.