Thanks to tanning salons, we can maintain a beautiful tan all year round by using one of their UV tanning beds or a self tanning method such as spray tanning. Even in the summer, instead of sitting in the sun baking for several hours to achieve that perfect golden tan, some people opt for the much quicker and safer option of spray tanning.
For those that don’t know what spray tanning is, it is a form of self tanning that uses an aerosol type of spray with DHA as it’s active ingredient. DHA reacts with amino acids on the surface of your skin causing it to change into a darker pigment.
So is this stuff actually safe for you? In this article we explore some of the pros and cons of spray tanning.
Spray Tanning Pros
When comparing spray tanning to sun bathing or other self tanning products, spray tanning has several benefits including.
quick results
With spray tanning, you don’t have to sit in the sun for hours, allowing the suns UV rays to penetrate your skin and cause it to darken. You also don’t have to wait a few days until your skin fully changes into the golden pigment we all strive for.
Once your spray tan session is complete, the amino acids on your skin will react almost instantly, changing the pigmentation of your skin.
Safer than sun bathing
Sun bathing requires actually damaging your skin by causing it to darken as a protective bodily response from the powerful UV rays. UV rays are harmful to our skin, especially in high doses, and can cause several problems like premature aging of skin, sun burns and skin cancer.
Spray tanning, on the other hand, doesn’t require you to bathe in the sun at all. As long as you make sure to cover your self in the sun, use sun block or sit in the shade during the peak UV hours of the day, you can maintain a beautiful tan without any of the risks of sun bathing
easier to use than self tanning lotions
Self tanning lotions is another safe alternative to sun bathing, but it is a little trickier than spray tanning. With these lotions it can be difficult to spread them evenly on your own body and quite messy as well.
Spray tanning is usually administered by a professional or an automated booth that will give you an even application all over your body, without using any sticky products that leave your skin feeling greasy.
Spray Tanning Cons
As you can see, there are many positives to spray tanning compared to other types of tanning. Like almost anything else in life, there are some negatives associated with spray tanning as well. In this case though, the pros definitely outweigh the cons, as long as you use it in moderation of course.
inhaling dha is a health concern
While getting a spray tan applied to your body, it is almost impossible to avoid inhaling a small amount of the spray. Even if you try holding your breath, it is unlikely you will be able to do so during the entire process.
The danger with this comes from some new studies that suggest inhaling DHA may cause cancer. These studies have not been conducted on humans but it is something you should consider when going for a spray tan, only choosing salons that use the most modern technology, and doing it less moderately.
spray tanning is expensive
It should go without saying that spray tanning is more expensive than sun bathing, but it is also about 3 times more expensive than other self tanning creams as well. So it’s really up to you to decide if the higher price is worth the superior results that spray tanning provides.
