How to Fix a Tanning Disaster

Because self-tanning disasters are sometimes unavoidable, learning how to get fake tan off quickly is important regardless of your tanning schedule and experience level. Patches, streaks, orange skin and uneven fading are the most common problems you can run into when getting a fake tan. If you get a professional spray tan or use premium self-tanning products, walking away with a serious tanning tragedy is rare – but memorising a few easy techniques for damage control can help you act fast if the unexpected happens.

How to Get Fake Tan Off

1. Invest in a high-quality tan remover. Professional tan removers are specifically designed for lifting colour from your skin, so they can be your best bet when you need to reverse a fake tan that looks uneven or unnatural. Because you might have to scrub your skin to remove stubborn colour, look for tan removers that do not use chemicals or other irritating ingredients.

2. Rub your skin with a powerful exfoliating mitt. To see what a difference using a professional product can make, try the salon-quality exfoliating mitt from Mine Tan. Developed specifically for optimising results from sunless tanning, Mine Tan’s soft mitt uses natural fibres to wipe away fake colour without irritating the skin. For removing a dark fake tan, use it with a strong exfoliating cleanser or a renewing body scrub. Soak your skin in a warm shower before you get started to speed up the removal process and prevent dryness.

3. Use a homemade recipe. When you are in a rush and do not have any professional tan removers on hand, look in your kitchen for a homemade solution. There are many different recipes you can make to lighten a fake tan depending on the ingredients you have. Spot treatment with a lemon juice wedge is effective for eliminating dark patches and removing colour from isolated areas. If you need to fix a bad fake tan all over your body, make a paste by mixing sodium bicarbonate and water. You can also whip up your own version of a body scrub by combining sea salt with essential oils. Because your skin is unique, learning how to get fake tan off with homemade treatments can take a few tries. Experiment with different ingredient combinations until you find the one that works best for your skin type.

4. Wax or shave. Since waxing and shaving attack the top layers of your skin where fake tans hide, they can be just what you need to mitigate a tanning disaster. While normally you want to wait a few days after your tanning session to remove body hair, doing it immediately after tanning can help you strip unwanted colour in seconds.