Rinsed your tan and lost half your colour? Read this.
You applied your tan, let it develop, jumped in the shower and... "Where the hell did my tan go?"
You were beautifully bronzed five minutes ago and now you're standing there wondering if you've just washed the whole thing down the drain. You haven't, this is a very normal part of the rapid tan process, so please don't apply another coat 😂
The colour you see while your fake tan is developing and the colour you're left with once it's fully developed are two different things.
Here's what's actually happening.
1. YOU'VE APPLIED YOUR TAN
Your tan is on and you're looking VERY bronzed, completely feeling yourself.
But here's the part a lot of people don't realise:
Most of the colour you can see right now isn't your final tan.
It's the colour guide (or bronzer).
It's there to give you instant colour while also helping you see where you've applied your tan so you don't miss half a leg or miss the back of your arm. Meanwhile, the ingredient responsible for actually tanning your skin, DHA is getting to work. DHA itself is clear.
So don't use how dark you look during development as an indication of how dark your finished tan will be.
2. IT'S RINSE TIME
You've waited your recommended development time and it's finally time to rinse. Keep that first shower lukewarm and water only; No soap and no scrubbing.
As you're rinsing, you look down and see brown water running off your body... And suddenly your skin looks like it did before application.
This is where people panic.
But what you're watching disappear down the drain is mostly the colour guide, not your actual tan. The DHA has already started reacting with the amino acids in the outermost layer of your skin, and that colour will continue developing after you've stepped out of the shower.
Yes, you may look significantly lighter after that first rinse but this is where you need to leave it alone, because your tan hasn't finished working its magic yet.
3. THE NEXT 24–48 HOURS
This is when the final results of your tan comes through.
After your first rinse, DHA continues developing, with most of your colour typically becoming visible within around 24 hours and potentially continuing to deepen beyond that.
This is also why a rapid tan doesn't mean instant tan.
Rapid refers to how soon you can rinse the product off, not how quickly your final colour develops.
If you rinse after a couple of hours and think: "That's it?!", Give her a minute, your colour isn't fully developed just yet.
WHY WE SAY TAN TWO DAYS BEFORE AN EVENT
If you've got a wedding, birthday, photoshoot or another event where you want your tan looking its best, don't leave it until the night before.
Giving yourself that extra time means your colour can fully develop and settle before the event.
Our general rule:
Event day → work backwards two days → tan day.
SO... DID YOUR TAN DISAPPEAR?
Nope.
You rinsed away the temporary colour guide and revealed a tan that wasn't finished developing yet.
The biggest thing to remember is:
What you see immediately after rinsing isn't necessarily your final colour.
Give your tan time to do its thing before deciding it's too light, applying another layer or convincing yourself you've done something wrong.
Trust the process, your post-rinse colour isn't the finished result.
