How to Shower After a Spray Tan: Your First Rinse & Beyond

To shower after a spray tan, use lukewarm water and no soap, let the water run over you without scrubbing until it runs mostly clear, then pat dry with a dark towel and moisturize. The brown water is the guide color washing away; your tan stays.

This guide is about technique, the how of it. If you are still asking when you are allowed in, the answer is after about 8 hours, and the reasons are in How Long After a Spray Tan Can You Shower? Once the clock has run, here is how to do it.

Before you step in

• Pick a dark towel. The guide color can mark a pale one.
• Set the water to lukewarm. Warm enough to be comfortable, cool enough that you would not call it hot.
• Move the loofah, mitt and scrub out of reach. You don’t need them this week, and it is easy to grab one out of habit.
• Have your moisturizer ready for the moment you step out.

The first rinse, step by step

1. Water only. No body wash, no bar soap, no shower gel on this first rinse. The goal is simply to wash off the guide color and any leftover solution.
2. Let the water do it. Stand under the spray and turn slowly. Use your hands lightly if you like, the way you would rinse conditioner out, but don’t rub or scrub.
3. Rinse until it runs mostly clear. The water will be brown at first. That is expected. When it looks close to clear, you are done.
4. Keep it short. A few minutes is enough. A long shower softens the top layer of skin, which is where your tan lives.
5. Pat, don’t rub. Press the towel against your skin to blot water away. Rubbing is a small exfoliation and can wear the color unevenly.
6. Moisturize. A plain body lotion while skin is still very slightly damp. Give extra attention to hands, elbows, knees and feet.

Why the water runs brown

What runs off you is the guide color, the cosmetic bronzer that lets you and the artist see where the solution went. It never sinks in, so water carries it away. The DHA has already done its work in the surface layer of your skin, and that color stays where it is.

So the first rinse looks dramatic, and people sometimes panic and think the tan is leaving. It is not. After you dry off, you will see the developed color, usually a little softer and more natural than the guide color. It keeps settling, and Day 2 is when it looks most like you.

Hair, face and the awkward bits

Washing your hair

You can wash your hair in the first shower, but keep shampoo off your body. Tip your head back, let the suds run behind you, and rinse your hair before you rinse your skin. Then let plain water run over your body to finish. Conditioner follows the same rule.

Your face

If your face was tanned, splash it with lukewarm water rather than using your usual cleanser for this first rinse, then pat dry and apply your normal moisturizer. Hold off on exfoliating cleansers, toners with acids and face scrubs for the life of the tan.

Underarms and deodorant

After you are dry, you can put deodorant back on. Underarms tend to fade a little faster than the rest of you because of friction and sweat; that is normal.

Every shower after the first

From the second shower on, you can use soap. What you use and how you shower decide whether your tan reaches the long end of its 7–10 days.

Choose a gentle soap

Harsh, very foaming cleansers and anything exfoliating speed up fading. Look for a gentle, moisturizing body wash, and use it only where you need to, rather than lathering head to toe twice a day. A tan-safe soap is formulated for exactly this; one comes in the Spray Tan+ take-home kit along with a tan extender and natural lotions. The options are on the services page.

Keep the water lukewarm and the shower short

A long, hot shower is lovely in a Brooklyn January and hard on a tan. Heat and long soaking loosen the top layer of skin. Save the long showers and the baths for after the tan has faded.

Shave carefully

Shaving in the shower is fine after the first rinse. Use a sharp blade and shaving gel, light pressure, one pass. Shaved areas fade slightly faster. More on that in How Long Before a Spray Tan Should You Shave?

Pat dry, moisturize, every time

This is the habit that matters most. Dry skin flakes, and flaking takes color with it. Moisturize after every shower, and once more before bed if your skin runs dry.

Habits that show up on Day 3

Most uneven fading can be traced back to a few shower habits that feel harmless in the moment:

1. The face cloth. Rubbing your face dry with a washcloth every morning will fade it faster than your neck. Pat with a soft towel.
2. The scented bath bomb. A long soak in hot water with fragrance and oils is a tan’s least favorite evening.
3. Hand-washing all day. Unavoidable, but a gentle soap and lotion after each wash keeps hands closer to the rest of you.
4. Skipping moisturizer just once. One missed night won’t ruin anything, but dry patches are where flaking starts.

After the gym, the pool or the beach

Sweat, chlorine and saltwater all fade a tan faster. The fix is the same shower you have just learned: rinse soon after, lukewarm, gentle soap, pat dry, moisturize. The rest of that story is in Working Out, Sweating & Swimming With a Spray Tan.

Quick reference

• First shower: after about 8 hours, lukewarm, no soap, no scrubbing.
• Brown water is normal. Rinse until it runs mostly clear.
• Pat dry with a dark towel. Moisturize right away.
• Shampoo: head back, keep it off your body.
• Every shower after: short, lukewarm, gentle soap, no exfoliating.

For everything from the day-before prep to the last days of the fade, see the complete spray tan prep and aftercare guide.