Spray Tan Before Vacation: Timing, Flights, Beach and Pool

Get your spray tan one to two days before you leave. That way it has finished developing, you’ve done your first rinse at home, and you land on Day 2, when the color looks most natural. With care, a tan lasts about 7 to 10 days, which covers most of a one-week trip.

The rest is logistics: fitting the appointment around flight times, Yom Tov and packing, and keeping the tan alive through sun, sea and chlorine. Here’s how to plan it from Brooklyn.

Timing your tan around the flight

The tan develops over about 8 hours. During that time you want to stay dry, cool and in loose clothes. An airport is none of those things: rushing through security, a backpack strap, a tight seat for three hours, maybe a sweaty transfer. So the rule is simple: finish the development and first rinse before you travel.

Morning flight

Tan two days before, in the afternoon or evening. Rinse the next morning. You fly on Day 2, the day the color peaks.

Afternoon or evening flight

Tan the evening before, or earlier that week. A tan at 6 PM, a rinse around 2 AM or first thing in the morning, and you’re clear to travel by afternoon. If your schedule allows, two days before is still the gentler choice.

Longer trips

For two weeks or more, a single tan won’t carry you the whole way. Tan before you go for the first week, then let it fade gradually with the help of a tan extender. Our pillar guide, how long does a spray tan last, has the full day-by-day timeline.

Pesach travel from Brooklyn

Plenty of families from Midwood, Flatbush and Ocean Parkway spend Pesach away, at a hotel program or with family out of town. A few things make a pre-Pesach tan different:

• Rosie is closed on Yom Tov. She’s shomer Shabbat and closed on Shabbat and Jewish holidays, so your tan has to happen before Yom Tov begins. On a Friday, appointments run until an hour before sunset; ask Rosie about hours on Erev Yom Tov.
• Book early. The days before Pesach are crowded for everyone. Call or text (917) 326-0303 as soon as your travel dates are set.
• Mind the cleaning. The weeks before Pesach mean scrubbing, kashering and cleaning products. Hot water and cleansers strip a tan from your hands fast. Wear gloves for cleaning after your tan, or do the heavy cleaning before your appointment.
• Time it for the Seder. If you fly a day or two before Yom Tov, a tan two days before the flight still looks good through the first days of the holiday.

Halachic questions about tanning and Yom Tov are for your rav; Rosie builds the schedule around whatever you’re told.

Winter break and mid-winter travel

Leaving a Brooklyn January for Florida or the Caribbean is the most satisfying use of a spray tan there is. Arriving with color means you can enjoy the pool on the first day instead of waiting.

Winter skin needs more prep, though. Radiators and cold wind leave skin dry, and dry skin takes color unevenly and sheds faster. In the week before your appointment, moisturize every night. The day before, exfoliate and shave. On the day, arrive with bare skin. If school breaks set your dates, call early; the days just before a break are when everyone wants an appointment.

Keeping your tan through sun, sea and chlorine

Sunscreen, every day

A spray tan is not sun protection. Both the FDA and the American Academy of Dermatology make that point about sunless tanning products: unless a product also contains sunscreen, the color offers no protection. Use a broad-spectrum sunscreen as directed, and reapply after swimming or sweating. A lotion sunscreen without heavy oils is kinder to your tan than an oil.

Pools and chlorine

Chlorinated water dries the skin, and dry skin sheds faster, so pool days shorten a tan. Rinse in fresh water as soon as you get out, pat dry rather than rubbing with a rough hotel towel, and moisturize that evening. More on swimming in working out, sweating and swimming with a spray tan.

The ocean and sand

Salt water is also drying, and sand is a natural exfoliant. Rinse off after the beach, avoid scrubbing sand away, and moisturize generously. Expect the tan to fade a little faster on a beach-heavy trip than at home.

Hotel showers and sheets

Hotel bathrooms often stock foaming body washes that can be harsh on a tan. Bring your own gentle, sulfate-free soap. Because you did your first rinse at home, the bronzer that stains sheets is already gone, so hotel linens are far less likely to pick up color.

What to pack for your tan

• A gentle, sulfate-free body wash.
• A water-based moisturizer, for every evening.
• A tan extender, applied from around Day 3. We explain it in what is a tan extender.
• Sunscreen, and plenty of it.
• A soft washcloth for your face rather than the hotel’s.

Rosie’s Spray Tan+ is built for this: $150 for 35 minutes, with extra prep and contouring time, plus a take-home kit of tan-safe soap, a tan extender and natural lotions to preserve the tan. The standard Spray Tan is $100. Both are on the services page. The full set of aftercare habits is in how to make a spray tan last longer.

How dark to go for a trip

A little deeper than your everyday tan can look right against sun, swimsuits and holiday clothes. Remember that a deeper tan shows the fade more, and you’ll be fading in public, by a pool, in daylight. Our guide to choosing your spray tan shade will help you decide.

Traveling as a family or group

If several of you are traveling together, for Pesach or a family simcha, Rosie also does mobile tans, so the family can tan together at home before you leave. Mobile appointments have a minimum of five people and are quoted per booking. Call or text (917) 326-0303 with your dates and how many of you there are.