Smileysnob

this is my technique (if anyone cares) - please feel free to ask or critique with somethign you found that works better. Someone asked me to email them this, so I decided to post it to see if anyone has any suggestions, or if it can help anyone...

thanks




Airbrush Spray Tanning Technique

Have the client stand on a wet towel (damp) so there feet do not pick up the over spray. Make sure you apply barrier cream to all the areas that tend to absorb more solution :
· Elbows
· Bottom of wrists (have them collect in palms and slightly put on wrists with there fingers so they don’t put on too much)
· Knees and bottom of knees
· Back of the ankle
· Crease from ankle to foot
· Any other spot the client tends to know is drier on him/her
· KEEP it on there palms after they are done so it does not collect overspray as well!!!

Client stands facing you – arms out and bent a little bit (up side down L shape)

NEVER Spray the face first unless they have had a spray tan before and know what to expect. Explain to them its going to be cold when it goes on and make sure they don’t crease there body too much (bend arms and legs TOO much, some is fine so they stay comfortable)

Spray in 6” circles trying not to spray too much overspray. Going from right to left then left to right. Kind of in a Z shape as you go down the body.

Start at the neck

1. Neck then Shoulder to shoulder (L to R) then back (R to L) below making sure to cover it all. Repeat this until you get down to the ankles*

*(make sure they have barrier cream on the crease from ankles and feet – this can tend to get too dark)

When you get to the ankles, wisp off, so you don’t get too much on the crease. Take the spray gun and lightly go left to right and spray “some” on the top of the feet to look natural.

2. Have them do a side lung left first, then right (like in cheerleading – one leg bent and one straight ) and spray the inside one thigh at a time down to the ankle – then wisp off getting little on the side of the foot.

TURN TO THE RIGHT

3. Hands to the side – start at the neck down to the ankle (always wisp off at the ankle)

4. Put your arm in the air (reach to the sky) spray from wrist down to the hip (which was covered before.

TURN TO THE RIGHT

5. Have them put there hands back to the same position they were when facing forward and follow the same steps as #1 DO NOT HAVE THEM LUNG.

6. Ask them to bend slightly at the waist (ladies) and lightly spray 2 lines down there “smile” marks below there bottom ) They love this b/c the tanning beds DO NOT tan this part!!
TURN TO THE RIGHT

7. Repeat steps # 3 & # 4

TURN TO THE RIGHT

8. Have them close there eyes and make sure if they have blonde hair it’s in a shower cap – give them the choice either way (dark hair or not, but make sure bangs are back) Tell them to take a deep breath – start at the forehead (left to right and back) and when you get to the chin tell them they can breath and whisp up the left side of there cheek (side of there face) then the right so you completely got the face.

Then let them dry in front of a fan for about 5-10 minutes (5 on each side). We used to have a fan for the top and one for the bottom. This is all up to you and what you find works better. No shower for 8-10 hours (the longer they wait the better the tan will develop) if you are using a bronzed solution , they will see it right away, but if its clear, they will start to see it in 3-4 hours. If it gets on clothes or sheets – put in washer, will come out! If they see the shower water is brown, no worries – this is the excess on top. DO NOT FORGET Moisturize, Moisturize, MOISTURIZE!!


I hope this helps – if you have any questions and I didn’t explain very well, PM me, or send me an email back!

sonyafly

That was very nice of you to post that, thank you. I am going to be using an HVLP machine, but this still helped with the clients positioning, etc.

unity

That better than our method:

Hold ballon full of solution in left hand.
Hold solution activation device in other (sharp pin).
Puncture balloon.

Ya.. yours is much better. ;)

Ok, so I kid. Very nice write-up. Its very similar to what we do, however each tech seems to develop their own unique technique. We do not do the bend over thing though, but we never airbrush nude clients so it becomes a mute point.

The one thing we do have though is twin airbrushes. We have the large capacity one for the body and quick face prep. Then we follow with a very small artisan airbrush and use incredible detail on the face, mainly along the hair-line and ears. The amount of solution that comes out is minimal. This has two results. First this give detail to areas that a large airbrush "gun" can not and makes the tan look that much more real. Second, the client perceives a better value because you are paying attention to detail. Its adds maybe a minute to the session time, but the value seems worth more than that. Its one of those things you have to see or do, then you say "wow, that does make a big difference!". Not that having one brush is by any means bad.