Frank Salas

Okay so I just did my first spray tan this weekend on my g/f (bless her heart)

Well I used the Norvell "clear" solution on my custom made HVLP Ki Kava(same thing they use to spray cars)... anyway it came out "tolerable" lol!

Anyway my GF has streaks, her feet/hands are orange and their was a lot of "drippage" on her ankles ... like the water beaded up and rolled down. The tint was slliiiiiiightly orange. I think I may have been to close, I don't know.

Also, I don't know if its just my one bottle of solution but I would LOVE to try other solutions...do they offer free samples (i can pay for the shipping obviously) , but I want to try before I buy.


-Frank Salas

aloharedhots

It takes PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE! You can order PRACTICE solution that is cheaper than regular stuff. It is tinted with the bronzer but NOT DHA so when you mess up your volunteer can just rinse it off. Plus they can shower and be a fresh pallette for you to try again and again. You just spray them, let it dry, then get them under good lights to see where u made ur mistakes and try again. I ordered my practice solution from tampabaytan.com but most companies have it, just do a search and find the cheapest stuff! Also, I would NOT recommend using the clear solution AT ALL until you are a PRO. I have been doing spray tans for 3 years and I am JUST NOW getting comfortable enough to even think about attempting it. The makeup in the bronze solution is really more for the technician than the client. Without being able to see where it is spraying it is almost IMPOSSIBLE to get it even. You will skip some spots while some areas may have way too much solution (orange) and you won't know til it develops :( With the bronze solution you can look over your client when you are done for areas you missed.

To sum it up:
1.) Put anything with DHA on the shelf until you buy some practice tanner and have used it until you achieve perfect results.
2.) Don't even think about offering the colorless solution until you can spray perfectly with the bronze solution and not have to look over your client for bare spots.

Don't get discouraged, you CAN learn to do it, but starting with clear solution would be like a surgeon picking up a knife of the first day of med school!

PS I never spray directly on the feet, hands, knees or ankles-my overspray from the arms/legs is always enough to cover these areas evenly.

eyecandytanning

Clear is super hard to start with. I am pretty sure we will never do clear at my salon...to much user error with clear.

summerspray

Great advice from alhoa and eyecandy, the clear solution is best to steer away from until you have a good years experience at least.

I think also that you need to turn the spray solution on your gun down a little, I always spray on my couch roll a few times before I spray a client to make sure I have it set correctly

A great tip given to me from my trainer is to mark on your nozzle with pen when you have got the nozzle in the correct position, so you don't have to keep fiddling all the time with the nozzle everytime you do a spray tan

Hope this helps
Cheers

eileen

That's awesome Frank. I think the first magic number is 5.... it seemed all the girls i trained started to get the flow at 5 bodies. Our system is extremely easy however and not much to fiddle with since it's computerized.
Best of luck to you. :)

__________________
"under exposure to UV rays is as dangerous as overexposure....this is D life" eileen

besthands

Didn't your system come with any training???

spraytannedjenn

I can't believe a supplier would not talk you out of the clear. Clear is way too hard! I only sell it to people who I know are very experianced or insist they have to have it clear. I really try to talk people out of it. I don't want someone to say they got sprayed with my solution and machine and looking bad.

boshena57

I remember when I did my first spray tan (on my daughter). She refused to go to school the next day it was so bad. That is when we discovered the beauty of chlorinated pools to fade the tan real fast

Maxedout

I'm with you there, Frank. I'm learning right now, too. I've done 4 or 5 airbrush tans so far, and decided to order up an hvlp unit just to see the difference. My airbrush work came out okay at best. Faces look really good but I seem to have problems near the hands and feet. Lower legs are one of my weaknesses, as well. My wife and stepdaughter are very understanding though. Maybe because it's all free for them now. I may not ever measure up to some of the pros on this board, but I'm not spraying in Hollywood, either. I'm having fun. It's all good. HVLP should help.

Woodlands

The owners of the salon I'm buying (yes, it looks like they are willing to come down to my price YIPEE!) are going to show me how to do this and I've been watching several videos on Youtube. I'm going to be really abusing a lot of friendships and family members in the first few weeks ;)