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Having a great sunless product is one reason that will have your clients coming back. Let's face it! There is no secret of the best sunless solutions out there because everyone has their own opinion of what is the best or the top sunless solutions on the market. The sunless solutions we carry along with great customer service are what made us get voted #1.
We know that there is not ONE solution that works for all skin types because we all have different skin types. There are clients with type 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 skin types. So what do these types mean?
Let's go to the Fitzpatrick Scale of what these types mean.
Type I: always burns, never tans (pale white skin; blond or red hair; blue eyes; freckles).
Type II: usually burns, tans minimally (white; fair skin; blonde, red, can be brunette hair; blue, green, or hazel eyes, think Anne Hathaway skin tone).
Type III: sometimes mild burn, tans uniformly (cream white; fair with any hair or eye color)
Type IV: burns minimally, always tans well (light brown)
Type V: very rarely burns, tans very easily (brown)
Type VI: never burns, always tans (deeply pigmented dark brown to darkest brown)
We've tried about 40 maybe more sunless solutions on the market and the top solutions we use that go with these 6 skin types are Paradise Bronze and Black Magic. We are not bias, after testing and doing research, these two great solutions came out on top and clients love them.
For a Type I skin, I suggest to using a 5% (light) dha. A sunless solution with that percentage will give your client the right amount of color without making them look too dark or fake looking. Keep in mind that using a high dha percentage (7% and above) on a Type I skin type can cause a client to look orange and even fake looking. For a Type II skin, using an 7% (light - medium) dha would be ideal. This will give your client a nice tan. Type III skin can use an 8% (medium) dha and even a 9% (medium-dark) giving your client a nice beach tan. Depending on how dark your client wants to look, most dha percentages can be applied to this skin type with little chance of an orange tint.
With a Type IV skin and above....some clients don't want to be darker but just to have a bronze look or to enhance their skin tone, so what dha percentage do we suggest? Anywhere from a 5% to a 8% but if they want to go darker, then a 8% and above can do well too. For Type VI skin, If you want to get a spray tan to enhance your skin tone and even out certain parts where there may be some natural discoloration, a dark sunless shade would be used in most cases.
The Fitzpatrick Scale:
Knowing Your Skin Undertones:
The quick test – what is your skin undertone?
It’s actually really easy to determine which skin undertone you have. Simply look at the color of the veins on the inside of your wrist, ensuring you are examining your wrists under natural light and that your skin is clean and free of product.
- If your veins appears blue or purple, you have a cool skintone
- If your veins appear green, you have a warm skin tone
- If your veins appear a greenish/blue, you have an olive or neutral skin tone which means you have a variety of choice (most olive complexions have a neutral undertone)
So what's next?
Now that you know which undertone your skin is you will be able to select your spray tan shade to suit your skin.
Cool Undertones
If you have a cool undertone, with the veins on your inner wrist appearing blue, we recommend a Green base. A green based solution is suitable for all skin types however is complementary to a cool skin tone, as it will counteract any pink hues your skin has, leaving you with a natural looking tan. Solutions with a green base are the most traditional and will leave you with a natural looking tan every time.
Warm Undertones
If you have a warm undertone, with the veins on your wrist appearing green, your skin will work naturally with a Violet based solution. A violet base is suitable for all skin types however complements a warm skin tone and will give you a hue that represents an exotic tan, counteracting any yellow tones that may naturally be present in your skin.
Neutral Undertones
If you have a neutral undertone, then you are one lucky person! You have a wide variety of choices when it comes to selecting a spray tan and can choose solutions with either a Green, Violet, or brown base. For you, it is a matter of personal preference. Have a chat with your spray tan artist and see what they recommend. You can even try both solutions at different days ofcourse and then stick with the one you prefer!
So now you have the common based solutions which are green base and violet base solutions but there is also a brown based solution. The brown base solution is great for all skin types making tans look more on the brown side. Paradise Bronze is a brown based solution and is great for all skin tones. Now you may ask how can that be when it was mentioned above that there is not one solution that is for all skin types? It's simple, Paradise Bronze comes in a dha percentage ranging from 5% - 11%. With Black Magic, you have a green based, violet based, and a brown based with a dha percentage ranging from 9% and above.
So which skin type and undertone are you and what dha percent do you use on your clients?
