Spray tanning involves applying an active ingredient, dihydroxyacetone, or DHA, to your skin using a specialist spraying machine. DHA is a colourless sugar which reacts with the proteins and amino acids in the outer most layer of your skin to produce a brown colour.
Most spray tans contain a colour guide when you are first sprayed. These cosmetic bronzers wash off after your first shower. Your tan will continue to develop to its full strength over the next few hours. The colour of your guide is not an indication of how dark you will be. This is purely dictated by the strength of the DHA in the solution that you are using. This again gives varying results as the DHA is reacting with your skin.
The spray tan will contain various percentages of DHA depending on the solution that you and your therapist chose is suitable for you. The DHA activates immediately. Radiant Glo Spray Tan only needs to be left on for two hours and can then be showered off, yet the actual tan will continue to develop over the next 24 hours. The colour guide will wash off when showering. Your therapist will guide you on how long to wait until you can shower depending on your skin colour and how dark you want your tan.