Organize Your Prom Beauty Timeline

Planning your prom can be overwhelming. It’s basically a mini wedding that you are getting ready for with a lot of moving parts. Having it come together seamlessly takes some serious organizing skills.

Time to find the perfect prom dress, shoes, and jewelry, and plan your prom beauty schedule for the perfect look. And your prom spray tan is an important part of that.

Deciding to get a spray tan for prom
The red carpet secret to the perfect prom look is a spray tan.

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Should You Get A Spray Tan For Prom?

A professionally applied spray tan evens out your skin and brightens your complexion so when it’s time for the hair and makeup it brings it all together.

We are NOT talking vacation tan here like you just got back from Spring Break in Mexico, but a subtle glow to bring out your features and brighten you up.

Why Do Girls Get A Spray Tan For Prom?

After searching prom makeup looks on Pinterest, you found some really great ideas but what you can’t figure out is how the girls in all of those pictures look so flawless and how their eyes just seem to POP and their teeth are so white.

Well, there is a little red carpet-secret that celebrities, models, and makeup artists use for special events.

It’s the first step to getting glammed up.

Before the hair and makeup create the perfect even skin palette.

It’s a spray tan!

Is a spray tan worth it?

A spray tan is the first step to a glam makeup look and is SO worth it.

It doesn’t matter if you are the fairest of the maidens or have a bit darker skin tone, a little airbrushed glow makes all the difference when your professional makeup artist starts to apply your foundation.

Prom Checklist

How to get ready for the day of prom

I created a prom beauty checklist to help get you started with your prom planning.

2-3 Months Before Prom:

  • Book your hair, makeup, spray tan, and nail appointments

PRO TIP: Spring is a really busy time of year for beauty professionals with prom, graduation, and wedding season all coming together at the same time.  To get your perfect appointment time booking ahead is super important.

2 Weeks Before Prom:

1 Week Before Prom:

2-3 Days Before Prom:

  • Get your mani/pedi BEFORE your spray tanning appointment

1-2 Days Before Prom:

  • Get your spray tan

Day of Prom:

  • Hair and Makeup Appointments
  • Get Dressed
  • Pictures
Prom makeup and Spray Tan at Merle Norman
Professional makeup artists love the even skin tone a spray tan gives you.

Related Articles:

When Is The Best Time To Get A Spray Tan Before Prom?

There’s a lot of discussion about when is the perfect time to get your spray tan before prom.  I like to treat your prom spray tan the same way I treat my bridal spray tan.

The perfect time to get your prom spray tan is 1-3 days before the dance.

Any further out from your event and your color will be fading away already.

Should you get a spray tan on the DAY of your prom?

The answer to this is NO!

If you get your spray tan the day of prom you run the risk of getting bronzer on your prom dress. Then you will be trying to figure out how to get spray tan off of your prom dress:(

When you are dancing and having fun you might get a little sweaty and the bronzer is going to streak and then soak into your gown. If the gown is a light color this is going to show!

What if I get sprayed with a clear solution so there is no bronzer, then can I get my tan the same day as prom?

NO! (<–this no comes complete with my mom voice. You know the one I am talking about)

DHA reacts with and stains certain fabrics. These stains are not something that can be removed because, in essence, the spray tan solution has “tanned” your gown.

PLEASE don’t get your spray tan on the same day as your prom.

Getting your tan applied 1-3 days before prom lets you shower removing the bronzer AND the active ingredients of the spray tan so that nothing will be rubbing onto your gown and ruining it.

I partnered up with the girls at Merle Norman Cosmetics and with Senior Photographer Brittany Ann to bring you a complete look. We loved our styled shoot with our model Chloe so that you can see exactly what we are talking about.

The beautiful glow from Chloe’s spray tan helps to even out her skin tone, brings out her eyes, and makes her makeup POP!

Prom Spray Tanning Tips:

Get all your spray tan-approved supplies together before your appointment so you are prepared.

  1. Shower with a Mild Soap or Shower Gel
  2. Shave BEFORE your tan
  3. Exfoliate BEFORE your tan with a Poof or a Loofah
  4. Always have your Mani/Pedi and Brow Waxing is done BEFORE your spray tan appointment
  5. Wear an Older Bra/Undies to your spray tanning appointment. If your dress is backless grab some of the petals or a sticky bra to wear during your spray tan appointment
  6. Stay Dry AFTER your spray tan for 8-10 hours (this means you CAN NOT get your spray tan and then go to practice)
  7. Shower When You Get Up BEFORE school if I have sprayed you on Thursday
  8. NEVER wash your face with anti-acne facial wash or apply acne products to your spray tan

Prom Spray Tan Advice

Please listen to your spray tan professional when it comes to spray tan advice and instructions.

DO NOT put lotion on before your spray tan

  • Your tan will NOT soak in and you will be splotchy or still white

DO NOT put lotion on when you get home after your spray tan

  • Your tan will smear all over leaving you a streaky mess and your hands all sorts of orange and messy

DO NOT take a shower immediately when you get home after your spray tan

  • You will wash off the spray tan solution and won’t be tan (the only exception to this rule is if you got sprayed with a rapid tan or one-hour tanning product. Your spray tan artist will tell you exactly when to shower.

DO NOT wash your hands after your spray tan

  • You will wash the spray tan solution off your hands and they will be white.

DO NOT forget to shower in the morning before school

  • If you leave the bronzer on you will be too dark and slightly off color so please hop in the shower and wash the bronzer off before starting your day.

DO NOT wear the bronzer to Prom

  • If you don’t shower before your prom and you put your pretty dress on over the spray tan solution you WILL get spray tan on your gown and ruin it. Also if it’s a light-colored fabric and you get sweaty it will soak into your dress and show at the dance.  Holy embarrassment!

Other Events To Get A Spray Tan For:

So now you know the secret to making your prom makeup and pics look amazing. If you are in the Toledo, OH area and are in need of a prom spray tan then hop on your phone and ask Siri or Cortana for spray tan near me and I will pop right up. Or head over here to learn How to get an appointment for a spray tan with Kathryn from SunSpray.

If you are not in our area and are looking for an amazing spray tan artist near you then you should definitely read DECIDING TO GET YOUR FIRST SPRAY TAN for tips on choosing the best spray tan artist in your area and a quick rundown on what to expect during your spray tanning appointment.

Styled Shoot:

As a small business owner, I can’t stock all the amazing products that are available in the world of sunless tanning but I can give you my professional opinion.

Spray Tan Business Pros:

Do you have a mobile spray tanning business, a home-based spray tan business, or are you looking for information on HOW to start a spray tan business? Then check out my tools of the trade area of this website for help in setting up your own airbrush spray tanning business.

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kathrynannswope
Hi, I'm Kathryn! I'm here to help you have the best spray tan experience possible. I spend my days creating beautiful sunless tans in my Northwest Ohio spray tan studio and sharing everything I know about how to get the perfect spray tan and how to build a boutique spray tan business here on my spray tan blog.