A word of advice: never try a new beauty treatment right before your wedding. I wanted to be tan for that beautiful wedding dress, not to mention that I was getting married at the beach. So I decided to try a tanning spray at a salon. The result? Not only was I 10 times darker than my husband-to-be, but I turned my dress orange.
S.C., Needham
Laura Sullivan, general manager at Pyara Spa and Salon (104 Mt. Auburn Street, Cambridge, 617.497.9300) agrees with S.C.: it isn’t smart to try anything drastic before your big day. Instead, Sullivan suggests visiting the spa two or three weeks before the wedding to give a sunless-tanning treatment a try. “You want to give it a test,” Sullivan explains, “and you want to see if it’s actually something that you’ll like the end result of.” In fact, if you’re happy with the results and head back for a touch-up, the service is offered at a lower cost.
For even, streak-free results, be sure to exfoliate and moisturize the skin thoroughly before faux tanning. “You want to make sure that there’s no dry skin, that there are no cracks, that everything’s sort of sealed and smoothed, almost like a primer for paint,” says Sullivan. And after the product has been applied, give it time to sink in; clients at Pyara relax post-treatment for at least 30 minutes. They also take home a tube of tanner for at-home maintenance.
And to avoid the orange-dress crisis? “If you’re going to do a sunless tanner before wearing something light colored, especially a wedding dress, I would do it at least 72 hours in advance to really allow the product to have some time to soak into the skin,” Sullivan advises. Regular showers should rinse away any remaining residue to prevent bleeding
— although Sun Source, the product used at Pyara, is cream-based and, unlike most self-tanners, doesn’t contain any dye or deposit pigment directly on the skin. Instead, it reacts with the body’s own melanin, bringing natural color to the skin’s surface. Sun Source goes on gradually, and a consultation with one of the spa’s pros can help you decide how many sessions are needed to achieve your desired results.