Carrie and I were headed up to Nags Head, NC for a week at the beach with my family. With Carrie's recent bout of melanoma and ongoing battle with dyplastic cells (cells trying to turn into melanoma), we opted for a sunless sun tan! We figured what better way to stay under the shade than to be tan BEFORE going to the beach! I made two appointments and we arrived at H2O Salon and Spa the day before we left for Nags Head.
I had heard many things about mystic tanning and decided to try it when a coworker came to work with a gorgeous tan. I asked if she had been on vacation and she told me about her mystic tan from H2O. I had seen the aftermath of mystic-gone-wrong in college when my friends would point out their wrists and ankles streaked with awful orange patterns. But, this tan fooled me and I am not easily fooled ( I think...). Carrie and I had gotten an overwhelming amount of advice about how to prepare for a mystic tan. Our prep was as follows:
1. Exfoliate as close to your appointment as possible. This gave me a wonderful opportunity to try the at-home sugar scrub (see Tuesday Tips).
2. Leave skin bare, meaning no make up or lotion.
3. Wear dark, loose fitting clothing.
We arrive at H20 salon and Carrie goes first. She looked a little shaken afterwards but the whole process took her about ten minutes. I head back to the mystic tan booth, which really looks like some kind of gas chamber, and get a brief lesson from the spa lady. After donning weird sticky shoes and a hair net, I used a lotion on my hands, feet, elbows, and knees. If I could go back, I would have used a lot more because they tell you use a thin layer. Carrie slathered it on and avoided any awkward streaking marks. I hop into the tanning booth, take a really deep breath, and hit the green button.
I was definitely NOT prepared for what came next. The mystic sprayer was very loud AND forceful. I had planned on holding my breath until the pause to turn around, but my anxiety had me gasping after ten seconds. I am remembering about my battle with claustrophobia right about the time that the sprayer is hitting my face and the booth is filling up with a very thick cloud of tanning solution. By the time the machine pauses, I can feel my heart beating out of my chest. I turn and assume the awkward position of arms out and legs spread and the sprayer starts again. Ughh! When is this thing going to turn off?! After another 20 seconds or so, I am done and I race out of the booth. I started wiping all the extra solution off with a towel and had to spit out everything that was in my mouth (maybe my mouth was open from the gasping breaths?). The trick to an even tan is to wipe, not blot. Whew! I am dressed and heading out the door. Six hours later, I take a shower, which is a relief because the smell of the tanning solution was giving me a headache. The tan had completely set by the next morning and I loved it! My only give away sign was my hands. Somehow, my right hand turned out A LOT darker than my left.
While I won't be racing back to the spa any time soon, I did think the tan looked very natural. My family thought I had been basking in the New Orleans sun all summer. The color didn't fade until the very end of the trip and I avoided any unneccessary sun time! Win-Win!
No comments:
Post a Comment