Some clients have been misinformed about taking a shower after tanning. They were led to believe that, somehow, their tan would get washed down the drain.

A shower, like a tanning session, may tend to dry out the skin. While you can't necessarily wash your tan off, moist skin tans and retains a tan better than dry skin. On the pH scale of 0-14, the skin registers slightly acidic (about 5.6). Most soaps are well above the neutral pH, or about 7 on the scale. Using a typical over-the-counter soap with this higher alkaline pH can strip your skin of its essential acidic oils. Those oils lock in your skin's moisture. Shower gels are usually less harsh than regular bar soap. Always apply a good quality moisturizer after a shower to help preserve your tan.

Showering after a session tends to dry out the skin, but there is evidence that showering before a tanning session may actually enhance tanning results. First, the heat from a shower opens your pores, enabling the skin to breathe and take in oxygen vital to the tanning process. Second, a shower will wash away dirt and dead skin cells that may impede ultraviolet penetration when you tan. Removing those dead cells also allows the active ingredients in lotions to work there way into the live skin cells more easily.

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