*This post may contain affiliate links. Please see my disclosure to learn more.
Have a tattoo, or thinking about getting one, and wondering how it’s affected by self-tanning product? Well, you certainly aren’t alone. In fact, this is a question I get all the time, so I thought it was about time that I answered all your questions when it comes to fake tan and tattoos.
First of all, before we really dive into this, you should know that for the most part, as long as your tattoos are properly healed, self-tanners are perfectly safe, and won’t affect your tattoo.
However, there are certainly some other things you should think about, so let’s get into that a bit.
Does Self-Tanner Affect Tattoos?
As long as the tattoo is fully healed, self-tanning products absolutely won’t affect your tattoo.
This is one of the questions I get most often, and it’s a perfectly reasonable one. However, let’s remember how self-tanning products work. The active ingredient in just about all quality self-tanning productsis DHA. When DHA comes in contact with the amino acids in skin cells, it causes a chemical reaction resulting in pigment.
This pigment lives on the outer layer of your skin called the epidermis, which is why exfoliation and moisturizing are such important steps before spray tanning or self-tanning. This is also the same reason that this product won’t at all harm your tattoo.
Tattoosare relatively permanent because they are injected by way of aneedle, past this epidermis to the dermis, or second layer of the skin (see the image below).
The needle that injected the ink slightlyharms the body causing a reaction of white blood cells attempting to absorb the pigment and move it through the bloodstream.
However, the pigment in tattoo ink is specifically designed to be too large for the white blood cells to dispose of, so it just sits there in the dermis, making it essentially permanent.
Since self-tanner only affects the upper layer of the skin, it can in no way affect the longevity of your tattoo.
Does Self-Tanner Make Tattoos Darker?
If your tattoo is a bit older (and therefore lighter in color) or just not that dark of a color, then it may get a bit darker when you apply self-tanner or spray tan. After our previous section, this should make sense.
The tattoo ink is essentially just living right below the outer layer of your skin. So when you tan, or self-tan, you are in essence applying a slightly darker filter to your entire body, including your tattoo.
So the answer is yes, it will likely make your tattoo appear a little bit darker.
Is there any way to prevent spray tan from darkening your tattoo?
There are a few ways you can do this actually!
First of all, remember that it takes a while for the tanning process to take place. So, as soon as you get home from your spray tan, you can take a damp towel and carefully rub the product off of your tattoo. This will prevent the tan from further developing on your tattoo.
The other option is to ask your airbrusher to apply a light coat of a barrier cream to your tattoo. This prevents the self-tanner from reacting with your skin.
Can You Get A Tattoo With Self Tanner On?
So there are a few things you want to think about. First of all, you can absolutely get a tattoo after using self-tanner or getting a spray tan, and likely nothing will happen. It is possible that it could increase your chances of getting an infection or that you could have an allergic reaction. Both of these would likely be caused by some of the self-tanner being pushed into the lower layer of your skin by the tattoo needle.
However, any competent tattoo artist is going to clean your arm with some sort of alcohol solution prior to giving you the tattoo anyway, so this is not likely to happen.
The more important takeaway, is that why would you want to use self-tanner days before having your tattoo? It is commonly recommended that you keep the skin clear for up to a week before your tattoo appointment anyway. No tattoo, makeup, harsh exfoliants, etc.
So although you can use self-tanner before getting a tattoo, you should try to avoid it if possible.
Can I Put Fake Tan On A Week Old Tattoo?
This kind of depends on the person, and the tattoo. However, in general, you need to remember that a brand new tattoo is really no different than an open wound on your skin, and that is how you need to treat it.
You should not put anything on it other than your aftercare products, water, or a specific sunscreen intended for tattoos. You should also be careful to not expose your tattoo to too much sunlight, or completely soak it in water. However, I am not giving advice in this article about aftercare for your tattoo, for that, you should talk to your specific artist.
In general, you should not apply self-tanner, a spray tan, or anything of the sort to a new tattoo until it has completely healed. This means until after the final peel. For most people, this is at least a month, possibly two. Many tattoo artists won’t add to a tattoo until at least 2-3 months have gone by for this exact reason.
You can certainly apply self-tanner to the rest of your body, but you should really be careful to not apply it to your new tattoo. You want to protect this skin both for your health and the health of the tattoo.
If you choose to tan your skin in the month or two after your tattoo, you should really cover it. Whether this is in the sun, or in a tanning bed (neither of which I recommend) you should cover it. Your tattoo was an investment in yourself, and it’s worth taking precautions to protect it.
If you do decide to tan in the sun or use a tanning bed, even after your tan has healed, you should know that the UV rays will cause your tan to fade, so be sure to use sunscreen to protect your skin and prevent this from happening.
I hope you enjoyed my article, if you did, share it with your tattooed friends!
Kate
I've loved tanning ever since I was pretty young. I realized over time that If I wanted to maintain a beautiful bronze glow, and not damage my skin, I'd have to learn to use self-tanners. This blog is a place for me to share everything I've learned! Curious what my absolute favorite self-tanner is? Find out here.
