You can’t photoshop a bad fake tan!
Oompa loompa, carrot skin, orange face – no matter what you call it, no one likes having a bad fake tan – but ‘bad’ doesn’t mean it has to be orange. A bad tan can be because it hasn’t been spread evenly, maybe its a lot darker around your underarms, your hands or your elbows, maybe it’s run somewhere, or maybe it’s just not your colour. Either way, your unsuccessful fake tan does not look good in your portraits or wedding photographs. If you can’t give up your year long summer glow (and hey, why should you?) here are some tips to get it right for your time in front of the camera, so you can avoid a bad fake tan disaster in your wedding photographs!
1- Test Test Test! Visit your beautician a few times to test different colours and brands – you’ll know when you find the right one for your skin. Once you have, test that one again!
2- Prepare your skin! Your beautician will tell you this over and over, you need to prepare your skin for a tan – as they are the experts, ask them for the best way to go about this.
3- Check how it looks on camera! Even though you might not have a professional camera, you can still test what your tan will look like in natural light photos, flash photography, or under fluorescent lights (never good for any beauty style!) by taking photos with whatever camera you have in different lights and locations. Then you can get a better idea of how the tan really looks.
4- Fix any tan mistakes using the advice of the beautician – don’t go over it with your own tan, or hack away with an exfoliator, this will be noticeable on camera! Trust your beautician’s advice, they’ve seen it all before.
5- Fake tans for weddings can make you feel that bit more confident with your sun kissed glow, but take into account the colour of your dress – a white dress will only make your tan look darker. When you’re doing your testing (see tips 1 and 4), wear similar coloured clothing when your tan has settled to get an idea of the level of tan depth you are after. This will make sure you look your absolute best in your wedding dress (and those wedding photos you plan to hang on your walls!)
Now I have to be honest – the title of this blog isn’t completely truthful– you can edit bad fake tan to improve it, but it takes a mountain of time for your professional retoucher, which will cause you to get charged additionally for all the extra hours of time – and nobody wants that. In all honesty, it is easier to give you that sun kiss glow in photoshop after the photo is taken, without the BAD TAN to start with! The stars you see in magazines with awesome brown glowing skin, have been retouched for hours to look that good!
Take this advice as an excuse to visit the salon or your beautician more often to get your tan right for your big moment if you choose to have one!
