How to Keep Your Glow Topped Up on Holiday (Without Ever Touching the Sun)
- Greta Engizer
- Jul 7
- 4 min read
There is a particular kind of disappointment that comes with landing home from a beautiful winter holiday and watching your tan fade in the shower three days later.
You booked the flights, packed the good swimmers, took the photos you wanted, and now your skin is quietly going back to how it looked before you left.
I hear about this from clients constantly, usually the week after they get back from Bali or Fiji or wherever the sun was.
The good news is it does not have to go that way. With the right timing and a bit of forward planning, you can keep your colour looking fresh the whole way through your trip and long after you are home, all without lying in the sun for a second longer than you want to.
Book Before You Pack, Not After
The timing question comes up in nearly every consultation I do before someone jets off.
My advice is always the same.
Book your spray tan two to three days before you fly, not the night before.
This gives the colour time to properly develop and settle into your skin, so you are not stepping off the plane looking patchy or orange from a rushed job.
It also means if anything needs a touch up, like a stubborn dry patch on your elbows or ankles, you have time to sort it before you are living out of a suitcase.
Clients who book too close to their flight almost always end up messaging me from the airport asking why their palms have gone strange colours.
Give yourself the buffer.
TIP: Exfoliate the night before your appointment, not the morning of. Freshly exfoliated skin that has had a few hours to calm down takes colour far more evenly than skin that is still slightly irritated from scrubbing.
Pack Your Top Up Like You Pack Your Sunscreen
This is the part most people forget entirely.
A professional spray tan will usually hold beautifully for five to seven days, but most holidays run longer than that, and between pool days, sea swims and hotel showers, your colour is going to fade faster than it would at home.
This is exactly why I always tell clients to pack a proper self tan mousse rather than hoping the base colour lasts the whole fortnight.
My Velvet Mousse Luxury is the one I recommend for travel because it is quick drying, layers beautifully over an existing tan without going patchy, and does not need a tan accelerant or heavy prep to look natural.
A light layer every three or four days while you are away keeps everything looking consistent, rather than watching your colour fade unevenly and having to explain the tide mark round your ankles.
Pack the Velvet Mousse Luxury before you go. It is the easiest way to keep your colour looking freshly done for the whole trip, not just the first few days.
The Sun Is Not Doing You Any Favours, Even on Holiday
Here is the bit that often gets missed in all the excitement of packing and planning.
Sitting in the sun to top up a tan naturally is still exposing your skin to UV radiation, and that does not stop being harmful just because you are on holiday.
UV damage builds up over your lifetime, and it is cumulative, meaning every session in the sun adds to the total, whether you are at home or lying on a beach in Bali.
It is the reason skin ages faster in people who sunbake regularly, and it is a genuine risk factor for skin cancer, which is not something any of us want to be thinking about mid holiday.
A fake tan gives you the exact same golden look with none of that damage.
You get the colour without paying for it later in fine lines, sun spots or worse.
I always say the best tan is the one that does not cost you anything you cannot get back.
TIP: If you are topping up in the sun anyway for the warmth and the mood rather than the colour, at least wear a proper SPF underneath. Your tan will not protect your skin, no matter how deep the colour looks.
Keeping the Glow (and the Good Mood) Going When You Get Home
Coming home from a holiday is hard enough without watching your tan disappear at the same time as your tan lines and your holiday mindset.
There is a reason people call it the post holiday blues, and losing your colour along with everything else does not help.
This is where a little maintenance routine at home makes a real difference.
Moisturise daily with a hydrating lotion rather than anything too rich or oily, since heavy creams can break down a tan faster than they should.
Keep showers lukewarm rather than hot, and pat your skin dry instead of rubbing it.
If you want to properly extend the glow, book a top up appointment for the week you get back, before the fade really sets in, so you walk back into normal life still looking like you have been somewhere lovely.
Ready to book your pre holiday tan or your welcome home top up? Book here
With love,
Greta x
SprayTan Queen
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