Spray tanning and Vitiligo

by Charisse
(Ithaca, NY)

Question: Will a spray tan cover up or minimize the appearance on someone who has Vitiligo? Can the solution darken that area even though it lacks melanin?

Answer: Spray tanning solution does not have anything to do with melanin. It only affects the dead, dry layer of your skin. That is why it is excellent for the people with vitiligo.

The only problem is, when you are in the transition stage with your vitiligo when you still have dark patches of skin and you get a spray tan then everything will get dark uniformly. Although it will blend in better, you will still have patches.

There are two ways you can go about it. If your white patches are large, a skilled airbrush technician will first fill in the white areas and then give you a second coat all over. That will even out the color of your body.

If the patches are small, or you only want to do smaller areas like hands and face then it is better to get a bottle of liquid self tanner, put a little of it on a make up remover pad, or even q-tip or a soft painting brush and paint in the white areas. That will make the white areas darker and give your skin a uniform color.