Will spray tanning work on the areas with no pigment?

by Lorraine
(Michigan)

Question: I had laser surgery on my face (for wrinkles) about 12 years ago. I'm tired of trying to cover up the white areas of my skin that won't even take the sunless tanners. Will spray tan cover the part of my face that has no pigment?

Answer: If self tanners did not work, I doubt that spray tan will, since both in self tanners and spray tanners the "tanning factor" is the same - DHA.
However, I find it very interesting that self tanners would not work, since self tanners and spray tanners color only a dead skin layer. I cannot see how a laser surgery would get rid of your skin's abilities to renew itself. It does not seem possible.
In fact vitiligo sufferers (where there is progressive loss of pigment) often use spray tan to even out the skin color.

What I believe you might have done wrong, is that you treated the whole face with self tanner instead just "paining in" the patch of the skin without pigment to match the rest of your skin color.
The easiest way to do it is to take a cue tip and dip it into a self tanning solution and just fill in the white areas.



See an example here that was done using SafeTan.