5 Questions for Alison Clary Renahan, Professional Spray-Tanner

1. Is there an art to making people brown? I’ve been doing this for five years. I tell people all the time that it’s easy to learn, but very hard to perfect. There are lots of nooks and crannies. The only way to do it is practice.

2. Is there nudity involved? Some people want tan lines and some people don’t. Some people will bring underwear with them so they can have a thong tan line because they like the way it looks. But, yeah, I have a lot of clients who go nude. Men included.

3. Obvious question: Given the circumstances, do some get sexually aroused? People sometimes get aroused. It happens. It’s kinda like being a nurse. You just get used to it.

4. How many people can you see in a day? My record is 46. The warmer the weather the more people want to do it because nobody who wants to show up to the beach with white legs.

5. Spray tans vs. tanning more naturally: Why should I pay for what I can get for free by walking outside? OK, spray-tanning is natural. The active ingredient is dihydroxyacetone. It’s basically a sugar that reacts with the amino acids in your skin cells. You have to think about it like this: It’s the exact same reaction that happens when you take a bite out of an apple and leave it out in the air and it turns brown. Only you’re the apple. Second, did you see the news about that tan mom who [allegedly] took her kid into the tanning bed with her? She’s a great example. She’s only about 10 years older than me, but she looks like she’s 100.

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