Stars, they really are just like us. Take Kylie Jenner, who, on a recent episode of Jake Shane’s Therapuss podcast, proclaimed, “Sometimes I think I’m depressed. Then I get a spray tan, and I’m like, I was just pale.”
While Jenner claims that “there’s nothing that feels better than a fresh spray tan,” can it actually boost one’s mood? A 2022 study in the Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology noted that “a tanned appearance is strongly related to a general sense of emotional and physical well-being, physical attractiveness, and improved body image.”
Jimmy Coco, a celebrity spray tanner of over 20 years—and the Kardashians’ go-to—would certainly agree that the benefits of a bronzy glow are more than skin-deep. “A great spray tan definitely welcomes many compliments, which will also uplift your mood,” he says. “Many times I’ll have clients reach out for a tan as they just need a little pick-me-up.”
Like Jenner, I, too, am naturally pale. With a mixture of Irish and Ashkenazi genes, I was never going to be anything less than pasty, but recently I’ve been looking downright translucent. So, after a particularly tough week, I figured a glowy tan might give me the boost I needed. Less than 48 hours later, I stood in a private tiled stall at a Brooklyn Sugared + Bronzed wearing nothing but a paper thong and a shower cap. The technician instructed me to hold a variety of poses as she painstakingly airbrushed my body like a T-shirt at Coney Island.
While many women in my generation grew up with scared-straight horror stories of tanning-bed-induced skin cancer, sunless tanning has emerged as a UV-free alternative. Sugared + Bronzed uses DHA, an FDA-approved formula derived from a sugar beet compound, as does Jimmy Coco. “This ingredient tans you within two to eight hours and can continue developing over the next 24 hours,” Coco explains. He adds erythrulose, a blueberry-derived ingredient, to his formula, along with the gold-standard skin-care ingredient hyaluronic acid.
Back inside the tiled room, my technician recommended I try a level two formula, which Sugared + Bronzed compares to a weekend at the beach. (It offers up to a level four, which is the equivalent of an entire summer in the Hamptons in a few minutes of spraying.) To let the tan develop, I was told to marinate in the cocktail for between one and eight hours before rinsing—three minimum.
Next on my schedule is a trip to Fort Greene, where many of my friends had congregated at our friend’s half-marathon celebration. How can you make your friend’s half-marathon about you, you ask? By showing up with an insane, unwashed spray tan. While my longtime friends were shaken by the sight of me coated in this tanning solution, I knew that things were kind of dire when my friend’s new boyfriend remarked that I looked like I “got some color”—a man’s way of saying “you look insane.”
After a few celebratory cocktails, a nap in the park, and a long-delayed subway ride—accounting for six hours of spray-tan development—I finally got home and rinsed off the base layer. I was much happier with the result. As my friend Dana put it, “You look alive!” Indeed, while I appreciate not seeing my entire vein network every time I look down at my body, I also found that the tan makes me look more toned. Beyond my skin, the contrast made my features pop; my eyes looked bluer, and my teeth looked whiter. Some people can’t quite pinpoint why I look better, which is just the way I wanted it to turn out.
