The second the temperature drops, the air turns into a moisture vampire. Low humidity, indoor heating, wind, and cold temperatures all team up to suck the moisture out of your skin. If you’re rocking a spray tan, that dryness is public enemy #1. Not drinking enough water and skipping moisturizer are the fastest ways to watch your gorgeous bronze turn patchy, streaky, and straight-up embarrassing, exactly when you want to look your best for family photos, Friendsgiving gatherings, holiday parties, and all those upcoming events where everyone’s finally seeing you in person again!

Your spray tan lives in the very top layer of dead skin cells, and the cold air loves to make those cells dry, cracked, and ready to flake off way too soon. When that happens, your color doesn’t fade gracefully; it disappears in weird blotches, leaving you with crocodile elbows, ghostly shins, and dark creases. Nobody has time for that when you’re trying to glow under the Thanksgiving table lights or sparkle at the office holiday party.

Keeping your skin deeply hydrated is the secret to an even, slow, airbrushed-looking fade instead of a hot mess. A good moisturizer plumps up that top layer, strengthens your skin barrier against the cold, and literally buys your tan extra days. My personal favorite is SOL SPA’s Debonair pro-silk silicone daily moisturizer. Debonair ensures hours of moisturizing action and leaves your skin feeling velvety smooth. For days when your skin needs an extra boost, add Trilipiderms ’s Body Hydrating Moisturizer morning and night. Both are formulated specifically for spray-tanned skin, packed with skin-loving ingredients that keep your color even and glowing without causing streaks. And if you really want to level-up your winter glow game, book the Moisture Session add-on at the end of your Unity Spray Tan. That final mist seals in hydration right when your skin needs it most, creating a protective barrier that fights off cold-weather dryness from day one.

And don’t forget the inside game: drinking plenty of water is just as critical for your tan as anything you put on the outside. Hydrating from within keeps your skin cells plump and healthy, slows down excessive shedding of that top layer, and helps your spray tan fade slowly and evenly instead of flaking off in chunks. When you’re dehydrated (which happens fast with holiday cocktails, travel, and forgetting your water bottle at home), your skin gets tight, dull, and more prone to cracking, the perfect recipe for a splotchy disaster.

This holiday season, don’t let winter steal your glow. Keep that skin soft, hydrated, and happy, and your spray tan will look flawless from Thanksgiving dinner all the way through New Year’s Eve. You’ve got parties to slay; let SOL SPA give your bronze the hydration it deserves. ✨

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Written By: Paige Stuart, VP of SOL SPA