Tan Lines & Boudoir
Have I ever told you that summer is my FAVORITE season of all?
We pack our summers with mini vacations, horses, camping, water sports, gardening and pretty much anything outside you can think to do. The house stays a mess because I just don’t want to be in here. I get my boudoir business work done and then go outside…. and that leaves me with some WILD tan lines!
Two weeks ago I went kayaking on the Terrapin River and I came off with tan lines from my shorts about halfway down my thighs. It went from brown to BAM!! WHITE! I looked ridiculous in a bathing suit but, thankfully, I’m usually behind the camera.
So what are my outside loving boudoir clients to do? Fair warning: Y’all may not like the answer.
You need to avoid tan lines if you do not want them in your photos, unless you don’t mind paying a substantial fee to have them removed in photoshop.
Don’t freak out yet, I have some tips to help you enjoy summer and slay your boudoir session with no tan lines!
1) Avoid harsh lines at all costs, but gradual differences are okay. Most people are significantly darker on their face and arms than the rest of their body. I automatically even skin tones with faded differences in color for all of my boudoir clients so there is no need to panic as long as you don’t have actual lines. Try to maintain a gradual change by wearing different types of shirts and lengths of shorts every day.
2) If you are going to be outside for a prolonged period of time and you are on the more pale side, cover yourself up. It sucks, but it’s really the only way. Wear a shirt over your bathing suit and a big floppy hat if that’s what you have to do.
3) If you do get lines, lay in the tanning bed a few times to even them out. I got those horrible lines on my thighs so I laid out by the pool and covered the dark side of the lines with a t-shirt, which helped to make the lines disappear.
3) DO NOT use self tanner or get a spray tan. Most spray tans are done poorly and all self tanners are always bad. You can’t see your whole body and often even if you apply it correctly it gets smeared and you end up with streaks and only make the situation worse. If you show up with a shitty spray tan, I’ll send you home.
4) Accept the tan lines. Many of my boudoir clients want to look like themselves and often that means they have tan lines, especially from a bathing suit. There are tons of people who LOVE tan lines, and that is perfectly okay and normal. I like them too, especially on my boobs from the little triangle, string bikinis. It’s okay to have tan lines if you like them.
I would still try to avoid tan lines from shorts and t shirts or you’ll look like a farmer.