What do Martha Stewart, Ken in the new Barbie film and generation Z have in common? It turns out that this random assemblage are all fans of fake tanning.
Eighty-one-year-old Stewart says that a spray tan before her debut Sports Illustrated swimsuit cover boosted her confidence. Ryan Gosling, who plays Ken in Barbie, had a personal tanner on set. And experts report that gen Z – conscious of sun damage – are driving sales of fake tan and a boom in new brands.
“I’m getting over 200 requests a week,” says London-based tanning expert James Harknett. “It feels like we’re back in 2008 again. Everyone wants one.”
The British beauty retailer Space NK reports double-digit growth in its tanning category while the high-street chain Boots recently added six new tanning products to its existing Glow range, bringing the total offerings to 27. The UK has entered a new bronze age.
While older generations oiled their skin on cheap package holidays and booked regular sessions on a sunbed, many of today’s younger crowd are seeking ways to look tanned without actually tanning. On TikTok, the hashtag #faketan has more than 2bn views, and #faketanroutine has upwards of 600m.
“Gen Z are much more aware of skin cancer and general sun damage,” says George Driver, a beauty editor at Elle UK. “Wearing an SPF on the face has become a part of a daily skincare routine. No one wants a natural tan.”
As a result, a barrage of new brands has entered the market. Focusing on skincare, these emerging brands aim to change the image of fake tanning, and are also more inclusive, with products aimed at people of colour, and campaigns starring both black and brown models.
Gone are the telltale signs of orange-stained hands and a distinctive whiff of burnt biscuits. In their place come clear drops that users can add to their existing moisturisers, and gradual tanning products focused on different undertones – the colour underneath the surface of the skin – to prevent an Oompa Loompa effect.
Beauty consultant Cassie Steer calls it the “skinification” of tanning. Tan-Luxe’s products include hyaluronic acid to plump up the skin, and Beauty Pie’s feature niacinamide, a form of vitamin B, to stop the skin drying out. “It’s all about the undetectable tan,” says Steer. “People want to look healthy. That age of a blanket and very obvious tan is over.”
Makeup artist Lisa Potter-Dixon recently organised a “pre-holiday tan” for a group of friends, with a professional spray-tanner operating in a tent in her garden. “A fake base tan gives you more confidence on arrival,” says Potter-Dixon. “We all know we shouldn’t be out in the sun as much. On top I’ll wear an SPF 50. You still get tanned but that fake base gives you a lovely safe glow.”
It is 20 years since Jimmy Coco, a former American sportswear model, changed the course of the spray-tanning industry.
In 2003, he created the world’s first mobile spray-tanning kit, known as the Bomb, which altered the way Hollywood celebrities prepared for the red carpet. Coco travelled to them, wherever they were in the world.
Two decades later, Coco, who has tanned stars including Jennifer Aniston and the rapper Cardi B, says demand continues to grow.
“I don’t just give someone a tan, I also help them to contour their body, flatter the bits they like most and create a more three dimensional and natural effect,” Coco says.
His tricks of the trade? “I always tan the face lighter than the body, which gives a more natural tanning appearance. I can also give the illusion of a butt lift. Kim Kardashian loves it.”
Harknett says that half his clients are men who have ditched the sunbed. With the release of the Barbie movie in July, insiders say a “Ken effect” could be imminent, though more subtle than the movie version. “In the film, Ryan as Ken is meant to look like he is wearing fake tan,” says Kimberley Nkosi, a celebrity tan artist who spent three months on set.
Nkosi says she used a water-based tan from Isle of Paradise that she custom-blended to Gosling’s undertones. Inserting it into a spray gun, she spritzed him a couple of times a week.
“It was a tricky brief to get right,” Nkosi says. “Under the lights and in front of the camera, it easily could have looked too red. I had to push back a lot. I knew what would work. Ryan was really happy with the result.”
While Nkosi also tanned other members of the cast including Hari Nef and Emma Mackay, Margot Robbie skipped a turn in the tanning tent.
“It’s Margot’s own skin colour,” says Nkosi. “There was talk of tanning her but then it was decided against. Perhaps they thought it could be a bit of a cliche.”
