Henna and Spray Tan - friend or foe?

Spray tans are a thing now. Everyone gets them for special occasions, the problem is that they also want to get henna for special occasions.
The issue with this is that they occupy the same space - your skin, and this often does not work out in henna's favour. 
If you go and have a look at the Before and After Care post, you'll notice that one thing is required - clean dry skin without any barriers. Moisurisers, lotions, and oils are barriers. 

Unfortunately so is spray tan. It often leaves a oily film on the skin, which impacts henna's ability to sneak in and get cosy with your keratin. And sometimes, when it CAN get in there, it finds someone else snuggled up to keratin - the spray tan. You know what they say about three's a crowd! So sometimes there's an actual physical barrier, and sometimes there just isn't any place for the henna to bunk down in significant concentration. 
**Some spray tans contain lawsone, which is the dye in henna. (interesting side note!)

So it sounds like you just can't have your cake and eat it too... 
But there are ways around this. Get your henna done at least two to three days prior to getting your spray tan - this allows your henna to do it's job and move on in before the squatters (fake tan molecules) get there. Still not ideal as there have been reports of some spray tans fading the henna very quickly. It would be a good idea to do a trial henna when you do a test run of the spray tan.

Another option is to get your henna done two to three days AFTER your spray tan. This doesn't work so well with the types that leave a oily feeling film on your skin, but it gives it the best chance that both will be looking good still for your special day. It is cutting it fine though, and may not work with everyone's busy schedule.

There is, ladies and gentlemen, a third option. If your artist has a lovely sticky paste that doesn't need sealing, you have your pre-spray tan shower and exfoliate PRIOR to your henna appointment, and you go directly from your henna appointment to your spray tan appointment, being extra super duper careful not to knock the henna paste so it stays put, you can do your spray tan RIGHT OVER THE TOP of the henna paste while it is still on the skin. This protects the space that the henna is going to occupy, it won't be affected by the oiliness on the skin, and it doesn't have to compete with anything binding to the skin.

It's a win win! It's almost like Romeo and Juliette got to run away together.