Have you read the FDA warnings about the hazards of spray tanning? DHA, what’s used to darken the skin and found in every self tanning formula, has been shown to be dangerous when inhaled by the FDA. But I already knew that..
Let me back up a few years.
In early 2010 I went to an airbrushing class in L.A, they also had a spray tanning machine that I fell in love with and bought so I could spray my brides tan before their weddings. It was a hit. Everyone wanted a tan and the system was so easy to use and the color it gave was so pretty that I was tanning clients almost daily during my busy season. I used a walk in shower in a rarely used bathroom in our basement for the tanning sessions where I always had the fan running so it would suck up the fumes. Perfect right? Not so much.
Months later when my busy wedding season was coming to a close, I started having issues with my memory. Not just of the ‘where are my keys’ variety, but on top of short term loss, every time I would talk, I couldn’t find the words I wanted to say. I knew the first time it happened that something was wrong. My mind drew a blank like it never had before and thinking of the simplest of words would be impossible. I knew what I wanted to say, but couldn’t place the words which became so frustrating that I’d stop mid sentence and try to focus on what I wanted to say. “Hang on” I’d say while I thought in silence, frustrated at what had become of my typically razor sharp mind. I started Googling around for what it could be – Alzheimer’s maybe? Early onset dementia? Then a few months later like a bolt of lightening, it came to be from nowhere: It’s the airbrushing.
I’d been inhaling airbrush fumes almost daily between the spray tanning and the airbrush makeup often times in my office or a hotel suite where brides get ready where good ventilation and circulated air isn’t ideal. I knew I was breathing it in and often had difficulty taking in full breaths after working a long day, I also started becoming winded more easily walking short distances, I’m just out of shape I’d think to myself, nothing more. My clients were so happy with their beautiful tans and makeup that I was hesitant (to say the least) about quitting this new skill that I had perfected and marketed like crazy. But my gut feeling about the airbrushing contributing to my memory loss, pushed me to give up spray tanning and using the airbrush makeup to see if things would get any better. It was bittersweet to say the least and hard to explain to frustrated brides who booked me to create that flawless look airbrush gives and told me they didn’t care if it was dangerous. It wasn’t easy, but it was worth it in the end because within 6 months or so my word finding was finally back to normal, as was my breathing and memory loss and I started to feel like myself again.
This whole experience was the start of researching natural and organic beauty products and making a change to clean up the toxins around me and my family.
Here’s the part where I say that I have no proof that airbrushing caused my memory and word finding problems, it’s just what I experienced.