Remove Self Tanner Using 20 Volume Cream Peroxide

Removing self tanners can be a real pain in the butt. Yes, you can use lemon and lime, or lemon mixed with salt but this process can be quite tedious and messy at times. Being in the beauty industry I learn all sorts of tricks, especially when it comes to hair coloring, mixing, and using the developers.

Although 20 volume hair peroxide is used to color, highlight, or mix with other agents you can actually remove self tanner with 20 volume cream peroxide. Or as some would call it cream developer. How did I find this out?

Being a beautician sometimes we find tricks out while performing our duty, and that's exactly what happened. I had a hair color to do the other day, and this particular customer of mine always wears self tanner. Before I apply her normal hair color I always pre-soften her gray hairs in the front hairline and on the sides for 5-10 minutes.

While the hair was processing we were discussing about summer coming up, vacations and so on. She then started complaining to me about how streaky her self tanner looked on her forehead, and neck. To be perfectly honest with you, it really didn't look that bad. I told her she can use lemon and lime to remove the self tanner if she needs to.

The time was up on the pre-softening process, so I grabbed some cotton dipped it into a little bit more 20 volume peroxide, applied it to the hairline once more, wiped it off with a cool rag and went about with the regular coloring process.

Before I started applying the color I noticed something. The self tanner on the forehead and sides was gone. No more streaks, no more tanner. My customers tan actually looked very blended now and so natural. I applied the color and went about my business. I told my customer to go into my bathroom and look at her face to see if she notices anything different. She comes out of the bathroom, and said "Omg! My self tanner is fixed." She then replied, "what was the secret?" I said the 20 volume cream hair developer removed the self tanner while I was pre-softening your hair. This was great.

After being so excited about the self tanner, my customer asked me if I can apply some to her ankles and feet. What was I going to say no? Of course not, I told her I would do it no big deal. I wanted to see if the self tanner on the ankles and feet would remove as easily as the forehead. It did, the results were great. Here's what I did.

Wash the area with soap and water. Then pour some 20 volume peroxide onto a small wash rag. Make sure to wear gloves. Apply the rag onto the self tanner areas. Pat it on, let the skin soak up the peroxide. After two minutes give a good scrub and then wait another minute. When it's 5 minutes, scrub real quick again, rinse off and dry. You now learned a new way to remove self tanner that is quick, easy, and not messy.

Sources: Professional Beautician