Woman films herself trying not to cry so that spray tan isn’t ruined: ‘Relatable’

A woman filmed herself trying not to cry in an attempt not to ruin her spray tan.

In a viral TikTok video, college student Halle Hawkins (@halsterhotkins) is covered in spray tan while trying to hold back her tears in the passenger seat of a car. She captioned the video: “No chance I’m letting a tear ruin this tan.”

“Nothing is more real than being about to cry, but you just got a spray tan,” Hawkins first said, with her eyes glassy with tears. Although she doesn’t explain why she’s crying, it seems as though the subject of her grief was overwhelming.

Her friend next to her in the driver’s seat tried to distract her and could be heard in the background, saying: “Don’t! Don’t!”

“Halle, you’re fine,” the friend continued, trying to prevent tears from streaking Hawkins’ tan. “Okay, tell me about the cute clothes you want right now.”

The friend then told Hawkins to look directly toward the air-conditioning vents to help prevent the tears from falling. “Turn the air on high!” the friend instructed. “Put it on high; put your eyes in it!”

TikTok users took to the comment section, calling Hawkins relatable as she struggled to keep the tears at bay to protect her spray tan. One person wrote: “Girl my ex bf broke up with me the day I got my first ever spray tan safe to say it didn’t last.”

Drawing from their own experience, someone else suggested: “Just bend down so your face is parallel to the ground and the tears fall straight to the floor. I’ve been there.”

Another noted that Hawkins’ pal was a true friend, writing: “Sis in the background is a real one.”

St Tropez skin finishing expert Sophie Evans explained to Teen Vogue that the reason streaks can occur is because a spray tan takes hours to set.

“A self tan needs at least four hours to begin developing so you must avoid water during that time,” she added. “Water, sweating, working out, everything! The tears created the streaks as the self tan had not developed yet.”

She added that the best way to rectify tear streaks on a recent spray tan is to blot and spray over the spot.

“I would blot off the excess tan — or where there are cry streaks,” she says. “Do this as soon as you stop crying and use an aerosol self tanning spray and simply spray over the spot again, following the rules of a downward stroke. Keep your eyes closed, then just buff to even with a dry soft towel or applicator mitt.”

She recommended making sure to start off with an even tan, noting that it’s much easier to fix things with a good base.