Spray tanning gone awry

About three weeks ago, while I was on vacation, I received a note that went something like this:

Hey Bahar,

I'm in crisis mode. I went and got a spray tan last night and for some reason it's all very splotchy on my
feet - I look quite ridiculous and I have to wear open toed shoes to a wedding tomorrow. Any thoughts on how to remove excess spray tan? Am I just going to have be patient and let time take care of it or is there some product I can use that will remove it? (Also, I know they sell self-tan remover wipes, do those actually work?)

Sincerely,
Bannessa*

(*note that the name of the individual have been changed to protect their privacy, and also, because I don't want to out that person. Is Banessa a real name?)

Once I was back in town and had the chance to do a little research, this was my response to our friend, Banessa, and I hope that, any or all of the below helps all you girls out there considering the spray tan route, moving forward:

Hi Banessa,

I am so sorry to hear about the spray tan mishap!

A great trick to use is lemon juice and salt. You'll need more salt than lemon juice, so that it is a grainy scrub, but the lemon juice combined with the salt should prove as a skin safe bleach for this type of situation.

Another good one is lemon and baking soda or powder. They have a strong acidic reaction to each other and help to "bleach" the skin safely, but, I do know that this will be less exfoliating for the skin, as there are less rough grains to rub off that top layer that has absorbed the excess spray.

It seems, for a more strong and immediate-needed result, body hair bleach works. As it is safe enough for the skin to bleach hair, it wont be too irritating, but ALWAYS do a patch test before applying the entire contents of the box to your skin. You don't want to have a bad reaction on top of a bad spray tan.

It is extra best to use only one remedy a day, as otherwise, orange skin or not, your flesh will become irritated and sore!

The self tan remover I have heard about more so than any other is St. Tropez, but I haven't used it myself. I wonder if anyone in Yahoo! land has tried it?

I can give you a couple of tips for future use, if it helps in any way:

- doing a reg. exfoliation over the entire body, or the areas to be sprayed is a must - no avoiding this, as any dry skin patch will pick up the lotions colour much stronger than other, smoother areas
- lotion over the entire body is also necessary, and extra moisture on thicker skin areas is best (like elbows, knees, heels, etc)

Hope you are less blotchy and much happier today, Banessa!
Bahar