Worried Your Tan Might Look MAGA-Coded? Read This. - HuffPost

It’s no secret the Trump world is very into being tan. But they’re also often a very specific kind of tan that few would call subtle.

Like the MAGA clothes, makeup and plastic surgery trends that came before it, the MAGA tan is a very distinct look. It’s also generally a gender-neutral aesthetic, rocked by the likes of President Donald Trump, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and their fellow MAGA men as much as any MAGA woman. Yet, it represents something women are all-too-familiar with: putting in time, effort and money to meet a specific standard — even if the standard they’re gunning for makes aestheticians and tanning professionals cringe.

While everyone is entitled to look the way they want and to bronze the way they please, HuffPost spoke with some experts on how to achieve a sun-kissed glow that no one would consider MAGA-coded.

*How do you clock a MAGA tan? *

Sophia Avanzato, founder of Main Line Mobile Spray Tan, described the tan we’re seeing among the MAGA and Mar-a-Lago set as one that features “overdeveloped color” that can often manifest as muddy, orange or even green.

The “muddy” look can come from “over application while chasing deeper color” and the “green” tone can come from chemical reactions with other things going on with your skin and skin care, like “oxidization from skin chemistry, product buildup or active skin care,” she said.

That distinct orange, Cheetos tone can also come from flying a bit too close to the sun with the shade you envision for yourself: “Most spray tan problems come from formula strength, over-application or over-processing,” Avanzato said. “You turn orange if you try to go to dark for your skin tone, or when rinse and aftercare instructions are not followed properly. Trust the experts!”

“Indoors, it may read bronze,” Avanzato continued. “But in natural light, it looks orange and heavy.”

Brittney Bennett, celebrity spray tanner and the owner of Be Bronze Studio in LA and Scottsdale, Arizona, explained that there are a few key factors that lead to the “unwanted tones” we see in the MAGA look: Leaving product on for too long, using the wrong percentage of Dihydroxyacetone (DHA), the ingredient that creates the tan effect, for the clients’ skin, choosing the wrong undertone or layering new tanner on top of an existing tan.

“Your skin can only absorb so much DHA,” Bennett said. “When too much is applied, whether from high percentage, overdevelopment or repeated layering, the result isn’t a deeper color, its distorted color. That’s when tans turn orange, muddy or even slightly green because the color is sitting on top of the skin developing within it.”

Ultimately, MAGA tan isn’t so different from other MAGA beauty trends. It’s about belonging.

Tanning trends have historically shifted across a wide spectrum —as beauty standards often do. There was a time when tanned skin was a marker of “humble class origins,” as scholars Phillip Vannini and Aaron M. McCright explained in a 2004 paper examining the meanings of tanned skin. Prior to the 20th century, a tan (or god-forbid freckles) meant you had to work and be out in the sun, when that was not considered a desirable thing to do.

While previously those Eurocentric beauty standards defined pale skin as a signifier of wealth and a life of leisure, the tables started to turn in the 20th century as the tanning culture we see today began to take hold. Coco Chanel is widely credited for introducing the trend when she was photographed with a bit of a sunburn after a Mediterranean cruise in 1923. By 1929, she was quoted as saying, “A golden tan is the index of chic!”

When the first tanning salons opened in the United States in the 1970s, the shift to bronze desirability was pretty much complete — alongside the view that someone sporting a deep tan belonged to the class that had the “time affluence” to sit out in the sun and toast up (skin cancer be damned). Thankfully, the trend winds have shifted, where more people opt for the safer alternatives of sprays and self-tanners, though.

These performances of both gender and wealth, however, are a foundational part of most MAGA aesthetics — where the goal is often less about what might look uniquely good to your body, your features or your tastes and more about what will bring you closer to the in-group ideal.

As Jason Mudd, CEO and managing partner of Axia Public Relations previously told HuffPost: “Proximity to power often shapes appearance.”

“Individuals in elite circles tend to adopt unspoken visual norms to align with those in influence,” Mudd noted, and the conformity can be a representation of “the human instinct to belong, signal loyalty, and match the aesthetic of a powerful brand.”

That allegiance to the brand might explain why the MAGA tan can go from lightly toasted to thoroughly overcooked when not handled with care.

Though, to be fair, you can easily suffer from a “tan blindness” over time (my fellow 2016 “eyebrow blindness” survivors can probably relate).

As one makeup artist previously speculated on how Trump himself began toasting his skin to that specific Cheeto-y hue: “I think they intentionally began to tan themselves, likely without bronzer, and liked what they saw,” Misha Lewis, a makeup artist and owner of Misha Renee Artistry in D.C, previously told HuffPost. “But then tan started to become overdone, whether real or sprayed on, and now they probably can’t imagine themselves without the color in their skin.”

If you want to avoid this particular look, make sure to do this.

There are a few best practices that can help you avoid the MAGA tan.

“Choose a reputable spray tan artist or quality self-tanners, prep properly, follow rinse times, and layer cautiously,” Avanzato said. “The face should always be softer than the body for the most natural results.”

Avanzato also notes that shooting for something subtle and unclockable will never steer you wrong: “The best spray tan is the one nobody recognizes as a spray tan. They just think you look healthy.”

Celebrity makeup artist, hairstylist, groomer and beauty expert Bryan Cantor also shared a few tips on the skin care side that can help you keep your tan from looking scorched.

“The best spray tan is the one nobody recognizes as a spray tan. They just think you look healthy.””

• Sophia Avanzato, founder of Main Line Mobile Spray Tan

“Exfoliate your whole body with a soft washcloth in the shower, or by dry brushing before the shower, before applying any form of self-tanner. Do not use a loofah or scrub as this can create streaks and lines once your tanner develops,” Cantor said. “Apply body butter to your knees, ankles, elbows and knuckles and allow it to fully dry before you apply your sunless tanner to prevent darkness in those areas.”

Cantor also recommended using tools like a tanning mitt or a large, fluffy synthetic blending brush to apply your self-tanner in a more seamless way.

“Use a tanning mitt to apply your tanner and apply in long, vertical strokes. Applying in a circular motion can create uneven results,” Cantor said. “Use a large, fluffy, synthetic blending brush to apply self-tanner to your face and ears. Spray/squeeze some self-tanner onto the tip of the brush, then tap it evenly over half of your face before buffing it in. Repeat on the other side of your face. Be sure to buff all the way to your hairline.”

He also recommends using a 50/50 mixture of your sunless tanner and moisturizer on your hands and feet to “create a natural glow in these areas without overdeveloping the color.”

But, unfortunately, once you’ve found yourself sporting this look, your best bet is to wait it out.

“If you’ve gotten a bad tan, there is little that skin care can do for you,” Cantor said. “You just have to wait for it to fade.”