If You Build It, They Will Come

The Husby and I are a bit of a creative duo...I tend to be the idea, and he is the action and implementation. Well, the other night, as we were flipping through channels, we stopped for a minute to watch The Bachelor. At that moment in the episode, they were showing a girl that had brought an airbrush tanning machine with her and was spraying one of the other girls. I looked at The Husby and said, "We need one of those." He nodded and said, "I wonder how much they cost."

A few minutes later, we were scoping them out online. The good airbrush tanning machines run for about $2,000...uhm...no thanks. Now, I have had the pleasure of getting an airbrush tan a couple of times when I needed to be tan for a special occasion. In general, I have been in full boycott of getting in the sun for almost five years now for two simple reasons: I don't want wrinkles, and I don't want to die from skin cancer because I am too vain to admit that endless hours in the sun are bad for me.

For any of you that have had the pleasure of having an airbrush tan, it runs you about $60, but it looks natural because it is applied as a fine mist by hand and lasts seven to ten days. As I was laying in bed that night, I thought about the setup of all of the airbrush tanning machines that I had looked at online as well as the machines that I had seen in person. I realized that they are all little more than a compressor outfitted with a hose and an airbrush.

The next day, I did a little bit more research and announced to The Husby that I was sure we could make an airbrush tanning machine using the compressor that we already own. We decided to order a Paasche airbrush system for $40 and invested in some sample size bottles of tanning solution. We were excited once all of the parts came in, so that we could test our little experiment.

On Saturday, we put together our tanning machine, and The Husby let me test it on him first...eureka! Our little homemade tanning machine worked as well as the real thing. The Husby and I both look like we spent the weekend lounging at the beach. The cost for our little endeavor is a fraction of what it would cost if we went to a salon, and we can spray each other every weekend, or whenever we need a touch-up. Friends and family are already lining up to get a spray down.

Welcome, summer! I am tan already!