The life cycle of spray tanning is this: (opens in new tab) tell yourself you won't turn orange like an Oompa Loompa for five days, check obsessively for streaks and spots on the day of tanning, and for about a week (opens in new tab), tank tops and selfies with I frolick in golden delight, then watch the beautiful shiny bronze fade into a sad, speckled nothingness for the next two weeks.

Sadly, your fake tan won't last forever. Says Jules von Hepp, celebrity spray tanner and co-founder of Isle of Paradise (opens in new tab), "The darker the spray tan, the more DHA it contains, so theoretically it should stay on your skin longer." (Side note: DHA stands for dihydroxyacetone, the active ingredient in sunless tanners.) ) "A light, subtle tan should last roughly five days, a medium tan seven or eight days, and a dark tan ten days," he says.

Of course, it's all about one thing (no, a trillion things:) it's about how well you care for your tan. It's how well you take care of yourself after a sunburn. Lucky for us, Team MC and Jules can help us extend our spray tans a few days longer than usual.

The secret to making your spray tan last longer is to exfoliate with certain products 24 hours before tanning and while tanning." Von Hep says, "If you are using retinol, or any face or body products that have AHAs in them, like glycolic, lactic, or citric acids, avoid them for at least 24 hours before your spray tan." They can cause your skin to exfoliate at a deeper, cellular level, and the pigment can fade faster."

But while this is important, it doesn't mean you should skip skin exfoliation. Says he, "[Pre-]exfoliation is the key to an even, long-lasting tan." Dry, dehydrated, flaky skin absorbs excess DHA, which leads to streaks and blemishes, so do all of your waxing, shaving, and exfoliating at least 24 hours before your tan. The Easiest Way to Exfoliate" Good old fashioned washcloths. But if you're into the idea of scrubbing, below you'll find options that leave no residue and leave your skin evenly smooth.

According to Von Hep, timing your spray tan around your period really helps that color last longer." I've noticed with some of my clients that their skin doesn't take a tan as long as it does the week before their period or when they are on their period - as opposed to if they spray tan the week after their period," he says, noting how hormone levels, pigment adds, "can play a part in how well they develop. It's weird, sure, and there may be no scientific basis for it, but anyone who tans for Blake Lively or Kate Moss for a living can be credited. So, yes, post-period tanning is a thing.

Let's cut to the chase: oil is basically the death of self-tanners." Oil, says von Hepp, "acts on the skin as a barrier that prevents tanning agents from being absorbed evenly." So if you use an exfoliator or moisturizer with oil before you tan, you are basically guaranteed to have problems." Using oil after tanning is just waiting for the color to fade. He says, "Oil breaks down the pigment in the tan, so I definitely recommend avoiding spray-on tanning."

Of course, that doesn't mean you should avoid all moisturizers. In fact, the best way to keep tanned skin fresh longer is to keep it as supple and hydrated as possible. Even if you normally don't like lotions, now you're all about them.

Look, no matter how prepared you are and how much you pray, your tan is going to fade at some point. The world is unfair and everything sucks. But you can minimize the fading by using a "topper." I tell my clients to mix a few drops in their moisturizer and apply it daily, especially if they went swimming that day," says Von Hepp.

"I tell my clients to mix a few drops of Self Tanning Drops in their moisturizer and apply it daily, especially if they went swimming that day," says Von Hepp. His favorite, the Isle of Paradise Self Tanning Drops (opens in new tab), also contains color-correcting ingredients (peach pigment for light skin, green for medium skin, purple for dark skin, etc.) to brighten the tan with each application.

And if all else fails and your tan is only a distant memory, there is always dim lighting and Instagram filters. Or embrace your natural shade of skin.

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