Picture this: it’s the morning of a Major, you’ve completed months of training, the new dress fits like a glove, and your fresh wig is pinned firmly onto your head. But then, disaster strikes — your fake tan is the wrong shade, not dark enough, and looks green under the stage lights. It’s the final piece of the puzzle needed to bring your competition day look together, but suddenly it all seems to be completely undone by this one detail.
It’s a nightmare situation most competitive Irish dancers and feis parents will have experienced at least once. But it’s exactly this kind of avoidable scenario that inspired SONA Skin founder Shéana Carson to refine a luxury tanning formula that could guarantee a seamless competition day look and flawless finish every time without fail. The Belfast-based business has fast become the go-to tanning product for schools and dancers thanks to their deep, rich, and consistent tanning shade that ticks all the boxes.
We spoke to Shéana and Senior Marketing Executive Broghán Donnelly to hear about the most common tanning struggles and their top solutions. From shade disasters and feis day spills to travel practicalities and sweat-proof solutions, “everything about SONA has the dancer and competition day in mind”.
Guaranteeing the perfect shade every time
Not knowing the colour of your legs until two hours before your competition? No thanks!
Broghán: When it comes to colour inconsistency issues, picking a tan with the right undertone is so important. Some big brands look unbelievable, but they’re not made for the stage. A green undertone tan is lovely in natural lighting, but the second you stand under really harsh lighting on stage, the undertone is brought to the surface.
“With SONA Stage Tan, you’re getting the finished colour instantly”
SONA Founder Shéana Carson
Shéana: We’re trying to educate people about how to pick the right undertone for your skin. You might have an olive-toned dancer picking the wrong base, so the colour doesn’t look right on her. So whichever tan you’ve opted for, we recommend researching the undertone and checking that it performs well on stage.
Avoiding the dreaded green tinge
Green fake tan disasters are all too common. But are they avoidable?
Shéana: We have seen a lot of green legs in the Irish dancing industry. But if your chosen tan is too light or it’s green, our Stage Tan, which has a red base, will cover it right up on the day. Stage Tan is instant, so you’re getting that ultra-dark colour with one coat, and you can put it on the morning of dancing. The great thing is you can wear it on its own, but you can also fix up a tanning disaster with it.
Spotting the signs of expired tan
Green tan is also a tell-tale sign that it might be time to throw away that bottle of mousse you found under the sink.
Broghán: If you pump tan from a product and it’s luminous green, do not use it! SONA, however, has a year’s shelf life so long as it’s stored in a dry, cool place. We have a lid and a stopper that prevents air from getting into the products, so it doesn’t oxidise as quickly as other self-tanners.
Prepping the skin for best results
Half the work in ensuring a great tan can be found in the prep.
Shéana: A dancer might have products already on their skin that can affect the application, like Aveeno moisturiser, for example. Aveeno moisturiser can react with the bronzers in tanning solutions and leave a green tinge. After years of spray tanning, I can tell the difference between the green caused by moisturiser and the green of an expired tan. It’s why prep is so important: clean, product-free skin gives the best result.
Broghán: A common misconception when tanning is that you should apply moisturiser just before you tan. When you’re applying tan, you want your skin to be as clean as possible. Any prep, like shaving and moisturising, should be done the day before, and if you want to shower before you tan, we recommend doing so at least four hours before.
Meeting teachers’ expectations
We all know the feeling of being told our legs aren’t dark enough. So how do we guarantee the optimum shade on competition day?
Broghán: A lot of teachers swear by SONA because it is a reliable colour, but also, it’s an easy product to top up with. There’s not a lot of drying time, so on the day of the competition, if your teacher said you’re not dark enough, you can top up your base with SONA.
“It’s important to be conscious of mixing solutions”
SONA Founder Shéana Carson
Shéana: Teachers want dancers’ legs to look even, polished and ultra-dark so their dancer stands out on stage. Many dancers use mousses incorrectly and apply layer after layer, but a developing tan mousse is only a guide colour, so you don’t see the true colour until you rinse. If you keep topping up with mousse without washing it off, it can build up and make the legs look streaky or mucky. With SONA Stage Tan, you get the finished colour instantly, so what you see is what you get on stage. It gives an ultra dark finish that meets teachers’ expectations without the guesswork.
Choosing the best type of tanning product for you
Mousse, sprays, instant, developing — how do I know which is best for me?
Shéana: I always recommend keeping developing tans away from younger dancers as much as you can, because they contain ingredients that dry out skin. I would always recommend an instant tan that washes off. We have Stage Tan and Body Makeup, which is like a dark foundation, and our Glow Balm, which is a high-shine, golden tanning balm that washes off too. Our products are water-, aloe vera- and glycerin-based, so it’s really kind to skin. It’s also good security for parents to know that if their dancer has a reaction to a product, they can just wash it off.
We do find older girls with more experience and confidence like using mousse and then topping up with the instant. But it’s important to be conscious of mixing solutions. Some dancers might put a layer of developing tan on, and then a different tan on top the next day. But they’re two completely different undertones, so they’re not working well together.
Reliable post-feis removal
A feis is just one day, so how do we get our skin tan-free overnight?
Broghán: Picking a tan entirely depends on how you live your life afterwards. The older girls can maybe go about their normal days with their tan on, but for younger dancers, they don’t want to go into school with really dark legs. So pick the product based on what’s best for you, and the type of routine you lead off stage.
“It’s all about trying to make something more convenient that is actually quite inconvenient!”
SONA Senior Marketing Executive Broghán Donnelly
Managing expense for regular feising
Fake tan is another expense on top of an already pricey feis day shopping list. How do we keep costs down?
Broghán: I feel really passionate about this! Between the dress, the tan, the hair, make-up, the shoes, Irish dance is such an expensive sport. What adds insult to injury is buying an expensive bottle of tan that you could only use once before it expires. With SONA Stage Tan, it has a one-year shelf life. It obviously depends on how frequently you’re dancing, but you have that security of knowing that, if you’re not dancing for another few weeks, it’s fine and you haven’t wasted money.
Packing for carry-on flights
Most high street tanning brands are too big to fit into carry-on luggage, meaning you often have to leave half a bottle behind in your hotel room.
Broghán: Our tan is 100ML, so it fits in carry-on luggage perfectly. It also has a double stopper, so you don’t have to worry about leaks. It might sound small, but the formula is a thin liquid, so you get so much out of it. A little really does go a long way. We know how much travelling is involved in dancing, so we wanted to make sure you could carry it in your hand luggage. You also don’t have to leave an expensive bottle of tan in your hotel room. It’s all about trying to make something more convenient that is actually quite inconvenient!
Shéana: And our Glow Balm isn’t even a liquid!
Spills and water marks
Between washing your hands and knocking back sports drinks in between rounds, spills are all too easy on feis day.
Shéana: Because Stage Tan is an instant tan, it’s easy to fix. If there’s a spill or a mark, you can apply a little more product to touch up any accidents. Even if a dancer has been sweating on stage, you often don’t need to add anything, just buff it back in with a mitt or a brush. Our Glow Balm is waterproof, so you don’t need to worry about spills, and it’s just as easy to fix by buffing with a blending brush.
Achieving stage-ready legs on full-body tan
When it comes to Majors, many dancers enjoy the feeling of a full-body tan beneath our stage-ready legs.
Shéana: The good thing about SONA Stage Tan is you can go and get a normal spray tan, rinse it off, and then put your stage tan on top. So your upper body will still have a nice glow from the spray tan, but your legs will be darker. Then you can wash it off.
Staining bedsheets and towels
Irish dancers know the panic of staining hotel bedding and towels all too well. But is there a way to avoid this?
Broghán: With developing tan, you cannot avoid getting it on sheets. And it’s a losing battle with the towels! But the nature of our products means you don’t have to sleep overnight in it. You can get up in the morning and keep it away from the bedsheets or the towels. Then if you’re going back to the room that night, it washes right off in the shower. So you’re avoiding the fines.
Shéana: And if you’ve never used the tan before, you can even apply it the night before to see how it will look and wash it off again. Our must-dos for avoiding stains on your bedsheets is to wear long, loose pyjama bottoms to bed and pull your socks up over the ends of the legs. We also recommend bringing an old towel to place on the floor rather than using the ones provided by hotels.
Stickiness and sensory overload
The day of a feis can be nerve-wracking enough without having to contend with the uncomfortable stickiness of your tan.
Broghán: SONA’s Lock-In powder is an absolute game changer for tanners, because you know when you put tan on, you have that wet, sticky feeling? We have a powder that you brush on, and it takes away the sticky feeling.
Shéana: It also gives the dancer a bit of security knowing that if they sweat on stage, this will help prevent any marks from coming through. Also, our Glow Balm product is waterproof. Dancers add it on top of their stage tan to give them a high-shine, golden finish, which makes their muscles pop.
Broghán: When I tell you, Glow Balm is a game-changer!
Find out more information about SONA on the website.
