Ariana Grande Has Had Her Fair Share Of Fake Tan Fails

For a good stretch of Ariana Grande's career, she was the queen of spray tans. The pop icon began tanning at the end of her time on the Nickelodeon sitcom, "Victorious," a show that ran from 2010 to 2013, where she played a bubbly redhead named Cat Valentine with a pale complexion. There was, of course, the brief spin-off, "Sam & Cat," but as of about 2013, Grande dyed her hair brown and kept her skin a consistent tone of bronze.

Over the next five or six years, Grande became so synonymous with spray tans that when Glamour published a piece on the best spray tan advice from a celebrity tanner, Grande was on the cover, and Grande's spray tan artist, Kristyn Pradas, was interviewed. Grande was the face of the golden glow, but as anyone who tries to nail a fake tan knows, that can be difficult. There are countless celeb fake tan fails that left us cringing, for a variety of reasons. There's the common trope of mismatched body parts, where someone's face looks lighter than the rest of their body. There's the risk of tanning lotion streaks on hands after a sloppy application, or brown liquid dripping down the body, should someone start sweating before the spray tan is completely dried. And Grande's not alone. Lauren Boebert can't seem to nail her fake tan either, and Karoline Leavitt's fake tan fails are hard to look at. It's tough for everybody, but some of Grande's fails are particularly bad. 

Ariana Grande began tanning in her late teens, around 2013, as she transitioned out of her Nickelodeon phase and into her singing career. It was a new step in her beauty regimen, and one that was linked to her desire to transition from a child star into an adult pop star. But this transition wasn't without its awkward moments. In September 2014, Grande was photographed at Narita International Airport in Japan, and her stomach, visible from her crop top, appeared much darker than her face. This is a common problem for many fake tan users, where one's face makeup doesn't match the tan level of the body.

Ariana Grande had another case of mismatched colors when she greeted fans in London, England, in November 2015. She was launching her first fragrance, "Ari by Ariana Grande," at Boots in London, where she wore a black tank top with a lavender coat that hung off her shoulders. Her arms appeared unnaturally dark, while her face makeup was several shades lighter. A key component of successful fake tanning is ensuring that the whole body is one, cohesive shade. Unfortunately, Grande's differing tones made her fake tan appear that much more unnatural.  

Another common fail with fake tans is when the color is simply too dark for the person. Fake, orange undertones give the whole effect an artificial aura, and this was the case for Ariana Grande when she performed with Nicki Minaj at the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden in New York City in August 2016. Grande's tan was so dark that it appeared muddy on her skin. She would have been better off going a few shades lighter.

Ariana Grande sat with her maternal Italian grandmother, Marjorie Grande, at the Time 100 Gala in New York City in April 2016. The discrepancy between their two skin tones showed the extent to which Ariana had been fake tanning. Next to her grandmother, Ariana appeared orange and artificial, one of the key signs that a tan formula has too much DHA, the active ingredient in tanning products. Too much DHA can leave skin looking discolored and fake, and this was clearly the case with Grande. 

The goal of a spray tan is to look sun-kissed, and anything beyond that can look muddy and artificial. This was, unfortunately, the case when Ariana Grande arrived at the American Music Awards in November 2016 in Los Angeles, California. Grande looked strikingly more tanned than usual, and her coloring made her stand out. The fact that she wore white pants showed off the contrast all the more, which didn't help.

When Ariana Grande and Pete Davidson attended the 2018 MTV Video Music Awards at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, Grande's tan looked shockingly dark. To be fair, she had perfected her makeup tone by then, so at least her face matched the rest of her body. However, next to Davidson, Grande looked unexpectedly dark, and the disjointed coloring between the two emphasized how strong a formula Grande was using. 

When Ariana Grande posed for Vogue's cover in July 2019, the talk of the town was how strangely dark she looked. There was a huge controversy around Grande's appearance, and one that sparked a backlash both toward Vogue and Grande herself. 

The Vogue spread came after she and Pete Davidson broke up, and Davidson poked fun at Grande and gave her a jab for talking about their relationship with Vogue. "Can you imagine if I did that? My career would be over tomorrow. If I spray-painted myself brown and hopped on the cover of Vogue magazine and just started sh—ing on my ex?" Davidson said on "Alive From New York," per People. It was clearly one of the worst fake tanning fails in Grande's career.

One of the biggest talking points about Ariana Grande's love of fake tanning is how she suddenly stopped when she started filming "Wicked." Her heavy spray tanning completely ended, and Grande stepped out with her natural skin color exposed for the first time in years. It made sense that she stopped tanning while on set to play the blond character Glinda, but even in moments where she wasn't filming, Grande stepped away from fake tanning. Her Met Gala appearances showcase this as well. For the 2018 Met Gala, Grande sported her typical, dark tan, but at the 2024 Met Gala, Grande was much more pale. While she has every right to start or stop tanning as she chooses, it just shows how unnaturally dark she was for all of those years.