SHE’S the spray tan artist behind so many Vogue covers, but Isabel Vita was once just a “foster kid” that people said wouldn’t go far in life.
Now, she’s the go-to spray tan artist for A-Listers across the globe and is the founder of a wildly successful fake tan brand that Miley Cyrus invested in earlier this year.
The 34-year-old launched Dolce Glow by Isabel Alysa six years into her career after she noticed a gap in the market for fake tan packed with skincare ingredients.
She started spray tanning the residents of Los Angeles, California in 2015 and was noticed by Kylie Jenner within six months.
This led to her becoming the entire Kar-Jenner clan’s go-to spray tan artist, as well as Selena Gomez, J-Lo, Salma Hayek, Katy Perry and Miley Cyrus.
Now, her business Dolce Glow, which includes spray tan services, fake tan products and classes with Isabel herself, is estimated to be worth £4 million.
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But before her success, Isabel spent days out on the street as a child and was put into foster care aged seven.
“I literally had nothing, I came from nothing,” she tells Fabulous for Bossing It.
“I was in a foster home but that was an absolute disaster. I was treated really badly.
“But it gave me something inside to keep going.
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“There were days where I didn’t even know how I was going to make it out alive.
“That allowed me to just push through – I looked at myself like a survivor.”
Isabel left foster care at 17 to try and make something of herself, but found herself working gruelling hours at four jobs just to stay afloat.
She recalls struggling to pull together $300 (£237) to pay her rent in a house share.
At 21-years-old, she met her husband Vinny and the pair soon married. He’s been with her every step of the way, invluding driving her around till the early hours of the morning to get spray tans done.
The pair share an eight-year-old daughter who Isabel recalls bringing home from the hospital to a “one bedroom apartment after shopping at the 99 cents store”.
In the early days of her spray tan business, Isabel would work a nine to five in sales, take care of her daughter after work and then go out spray tanning people from 8pm till 1am.
She spent “a couple hundred dollars” a course to learn how to spray tan other people but remembers “making tons of mistakes at the start”.
Isabel says that her difficult beginnings in life gave her a sense of perseverance that she transfers into business.
“What’s set me apart is that I’ve never taken no for an answer,” she says.
“And if one door is closed in my face, I’ll wait for another opportunity.
“I’ll always keep pushing.”
The global self-tanning market was valued at £471 million in 2019 and forecast to be worth £580 million this year, according to Euromonitor International.
In February, Miley Cyrus shared that she’d invested in Dolce Glow after being a loyal customer of Isabel’s for years.
Alongside her spray tanning and running the brand, Isabel hosts spray tanning masterclasses for others to learn her tricks of the trade.
“I love that I can turn people’s lives around through education,” she says.
“But I also love making people feel so good about themselves, one spray tan at a time.”
British shoppers can buy Dolce Glow by Isabel Alysa products directly from the website or on Revolve.
A bottle of mousse will set you back £41, while a clear-formula mist is £39.
A 1-on-1 coaching session with Isabel herself costs £1,657, which includes learning all of her secrets for the perfect glow and advice on how to launch a successful spray tanning business.
Brits who can’t make it to the US for a class with the master herself can tune in on Zoom for £868.
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Isbael’s spray tans have been on the cover of Vogue, graced the Met Gala red carpet and even earnt their own name as “the Isabel glow”.
An “In Studio Tan” with the founder herself takes 15 minutes and would set you back £100.
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Josie O'Brien
