When the sun sets on 2012, the citizens of this great country will remember it as the year of the tan.
Mitt Romney sported a near-nuclear shade when he appeared on Spanish-language network Univision, carrot-hued Christina Aguilera had an embarrassing self-tanner misstep and Palm Beach psychic Tiffany Mitchell appeared all over the news after a tussle with Lindsay Lohan, looking as if she had rolled around in Tang.
Meanwhile, cartoonishly baked “Big Ang” got her own show and announced plans to open a salon offering, yep, spray tanning. Reality star Coco Austin — a k a Mrs. Ice T — burned brighter as her tan turned radioactive on the Vegas stage of “Peep Show.” They followed in the footsteps of a crispier-looking Teresa Giudice.
And who could forget the grand poobah of tanorexics — Patricia Krentcil, also affectionately known as “Tan Mom”?
In May, the New Jersey mother shocked and captivated the country when she appeared on the news following allegations that she took her toddler into a tanning booth.
Krentcil’s outrageous skin tone, which resembled the color of a football, inspired a hilarious “Saturday Night Live” skit starring a burnt-looking Kristin Wiig — and a superhero “Tanorexic” doll by Connecticut-based company HeroBuilders.
“A whole social conversation started around her,” says HeroBuilders owner Emil Vicale. “The story never died down, and it became almost impossible for us to ignore.”
The doll — priced at $29.99 — went on to become one of the company’s top sellers, says Vicale, and continues to be a popular purchase months after the incident.
All the while, the self-tanning business boomed: Natalie Cupid at Sundara, a Midtown airbrush-tanning salon that caters to Broadway types and newscasters, says their business is up 15 percent this year.
And uptown’s swanky Paul Labrecque salon says it has seen a 25 percent jump since 2011 in their $145 Air Bronze treatment, which sloughs, buffs and then completes the look with an airbrush tan.
New York-based celebrity image consultant Amanda Sanders says she doesn’t always push a tan on her clients but many of them simply feel better with one: “They think they look thinner and taller when they’re tanner. A tan makes you have more confidence,” she says.
Still, it was hard to look away from the ridiculous pratfalls by a host of celebrities and politicians who seemed hell-bent on breaking the melanin barrier this year.
When Republican presidential candidate Romney was criticized for dying his skin brown for a September appearance on Univision, the station makeup artist copped to aggressive use of MAC bronzer on Romney’s perma-tan skin.
He’s not the only politician showing his bronze mettle: Former Florida governor Charlie Crist seemed to emerge from a tanning bed two weeks ago to announce he was switching political parties.
“Some people just prefer that orange look,” says Gwen Flamberg, beauty director at Us Weekly. “But it’s actually trashy, not classy.”
Pop star Aguilera, who has achieved prime-time notoriety with her show “The Voice,” sent the blogosphere into a tizzy in January when she performed at Etta James’ funeral: Mid-song, a strange dark liquid — apparently fake tanner — dripped down her leg.
Still, Aguilera never seemed to lose her heavy-handed devotion to self-tanner throughout her year on the popular show.
Dante Fitzpatrick, director of airbrush design at Beach Bum Tanning, which has salons throughout the city, says many celebrities make the mistake of keeping the tanning solution on longer than the recommended six hours, resulting in more orange skin.
“People think the longer they leave it on, the longer it will last. But the longer you keep it on, the more you sweat and it changes the pH balance of the product.
“Christina looks like she slept in [the solution], had a couple of days of sex and then went to work,” adds Fitzpatrick, who recently hired 75 technicians to keep up with his at-home and in-office services.
Abby Feller, a skin esthetician who runs Bake Spray Tanning on 29th Street, specializes in a more subtle sun-kissed look. Because of this, she finds herself talking some new clients off the tanorexic ledge — especially those used to visiting spray-tanning booths.
“I spend about 50 percent of my day trying to convince someone who has been to a Mystic tanning booth that you’re going to look better with us,” says Feller, who notes that solutions have come far in the last three years.
That’s not to say she doesn’t see her fair share of people still hopping into tanning beds: “I get about two calls a day asking me if I have tanning beds. I’m trying to start my business in New Jersey, but it’s been more of a challenge because people are still using tanning beds there. I don’t think people are aware of the good spray-tanning options.”
How to Glow — not Radiate!
“The trend is to look healthy and have a gradual glow,” says Gwen Flamberg, beauty director of Us Weekly, who notes the increasing number of self-tanners and tinted body lotions that do just that.So how do you get that sun-kissed look in the pale winter months and not resemble an Oompa Loompa?
* Before using self-tanner, Flamberg recommends moisturizing any dry patches like elbows, knees and ankles: “Dry skin patches will develop darker than moist skin,” she explains.
* Apply product in broad circular strokes, working from the feet up. Flamberg likes Jergens Natural Glow & Protect SPF 20 and Lorac SelfTANtalizer Body Bronzing Gradual Self-Tanner and Mitt.
* If you’re more inclined to spray, esthetician and spray-tan expert Abby Feller, who owns Bake Spray Tanning, says you should research the salon’s solution beforehand: “You want to avoid chemicals or heavy oils or dyes.”
* To preserve your spray tan for seven to 10 days, Feller suggests prepping with a light exfoliant.
* And don’t be afraid to spend a little more money for a good custom spray tan: “If a place consistently has a spray tan for $29 — that’s not going to be a natural-looking tan,” says Feller, whose custom sprays start at $65. “It’s a low-grade solution and will not create contours.”
kirsten.fleming@nypost.com