We all have that one friend who always looks put together, who never has a bad hair day, and who looks like she’s in the Bahamas every weekend because her tan is just so incredible. Great news: if you’re not that friend, that can be you as well.
Not only does a nice self-tan do wonders for your appearance, but it also does wonders for your mood. A self-tanning session is a quick pick-me-up for when you’re just not feeling yourself.
Here are five of our tips for getting you a natural glow all year round.
1. Go through reviews before settling on a self-tanner.
Packaging can do a lot for an icky product these days. Just because a bottle of tanning lotion looks pretty on the outside doesn’t mean that the inside is just as trustworthy. If we could refund the gradual tans that left us looking streaky and smelled like they came straight from a laboratory, we would have a sizable amount of extra cash.
The good news is you can learn from our mistakes: skip out on impulse buying when it comes to fake tans.
Before you have another experimental impulse buy, stop yourself at the checkout line and do a little research online. Go through reviews for the best gradual tan that has reached some sort of consensus before spending your hard-earned cash. Or even better: do an internet sweep of best fake tan lists, settle on one or two, then find out where you can buy them.
We promise the research will be worth it. Not only will you have a great self-tanning product in your hands, but you also won’t be throwing money away.
Another pro tip is to look for brands that specialize in self-tanners — preferably one that has tanning drops and tanning mitts in their repertoire. These brands mean business. Make sure to research on the quality of their DHA as well because that will set the product apart from the rest.
2. Moisturise the parts that are prone to drying.
We’re big on moisturising, most especially when it comes to our pre-tanning prep. A rookie tanner will walk around with muddy or orange elbows, knees, or feet. That’s because they didn’t moisturize enough.
Why is this important? It will be hard to maintain your tan all year long when you start off with an uneven, unnatural-looking tan.
The fact is, dry skin absolutely loves tanning oils and lotions. It will just gobble all that up. Unfortunately, it will also absorb all the product’s ability to tan, leaving you an uneven, rookie fake tan.
To prevent those awkward uneven spots, get a tanning moisturiser on those spots. If you don’t have one, we recommend an oil-free one. This will help by adding an additional layer, and also by rejuvenating dead skin cells to prevent them from absorbing too much product.
Other areas in usual need of TLC are the palms, wrists, and area around the underarms.
3. Invest in a tanning mitt and actually use it.
There’s a huge difference between a tanning mitt versus a regular bath mitt. One, it won’t let the tanning product soak through to your palms. Even if you think you can just wash it off, your skin will still absorb an amount of the product and will probably show hours later.
Two, tanning mitts are designed to give you an even fake tan. You don’t want the hassle of trying to even out your tan on the next application to maintain your glow year-long. And this helps with making touchups look natural.
So you’ve actually invested in a tanning mitt. You used it once, twice, maybe three times. And then you decide to skip it because it’s too hot and it’s a bother.
Friendly advice: do not get complacent with tanning mitts. Always always use them. The difference will show. Plus, you won’t have to troubleshoot your tan going forward and focus on maintaining it instead.
For places that are a bit difficult to reach, our hack is to put the glove over an exfoliator with a handle, secure it with an elastic, and tan away.
4. Blend, blend, blend using a kabuki brush.
There’s a reason why makeup artists invest so much in brushes: they blend unlike any other tool, especially in areas that are tricky (crevices, smaller areas that need extra attention, and so on). In the same way, especially in retouching, kabuki brushes help make sure that your new self-tanning layer blends seamlessly into your old one.
How do you do this? After applying the self-tanning product, use the big kabuki brush to go over areas like the wrists, underarms, hairline, chin, feet, and ankles.
Another pro tip: for a more seamless blending on your hands, use the leftover product on your mitt and blend away. This trick makes for beautifully self-tanned hands.
5. Build up the initial tan with a stronger self-tanner, then maintain with a lighter one.
This one is an amazing hack. A quality self-tanner should give you up to a week’s worth of glow, but this little hack will extend it to ten days easy.
Use a stronger/darker self-tanner initially and allow it to develop as deeply as you want it to. Make sure that you pick a quality one because this will set the tone for the next step.
The next step is to create a tanning moisturiser by adding a few drops of gradual tanner into your usual skincare routine. Voila! Instant gradual tanner moisturiser. Use it at night to wake up with a refreshed tan or in the morning before doing your makeup to allow it to develop through the day.
Just keep these steps in mind and stay consistent, and you’ll have that beautiful vacation glow you desire all year long.