(Continued from part one)
I got myself into a big streaking situation. What do I do?
If you want to remove streaks without touching your tan, a body exfoliator is your best bet. Make sure to give the ingredients list a skim and pick out a gentle one. Gently scruff your exfoliator on places where there is too much pigmentation.
How do I evenly tan awkward areas while avoiding splotches?
Tanning your back is easy when you have a trusty roommate or partner who can do it for you. What about the solo flyers then? A hack we love involves a wooden spoon (or a loofah with a stick), your tanning mitt, and a rubber band. Simply place your tanning mitt around the stick’s head and secure with a rubber band. Put your usual amount of self-tanner on the mitt, and spread on your back as per usual. Monitor the colour development in front of a mirror every now and then to make sure the product was applied well.
I just got a manicure. How do I avoid getting self-tanner stains on my nails?
Our number one solution: get a quality tanning mitt. Unlike the usual exfoliating gloves, tanning mitts are especially designed to create a barrier between your skin and the self-tanning product. This will prevent your hands from having any weird orange streaks.
If you’re still unsure, a way to foolproof this is to apply a thin layer of lip balm on your nails. This will create an additional barrier to prevent excess products from staining your fresh manicure. What’s great about this is you can easily wipe off the balm after applying your self-tanner.
I have streaks all over my knees and elbows. What happened?
The knees and elbows are two of the areas in the body that are commonly on the drier side. Dry skin will drink up more product compared to areas that are fairly moisturised. To avoid this, make sure to apply moisturiser on the areas in question.
Prevention is better than cure, but what if you already are in the knee-and-elbow streaky situation? Lightly scrub and exfoliate areas that have more pigmentation until the colour evens out.
How do I make sure my tan fades evenly?
If you’ve gotten through the application part without streaks and splotches, we give you our sincerest congratulations. However, the work doesn’t end there. As with almost everything beauty-related, self-tanners need an after-care routine.
Keep your glow even and beautifully faded out with using an oil-free moisturiser. If you prefer to go with your usual moisturisers, check for any oils in the ingredients. Oils will break down DHA so moisturise at your own risk. And of course, lightly exfoliate to ensure that even self-tanner fade.