We all love glowing skin. It makes us look healthy, wealthy and wise. However we know that getting that real sun tan is really bad for our skin. It ages it, you can get skin cancer, you will get dark spots. Self tanner to the rescue.
Self tanners have come on in leaps and bounds in the last few years. They are easier to apply and they don’t smell as bad as they used to. There is no excuse not to use them rather than a dose of tanning bed or 8 hours on a sun lounger.
Here are our 5 tips for making sure that self tan looks natural and lasts a long long time.
1) Exfoliate before application
You’re going to need to remove the top layer of dead skin on your face and body before you apply the self tanner. This is for a couple of reasons. Firstly the surface of your skin will be smoother and there won’t be any dry patches to soak up more tanner than others. This will give you a more even finish. Secondly, the skin replaces itself every 28 days. If you remove the top layer of skin you’ve bought yourself more time before the tanned skin falls off and your tan starts to fade. To recap, exfoliating give you a more even tan that will last longer.
2) Shave before application
Getting a nice close shave before tanning is also crucial. It ensures you have a nice even surface to apply the tanning cream or foam, but also means that you won’t have to shave off that tan in the immediate future.
3) Moisturise before application
When you moisturise your skin becomes more receptive to active ingredients. It also plumps the skin reducing the appearance of moisturiser that may snag extra tan cream and make them appear darker exaggerating each little fold in the skin. Moisturised skin allows the tan to take more easily and evenly.
4) Use a mitt
Mitts are crucial for helping you get the tanning product onto your skin as evenly as possible the wider surface area of the mitt and the absorbent texture helps distribute the product quickly over your body to give you an even, natural tan.
5) Keep that skin hydrated
If skin gets dry, if flakes off. If tanned skin flakes off, your tan will quickly fade. The secret to keeping your tan for a long time is to keep the skin hydrated. This means swapping out harsh shower products for hydrating shower creams and using body lotions every other day. Drink lots of water too.
If you’ve never tried a self tan before for fear of looking too dark or streaky, have no fear. Self tanning creams and foams are really easy to apply and come in many shades. No one will be able to tell if it is real or fake. Trust us.