‘Tis the season where everyone wants to be showing off their toned and tanned selves. For those of us who look like we’ve been hiding in a cave all winter, self-tanner is the way to go. In this post, I go over how I self-tan. I’ve tried a few different products to self-tan and I’ll be reviewing them. All of these I’ve found at the drugstore so they are pretty inexpensive!
I tan by rubbing the product evenly (or as evenly as I can) on my legs, feet, stomach, back, arms, and chest. The areas that don’t need as much product I do last, such as my feet, knees, elbows, and hands. For my face, I mix the self-tanner with a little bit of my usual face moisturizer and apply it all over my face and neck. I do this because I think that self-tanner can be a little drying on my face without at least a little bit of the moisturizer mixed in.
I try to tan at least once a week, if not two. I’ll prepare by getting in the shower, shaving, and exfoliating my entire body with a loofah. I used to exfoliate by rubbing sea salt all over my body, but now I only do that when I get a spray tan. Every day after I self-tan I moisturize my entire body, to keep the tan as long as I can.
The first, essential, self-tanning product is a tanning mitt. I found mine on amazon and ever since I got it, my tan has been much more even and flawless than when I was using my hands. I also find that it is easier to reach my whole back with the mitt on. I use it on my whole body, except I use my hands to rub in the self-tanner on my face. Once my tan has set (a few hours), I’ll wash off the mitt with soap and water so it is ready to use next time! The product will never all come out, but it’s not completely dirty.
The first self-tanning product is Self-Tanning Towelettes from L’Oreal. A box comes with 6 single-use towelettes individually wrapped. I have mine in the shade medium bronze. Overall, I like these towelettes. They give a great, natural bronze color that is not too orange. They are also perfect for travelling because you can just throw one towelette in your bag instead of lugging around a whole bottle of self-tanner. However, because there is no bronzer in the towelette, you can’t see where you are rubbing the product. This can make your tan a bit streaky if you miss places or go over a place too much with the towelette. Definitely worth trying out if you travel a lot and can remember where you already wiped the towelette!
The second tanning product is this LA Tan Sunless Mousse. There is a lot of product in this bottle for a pretty low price. This is my least favorite of the tanning products that I own. When I rub this on my body it comes out as a dirty brown color. Also no matter how hard I try to rub it on evenly, it always leaves streaks. They come off next time you shower, but then there is little to no tan color left. Basically, a lot of effort for very few results.
The final tanning product is the first one I ever bought, and still my favorite! It is the Banana Boat Summer Color Self-Tanning Lotion. I have mine in the shade light/medium. This is always the tanner that I use on my face. The color is perfect for me, and I very rarely get streaks if I use the mitt to apply it. I am interested in trying the darker shade of tan, but for now I am very pleased with this product!
Let me know what your favorite tanning products are, I am always looking for new ones to try!
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