TOP TEN TIPS: FAKE TANNING

Here's ten tips that cover all aspects of fake tanning! What to do before you tan, which products to use, how to care for your tan afterwards and of course many more random tips and tricks that I hope you find helpful if your a little confused about what to do. 

1. Exfoliate

Before applying any fake tanning product to your skin, make sure to exfoliate all the dead skin off with as body scrub in the shower. This ensures a smooth surface so that the tanning product can evenly distribute itself on your skin and not look patchy.

2. Shave

It is only important to shave before applying any tanning product if you want your tan to last a while but want to be hair free as well as tan. This is because if you shave over the top of a fake tan, it can remove the product in some parts and make it blotchy and faded. 

3. Prep

Make sure that you have exfoliated and moisturized dry places on your body such as your ankles, hands, feet and elbows so that the product doesn't soak extra into those places and go darker than the rest of your body. If your tanning your face then make sure to moisturize around your hairline for the same reason. Petroleum Jelly is also a great alternative to moisturizer and protects the skin from hair dye so it will definitely work against fake tanner. 

4. Choose Your Fake Tanner

For your fake tan to look amazing, you have to choose the formulation and method best for you, read the next two tips which cover those aspects for more depth in those points. 

5. Formulation

Fake tanners come in my formulations; foam, cream, spray, gel, mousse, airbrush etc. It's important to choose the formulation you think you can best work with and are most comfortable with using.

6. Method

You can choose whether you want an instant tan which is where you spray the tan onto your skin and can see the results instantly or a developing tan which is where you apply the product and see results in a couple of hours. If your just starting out, I recommend using an instant tanner because you can see where your applying the product so you know if you put too much product in one place or miss a spot and can fix it up. I just think that with the developing tans you kind of don't know how it's going to turn out and can only hope for the best. Be careful when choosing your fake tanner though, some are labelled instant tanner but only show results after a couple of hours but it's still classified as instant.

7. Moisturize

If you want your tan to last then it's important to keep your skin hydrated which means constantly moisturizing before, during and after tanning. It might be worth looking into a moisturiser formulated specifically for fake tanning maintenance purposes as some regular moisturizers have ingredients which could interfere with your fake tan like oils. 

8. Random

I wanted to add a few random tips to help you perfect your fake tan. Firstly is apply your fake tan with gloves because no tan looks faker than when you have orange hands! Wear dark, loose clothing directly after fake tanning to avoid staining your clothes and smudging your tan. Lastly, if all goes wrong, make sure you have a tan remover on hand because I doubt you will want to go out anywhere with an awful tan..even if it's just to buy the tan remover.

9. Accentuate

With your finished bronze look, there are some things you can do to make your tan pop and really compliment your new sun kissed skin. You can apply a tiny amount of body shimmer or highlighter to places such as your collarbone to give you a really lovely healthy glow.

10. Gradual Tanner

If your feeling a little intimidated by actually fake tanning then you can skip all of the steps above and try a gradual tanner. Gradual tanners are basically just like moisturizers but they have a slight pigment in them which gradually tints the skin and the longer you use it, the darker the colour. This is great because it's not happening all at once so you can monitor and control how dark you get and if you want to keep using it or try something different. It's much easier to use and there isn't much to it, just slather it on and it's unlikely it will streak or go crazy colours because it is so mild.

 

I hope you found my tips helpful, have fun tanning!