Health

Get a great fake tan at home…without looking streaky and orange!

Aug 26, 2015

There’s many reasons why we shouldn’t sun tan, but of course the most obvious is the risk of skin cancer. Not to mention sun’s ability to damage our skin, making it more prone to wrinkles, dry patches and that leather look.

A great alternative is spray or fake tan and while some think it looks awful, you might have seen people on the street with a fake tan and not have noticed. This is because it was applied properly and was a suitable colour for that person’s skin.

It’s easy to achieve that bronzed look in your own home, without looking orange and streaky.

Here’s how.

1. Exfoliate

Before you apply your tan, make sure you deeply exfoliate your skin from head to toe. You can exfoliate with a scrub or peel but try to stay away from oil-based products as they will stop the tan from absorbing. If you shave your legs, do this a day before applying tan. This way your skin won’t react to the tanning formulation, plus you won’t need to shave over the top of your tan.

2. Moisturise

Once you’ve exfoliated fully, lightly moisturise around your nostrils, elbows, knees, ankles, hands, hairline and wrists. This will stop the tan from catching and building up in these spots. You maye have seen women with fake tan on their knuckles or elbows – it’s a dead giveaway.

3. Start off light

If you’ve never used fan tan before, try a gradual formula which will give you a light tan to start and you can add more if you want to. Try a light tan to start and then go darker the more you get used to it. The lighter the tan, and more true brown the colour, the less orange and fake it’ll look.

4. Apply your tan

Now it’s time to apply your bronzer. you can put special tanning mitt on or use a latex glove, or simply your bare hands. Do the large areas of the body first: the limbs, stomach and back. Then do your feet, ankles, knees and neck. If you see the tan darken too much in these areas as it develops, grab a towel and buff the colour either with a special mitt or a dark towel. Do not apply fake tan to the bottoms of your feet as these will get very orange very quickly!

Apply the tan to your face and blend. Wash your hands immediately after you finish.

5. Maintain your colour

It can take two to four applications of gradual fake tan to reach the right shade. Wash with a gentle cleanser and make sure your skin is always moisturised. When you’re ready to refresh your tan, exfoliate and begin again!

Other tips

To keep your fake tan intact as long as possible, avoid shaving your legs for 48 hours after you’ve applied the product. Also avoid long baths or chlorine-filled pools, all of which will rub off the product.
Avoid orange hands and feet by applying the tanning lotion or cream with gloved hands. If you don’t want to wear gloves, or it’s hard to spread the product, wash your hands throughout the process. Do one body part at a time, and after rubbing the product on each part, wash your hands. Rubbing alcohol also helps once you’ve finished applying the tan and have orange hands!
Stop stains on your clothes by waiting at least 15 minutes after you’ve finished applying it to get dressed.