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I can’t believe it took me this long to finally try out a sunless tanner. I have dabbled in gradual tans like Jergen’s, but I never went full monty. The smell has always turned me off, and I’d usually rather be pale than have streaky legs. But I had a big project to work on, and I really just wanted to get a nice glow. Let me tell you some of the things I learned the first time I tried sunless tanner.
I generally tan really easily. But I don’t think I have actually gotten a tan in a few years.Just to give you a little baseline, I was white as snow before trying anything out. I have made the conscious effort to try harder to take better care of my skin, and I now use SPF on the daily. And on days when I know I am going to be out, I pack some along and reapply! Even more wrinkles later in life are not worth it to me anymore! So, going into this, I was expecting to turn into a Cheeto, more or less. Expectations were LOW.
Things I Learned the First Time I Tried Sunless Tanner
Exfoliate
Obviously, I did some research and made sure to take notes. Every. Single. Post. said to exfoliate before. Some said do it the night before, others as the first step. In all honestly, I do not have that much fore thought when it comes to this kind of thing, so I did a quick dry brush, rinsed off in the shower, and prayed for the best.
Moisturize
Stop! Don’t put the lotion on just yet. Give your feel, ankles, elbows, wrists and knees a quick hydrate, but leave the rest of your skin clean. Once I had applied the tanner all over, I went back in with a lotion to those areas just to smooth out any edges and dilute it a bit so it wouldn’t accumulate there. I have really dry elbows and knees, and this did the trick! They weren’t dark at all.
Use the mitt, for the love of God!
I’m not going to lie, I almost ripped the glove thing off and just used my hands. It was fussy and kept slipping. But in the end, I am so glad I did. There was a small part of my wrist that wasn’t covered by the mitt, and it was SO much darker than the rest of my arm. Even though I immediately washed my hands! BIG mistake. Huge.
Follow the Instructions
Duh. But seriously. I got a little scared of how dark I was going to look and jumped in the shower after only an hour. There is actually a tint in most sunless tanners that lets you see where you are applying it. My skin looks way tanner. As soon as I started washing it off, the tan was gone. Rookie mistake. That night I redid it and left it on for the right amount of time. Perfect tan and not too dark. But if your instructions say to leave it on for three hours, leave it on. If it says to take it off after five minutes, take it off!
Let it dry
Hang out for a bit before putting your clothes on. You will feel dry to the touch, but… I thought that it would fully dry, but the whole three hours I felt a bit sticky…
Enlist Some Help
I needed to have my back tanned and there was no way I was going to be able to reach all of it. Pretty sure it is true love when you can convince your husband to step away from the video game and rub you down with tanning mousse.
Be Prepared to Smell
Seriously was not expecting this one. You hear about the “self tan smell,” and I remembered it from the gradual tans I has used years ago. But damn! The weird smell didn’t go away for almost four days. Whenever my oldest would come and give me a hug, he made sure to let me know I smelled like crackers. So fun!
Needless to say, there are quite a few things I learned the first time I tried sunless tanner. There are a ton of tanning option on the market now, but I found this awesome kit from Ulta. The St Tropez Award Winning Kit comes with the original St Tropez Self Tan Express Bronzing Mousse, an application mitt, and an in shower gradual tan lotion. It is a total bargain! The in shower lotion has really helped to keep my tan from fading off all patchy. A week in, and still feeling like a bronze goddess! Or some version of that!
Have you ever used a sunless tanner?
