Now with summer fading along with my natural tan, I will start to find myself reaching once again for my favourite faker.
So here is a few tips that I have picked up over the years which enable me to glow like a golden goddess all year round!
- Make sure that you wax roughly 48 hours before tanning (and depending on your skin shave 24 hours before) to avoid your tan seeping into your pores leaving an uneven dotty colour.
- Giving your skin a good old scrub in the shower before applying fake tan is one step that you should never skip! You want to make sure that all your dead skin has gone and has left behind a lovely smooth base for applying your tan, otherwise you will find that the colour will fade away a lot quicker and a lot patchier. If your skin is generally quite dry (like mine) I find that using your scrub on dry skin, then, rinsing it off in the shower is very effective! This is the time that I absolutely love using my Kedem Kiwi&Mango Salt Scrub. (which you can read about at the bottom of My Favourite Moisturisers post)
- Don’t over moisturise! This is something that I recently wasn’t very aware of! We all want to moisturise before we tan to try to get as smooth a base as possible, but this will in fact stop the tan from completely developing, leaving you a little underwhelmed in the morning when it seems to all wash off in the shower! Instead opt for a oil free moisturiser like the one from FakeBake, and only apply it to the dryer areas of your body such as elbows, knees and ankles! “The moisturiser will act as a diluting agent for areas that grab the tan more” – as said by Leighton Denny, co-founder of the Sun-Believable range.
- Don’t rush! Try to leave at least an hour between jumping out the shower and applying your tan. After having a hot steamy shower your body will still be ‘sweating’ out excess moisture which can interfere with the tan developing.
- Avoid using your hands at all costs! For me a mitt is perfect, as long as you chuck it into the washing machine before using it again. Some tans when left in open air turn a horrible green colour, so if you decide to use your mitt after it has turned green you will find that the colour will transfer onto your body and will leave it a less than pleasant colour.
- Work your way up. Start at your feet, otherwise if you bend over to get to your feet at the end you could end up leaving fold lines across your stomach and patches on your thighs!
- Feeling a little sticky? Take an old clean tanning mitt and put some talc on it, then pat around your underarms and anywhere that your skin touches ( behind knees, inside legs and elbows) as not only will it stop the sticky feeling but will also stop any moisture that might prevent the tan from developing.
- Avoid hot showers! Try and get used to a luke warm shower also don’t rub or wipe yourself dry, try patting your skin dry instead, again this will help keep your colour for longer!
- Try to moisturise your body twice a day (morning and night) this will help lock in your lovely olive glow!
- Night Out? If you are going out and really want to show off your tan, try a spray oil on your legs (baby oil works great too!) or even a little shimmery bronzer down your shins and along your collar bones! Don’t get carried away though, you don’t want to be mistaken for the Christmas tree in the holidays!
Happy Tanning!
LuLu
x
LuLuLivia 