Sunless Tan Tips and Tricks

You can have a glowing tan all year round. Stay out of the sun and give your skin a natural looking tan with a sunless tanning lotion. They’ve come a long way in the past few years. No more orange skin! This is the procedure I follow when applying sunless tanning lotions. I’ve been using them for years and have found that this way works the best.

First, shower and exfoliate with a buffing cream, sugar scrub, or loofah all over, concentrating on your drier areas like elbows, heels and knees. After your shower, apply moisturizer to those drier areas. Put on disposable gloves and apply sunless tanner full strength or use equal parts of sunless tanner with body lotion or a sunscreen lotion. Go back over drier areas with an old towel to absorb excess tanner. Try applying the sunless tanner to tops of feet with a cosmetic wedge. This will allow you to control the application better. Careful between the toes! The lotion tends to pool there. If you didn’t wear gloves, wash your palms thoroughly at this point. Wear old/loose clothing around the house for about 20 minutes before dressing.

If you don't have a sunless tanner made especially for faces, follow these steps if you want to use the tanner on your face as well. Start with clean dry face, no makeup or oil. Put petroleum jelly on eyebrows and along hairline. Use dime-sized amount of sunless tanner mixed with facial moisturizer and massage in a circular motion, avoiding eyelids, apply lightly around lips and chin. Spread up to hairline and behind ears. Wipe off the petroleum jelly and adjust your makeup accordingly.

To maintain your tan, reapply every 3-5 days. After showering, pat dry - don’t rub. Use a moisturizing lotion daily. If your skin starts to look scaly, slough off the dead skin cells by repeating the process from the beginning.

Other helpful hints:

Careful on the inner part of your elbows. Lotion will tend to pool into the crevices here and you’ll end up with darker areas.

If joints are too dark, use the scrub.

Streaks? Tone them down with a cotton ball soaked in astringent, nail polish remover, or a slice of lemon.

If you missed a spot, apply sunless tanner to the area, wait for it to dry, and apply another light layer over it and the surrounding area to blend.

If your palms are too dark because you didn’t wear gloves, use a sugar scrub or wash your hair. Shampoo will fade the color on your hands.

Not dark enough? Reapply the next day for a darker tan.

And there you have it! Treat yourself to a sun-kissed glow today!

Katrina Price has over nine years experience as a skin care and cosmetics consultant. Visit http://www.skincareteacher.com for even more helpful hints and information.