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DIY Summer Beauty Guide -- Second Edition: Sunless tanning |
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| June 13, 2007
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DIY SELF TANNING  I know that as soon as the local pool opens, I am going to have to expose my pasty, pale skin for half the town to see. But I have come to terms with the fact that I am just a little more like Morticia Addams than Malibu Beach Barbie. Alright, I should be more positive and say that my complexion is gloriously fair, but I know that most of the time my skin has the tendency to look washed-out. I see plenty of people able to achieve golden tans, and I am truly envious of them. But considering that we now know that there is no such thing as a “healthy tan”, there are definitely downsides to it. Year after year, your tanned skin is accumulating damage that will eventually show up in the form of wrinkles and age spots. So consequently, I slather on the sunscreen any chance I get. I still want to be tan too though, darn it! At the beginning of summer I get the itch to invest in sunless tanning products. Thank goodness the application and formulas have vastly improved over the years, and I no longer have to smell like old gym sweat socks. Ah, the good old days of 7th grade gym class, showing off my orange legs. Why did I even care about what my flawless, pale legs looked like back then!? When applying sunless tanner you want to make sure you find a color that isn’t too big of a stretch for your skin. If you are pale, then you want to start with a light or medium formula. Many are specifically marked for fair skin. If you naturally have a little color already, then choose a formula marked "deep" or "extra deep". Next, you have to prep your skin to get it ready to accept the self-tanning process. Exfoliate, exfoliate, and then exfoliate some more. Do this completely all over in the shower with a basic body scrub. Especially concentrate on knees, elbows, and ankles. These are the spots where self-tanner tends to build up. The goal is to get rid of excess dead skin that is hanging around so that your self-tanner will go on smoothly. Once you are evenly coated, make sure you give it at least 10 minutes to dry so that your clothes don’t end up lightly bronzed as well. The bad thing about sunless tanner is that it doesn’t last very long; usually in the ballpark of three to four days, and then you will need to repeat the process all over again. Like I said, I am usually very gung-ho at the beginning of summer, but after a few weeks, I am ready to embrace my paleness and forget about self-tanner. But I always like to try it anyway! So here are a few brands I recommend, and that I have used before: 
I know it might sound like a marketing ploy to get you to buy two products, one designed for the face and another for the body, but in this case it’s not. Body products are made with more moisture and oil, while face products are usually oil-free or should be oil-free. You don’t want a body product to clog the pores on your face. Buy one that is specifically made for the face. Or, if you don’t want to buy two products, you can always use a regular bronzer on your face. Just watch out at the pool. Powdered bronzers aren’t going to hold up against getting splashed by a bunch of five-year-olds, whereas self-tanners are water-proof once they're activated. So remember, in order to achieve the perfect healthy tan, "exfoliate, hydrate, and grab your mate!" You will avoid looking uneven and have a great faux tan! |
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Home -> Columnists -> Mother Magnetism |
Kelly Reising is the Beauty Editor of Mode, a lifestyle magazine geared towards women in the direct sales industry. Her monthly column for HotMomsClub.com is called “The Beauty Bite” and you can seek out even more of her advice at Lifetips.com where she is an Expert Guru Author in Makeup. Her first book, Lifetips 101 Makeup Tips will be available on Amazon.com and at Barnes&Noble.com This former makeup artist and mother of two girls knows that while her day may not be perfect, at least her lip gloss will be.
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