Help With Maintaining A Faux Tan?

Mar 24, 2013

Adriana S.

I know the tips like exfoliate before and moisturizer daily, but what about those who apply every few days to keep it dark/build color? How do you keep it even because for me by that time it's halfway spotty so I can't get an even color, but I also can't shed all my dead/ tanned skin to get a fully clean slate! Hope that made sense.

Mar 24, 2013

Amanda Nicole G.

Try using a gradual tanner and only deeply exfoliate once a week like For me I exfoliate Sunday and then give my self a spray tan and then I will reapply gradual tanner in the lotion form ( I personally only like jergens, and copper tone gradual tan is my fav & go to plus the smell is very tolerable) and I also use a mild self exfoliating body wash from dove daily but I just don't scrub too too hard and always keep your skin moisturized. Plus sometimes during the week I will brighten my self tan with an enhancer like the hard candy bronzing lotion (this is not a self tanner so it will just wash off that day- it's just to leave a good sun kissed glow on your skin) and I apply it and set it (so it won't transfer onto my clothes or anything) with my model in a bottle make up setting spray (13$ on amazon) or you can use cheaper options like e.l.fs make up setting spray ($3 @target this just has an odd smell in the bottle- well it's terrible actually but won't smell like that on you) or you can simply use an aerosol hairspray and use it very lightly!! That's what works for me though and my self tanner spray tan stays on a really long time (all week) so if you want to know what I use or how I apply it I can tell you what I do & what products work good- if you want help with that too! Xoxo.

Mar 24, 2013

Adriana S.

Thank you so much! These are really great tips. I still haven't found a dark tanner that I love

Mar 25, 2013

Amanda Nicole G.

I haven't really either because the darker the tanner the stinker they are. However I will give you a huge tip that works soooo well for me. I went to Sally's about six months ago looking for an easy spray tanner and I bought the (as seen on tv) salon bronze one based on the raves of it by the sales lady who was really nicely and evenly tanned.. It was only around 10$ so it wasn't a huge loss however by itself- I hate it -it comes with the tube and sprayer and its just a mess when you try to spray it on yourself (at least this has been my personal experience) it dripped on me when I did my legs and was really messy and I could only do it in the shower not to mention the spray was really thick and streaky when it came out- so I looked up some options of how I could still use this, and I found something soo amazing, I found this video on YouTube and how to apply a spray tanner with a foam brush (just a regular 3inch foam brush from any craft store- I got mine for 39 cents and I bought three different sizes the 3,2,&1 inch brushes) and I will link you the video below so you can watch how she applies it- easier to do that then try to explain it to you! And let me tell you- this works soooo freaking well! With the spray tanner salon bronze I use (not the million dollar tan like she uses in her video) - but mine does not smell the next day whatsoever which is the best part for me! The only problem is that this is time consuming but it lasts the whole week, also mine has great color and doesn't get splotchy when it washes off until around the 5 or 6th day- and that's why I use the gradual self tanner in between Sundays so I avoid this- I also deeply exfoliate before I use my spray tanner (to exfoliate I use a Dead Sea scrub from Israel which was around 70$ but just make sure you get something with bigger pieces of salt because you will get more of an exfoliation than the finer& smaller exfoliates. But also I will suggest that after you exfoliate and you get out of the shower just to take a light moisturizer and apply it on your driest areas to prevent splotchy-ness and to keep your color the longest you can and make sure it's fully dry before you start. It takes me about a half hour to do my whole body this way with the foam brush, but it's a lot safer of an application and what I use does not streak at all what so ever which is great bc it has a color guide in it (a color guide is so you can see where your applying your tanner- basically it's a tint so you can tell if its streaking or not) also make sure that you do get different sizes of foam brushes and even some backups in case anything happens but the smaller brushes will be better for getting it evenly on your hands, feet neck and face if you apply it to your face but the 3inch one will be the fastest one for your body. This works better than any mitt/glove or really any other way I've ever tried because you're in total control and it applies so evenly because its made for painting and holding product. Also it's really easy to just rinse the brushes out and press them against your sink to clear the product out of them and not get your hands or body wet because you know with self tanners you can't get wet for up to 8 hours after. You can honestly try this application process with other things than just spray tanner- I'm sure you can use this with lotions/gels/creme self tanners. Also another tip I can give you for doing it this way is just to spray your tanner right into the foam sponge brush and put a small towel you don't mind getting staind even tho it does always wash out- I still keep a small dark hand towel handy to wipe down the spray bottle from dripping and to put it behind the brush when I spray it onto it, and to keep it handy in case I need to wipe anything off my skin- like I wipe it off my nails and creases of skin like inside my elbows and blot my knees and elbows where the product can tend to gather! And one last thing you can use a regular white lotion or an aerosol deodorant as a color blocker to apply on hands or in between fingers, on knuckles, bottoms of feet- to keep color from going there- but it's not really nessecary if you're using the foam brush application instead of spray tanning it- but you can just to be safe- and the lotion has to be wet to keep it from getting on your skin... But anyways here's the link to the video- I hope that maybe this will help you!
http://youtu.be/e8lwzn-__Xc

Oh, anddd if you use the loreal sublime self tan gel (and you HATE the smell) - you can mix it with a little bit of good smelling lotion- like one from bath&body works, and it will take away from the color strength but will seriously help with the smell of self tanners- if that's your choice of application or product you like!
& if you don't want to wash your hands- I've found using baby wipes will do the trick to clean up the mess from your palms and inbetween your fingers or toes! :)

Mar 25, 2013

Adriana S.

Wow thank you so much for all those tips! I will pick up some of those rollers for sure, thank you so much for the tips on how to not get blotchy too! I really appreciate your response!!

Mar 26, 2013

Melissa M.

I like the foam brush idea, ill definitely try that this summer