Top 5 Tanning Tips

Ah summer...hair gets lighter...skin gets darker... well not if your pale skinned like me. I am seriously pale, so ghostly white that it's blinding; don't get me wrong I do embrace the pale but sometimes it's nice to have a healthy glowing tan. But to get a healthy glowing tan I have to use fake tan because the sun does nothing but give me freckles and burn my pale skin, this means that I have a bit of experience when it comes to the do's and don'ts of fake tan so I thought I'd share some of my tips...

1. Exfoliating your skin will remove any dead skin cells or dry skin helping your tan to apply more evenly so it is less likely to go patchy. If you are a frequent fake tanner, exfoliating your skin will also help to remove your old fake tan once again helping to minimize patchiness. For the best results I would recommend lightly exfoliating (with an exfoliating mitt or body scrub) every day for a week prior to tanning.

2. Moisturizing is the most important part of your tanning routine. Moisturizing everyday for a week prior to tanning should prevent the fake tan sticking to any dry skin and moisturizing after tanning will help maintain the tan and help it fake without going patchy. Even if you do not think that your skin is dry it probably is especially in areas such as your knees, hands, ankles, elbows and spine, if you do not moisturize these areas they will go orange. 

3. Unless you have found the perfect high street tan for you I would recommend investing in a more expensive fake tan such as St Tropez, Xen Tan or Fake Bake. This is because they are often more forgiving if you apply them badly and have less orange pigment, giving a more natural look. There is always an offer on somewhere so if you do your research you are unlikely to have to pay full price anyway.

4. You don't need to have an expensive fake tan mitt to apply fake tan well. While they do come in handy if you don't own one simply put a couple of pairs of clean socks over your hand (a couple so that the tan doesn't seep through and turn your hands orange). Whatever you do, DO NOT APPLY FAKE TAN WITH YOUR HANDS! I do not care what anybody says, no matter how many time you wash your hands they will be stained orange, which is a common tell tale sign of a bad fake tan.

5. Check over every inch of your body to make sure you have applied the tan everywhere. To do this thoroughly stand in front of a full length mirror in good lighting and check that you haven't missed anywhere. If you have missed or can't reach an area, for example your back which is always a tricky place to reach on your own, rope in a friend or family member to help you out.

What are your opinions of fake tan?

Eleanor xx