14 DAY TRIAL // Looking deliciously tanned all throughout the year is, admittedly, one of the toughest beauty tricks a woman can learn to master. Still, that is not to say that it can’t be done, as long as we don’t rush to get it over with, experts say – in fact, applying the lotion for a perfect fake tan is all about the patience and the amount of time we’re willing to invest in the procedure.
After we have acquired the self-tanner of our choice, the first thing we should do is not head straight home and dabble ourselves with it, regardless of how much spare time we have. First, experts point out, we must make sure we have plenty of time for the tanner to get the color we want (at least six hours), as well as to fix whatever may go wrong during the procedure, like reapply on the patches we might have missed the first time around.
Once this is out of the way, we must exfoliate properly. More attention must be paid to the areas with rougher skin, like elbows, knees and ankles because the smoother and silkier the skin, the better and more natural the results. After exfoliating, experts recommend we moisturize the skin, again, while focusing more on the already mentioned parts, including the knuckles and the toes.
It’s only after these two steps that we can move on to applying the self-tanner. A pair of latex gloves can come very in handy at this stage, to avoid stains on the fingers and under the nails. The tanning lotion should be applied evenly, using just one squirt at the time, in circular movements, on all areas, including behind the knee, the ankles and the fingers. If we are not wearing gloves, we should use a damp cloth to remove the excess of lotion on our hands as soon as we’re done with applying it all over our body.
To avoid streaks, we should also use the same cloth to remove any lotion excess on areas like the knee (and behind it) and the elbow. Another thing to remember is that, if there are parts of our body that we can’t reach, instead of struggling to do it ourselves and come out looking like we fell asleep for hours on the beach, we might consider asking a friend to help us out. This way, experts say, we’ll at least know that someone has our back – literally.
Once all of the above is taken care of, we should leave the lotion on for at least six hours to reach the shade of tanner we want, with more for paler skin. Experts also point out that the longer we wait before showering, the longer the fake tan will last. On a final note, if using fake tan is a first for us, we probably shouldn’t overdo it and just stick to the instructions on the package, unless we want to look like Lindsay Lohan on a bad tanning day.