Choose your shade when you want something that will compliment your natural skin tone. If you have blinding white skin, start with a product labelled light. You may be able to work your way up to a medium over time.
Once you've narrowed down a shade and brand, you need to decide if you want to spray it on or apply a cream. The creams are longer lasting. Sprays seem to be easier to apply evenly and make it easier to hit hard to reach places like the middle of your back. If you are new to sunless tanning products, don't use sprays.
Wearing the same thing every time will give you the best results. Choose what you want to wear for tanning lines, whether it's a swimsuit or undergarments.
Exfoliate is a critical step. If you skip it, you're almost guaranteed uneven results. If you don't exfoliate, you'll end up with some really dark areas and some areas where the color is peeling off. The overall effect is splotchy one. To avoid it, you want your skin to be as clean and smooth as possible before you start.
Do one whole leg at a time. Remember that knees and feet tend to be dry areas that can grab too much color.
Do not shave your legs for several hours before applying sunless tanners.
If you are not going to use disposable gloves, you should to wash your hands and scrub your nails about every minute while applying the tanning product so that they don't stain orange.
Five to ten minutes after applying a sunless tanner, rub areas such as elbows and knees with a little lotion to lighten the effect.
Work your way up. Do your torso, neck and face next.
If you are applying a sunless tanner to your face and neck that is not a "for the face" type, apply a lightweight lotion to your face and neck first, letting it soak in for ten minutes. This prevents the sunless tanner from gathering in areas with fine lines.
What about those "special" areas? The skin on your lips and nipples is nearly unaffected by sunless tanners. Go right over them when you apply sunless tanners. Trying to avoid those areas can lead to an unattractive build-up along their borders.
What about the bikini area? Forget about it. Sunless tanners don't absorb well there and can look like dirt. And exfoliation is out of the question!
Your freckles and moles will darken along with the rest of your skin. In fact, some colourless moles may become significantly darker. This is a sad fact of sunless tanning.
You can apply sunless tanners to your armpits. Most people don't have tanned armpits, but avoiding the area with realistic results takes skill. You can lightly wipe the area five minutes later with a damp washcloth to lighten.
Scars are a bit unpredictable. Mostly, they darken very little or not at all. The more recent the scar, the less sunless tanner it will absorb. Please note that stretch marks are scars. Stretch marks that are a few years old will be disguised by sunless tanners; new ones will not absorb the lotion and may look more prominent.
Your belly button could darken too much. Rub it with a cotton swab dipped in lotion after you apply the sunless tanning lotion. If you notice it is too dark the next day, rub it with a cotton swab dipped in liquid eye make up remover.
To alleviate the sunless tanner smell problem, apply a lightly scented or non-scented sunless tanner, then spray on [lightly, please!] your favorite perfume one hour later.
If the sunless tanning lotion has left you feeling sticky, apply baby powder or bath powder to your skin thirty minutes to an hour after applying the sunless tanner.
If your sunless tanner does not contain sun screen and you will need sun protection, don't kid yourself. There aren't any sunless tanners with adequate sun protection. Sun screens must be applied liberally and frequently; you can't do this with a sunless tanner. Apply sunless tanners in the evening before you go to bed and use sun screen during the day.
Once you've applied your tan, you need to allow it to completely dry. Some spray tans dry in just a few minutes, while lotions may take 30 minutes or more. You need to wait at least an hour before swimming, sweating, or wearing tight clothing. Any of the above can streak and ruin a new tan.
If you want to go darker, you can repeat the process the day after you tan. Most bottled tans begin to fade after a few days. You'll need to reapply once or twice a week to keep your color.
