Guest Post #5 || Achieve Your Best Tan

Are you heading straight to the office for another day’s work, instead of heading to Rio for a two week holiday? Are you confined to the poorly air conditioned workplace instead of enjoying the heat of the summer? (Yes, summer in the UK - about time!). Fear not - you can still achieve a gorgeous, natural looking tan without having to give up your job for the sun. A streaky, artificial looking orange tan is now a thing of the past. You no longer have to risk streaking or being tango-ed with these simple yet important steps in creating a bronze goddess look at home.

Preparation

The key to a successful outcome when self-tanning is preparing your skin. If you’re due for a hair removal session, always schedule this at least 24 hours before applying self tan. There is nothing worse than a streaky tan! Secondly - you’ve heard this before - you must exfoliate! This step can easily be over looked, but I guarantee that your skin will be smoother and the result will be more natural, as exfoliation removes dead skin cells. Next, once out of the shower ensure you dry the skin well. Avoid applying moisturiser apart from the elbows and knees, as these areas normally absorb too much product, and become darker than other areas. Also, apply nail polish on you nails and toenails so they will not stain your actual nails.

Application

This step is one of the most important steps of all in the realm of sunless tanning. Whether you are using St Tropez, Fake Bake or L’Oreal Sublime, your results depends upon the application process. An essential tool you will need is of course the Tanning Glove, and you can purchase these at Superdrug for only £1.31 (link http://www.superdrug.com/superdrug/solait-pink-gloves/invt/371350&bklist=). Follow these steps to ensure perfect application:

1. Begin from the top and work your way down. For example you can follow this order to make sure you don’t miss out any parts: face and neck, then arms, upper body, middle and back, legs, and conclude with your hands and feet.

2. Apply the lotion or mousse in circular motions, carefully blending in the product. #

3. Work any excess product from your legs to the feet and ankle to create a more natural look. Do the same with the arms, and buff your wrists to avoid an obvious tan line.

4. In the morning wash off any excess product and moisturise!

Preservation

So you’ve put all this effort into preparing your skin and applying the self tan, only to  discover that a couple of days later it’s all gone. Back to square one! Not necessarily - the key to a long lasting tan is skin care. Once you have applied your tan, use moisturiser to preserve it. You can use a range of different moisturisers or even use gradual tan moisturisers to build the depth of colour and maintain the tan. Remember that you want your tan to fade gradually without blotching, so a great wait to do this is to exfoliate. This will also prepare your for your next tanning session.

A note from Liv: Thanks for sharing your tips Gia! I am currently on holiday and I will reply to tweets/emails/comments when I am back or when I have wifi/internet connection but I will let my fabulous guest posters reply to the comments on their posts.

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