Everybody loves a tan, it can make you more confident in your appearance as well as making particular items of clothing look a whole lot better. However, getting a natural tan is time consuming, dangerous and can be difficult if you have a hectic lifestyle. Rather than baking yourself in the sun's rays and risking sunburn, you can follow our lesson 8 for the perfect fake tan in no time!
Step 1 - Test
Self-tanning products are a cinch to use (even for us men) and, of course, are a lot safer than baking on a beach. Begin with a patch test on a hidden part of the body and wait a day, especially if you're nervous. This way, you can see how it looks before applying the product to everywhere else.
Step 2 - Exfoliate
The number one mistake men make when using self-tanners is slapping them on without exfoliating the skin first. Bad idea! That's because dead, dry skin cells on the surface of your body soak up a greater amount of the self-tan leading to uneven, patchy results.
It's easy to avoid this, though, by preparing skin with a body scrub like Uriage Exfoliating Scrub, when using make sure you focus on dry areas like the elbows, knees and heels. It's a bit like sanding down a door before applying a fresh coat of paint if you do it you get much better results.
Step 3 - Apply
To ensure even coverage on dry areas, apply a little moisturiser to wrists, elbows, knees and ankles before using tan. If you have fair hair, it's also worth applying a little moisturiser on the eyebrows and around the hairline to prevent staining. Then grab yourself a self tanner like St Tropez Gradual Tan Everyday Spray. Spray onto the skin evenly ensuring all bits are covered (you might have to rope in a willing accomplice for the tricky bits!) then blend in using long, smooth and gentle strokes. Don't rub or you'll end up with uneven results. Only apply very small amounts to the areas you moisturised.
Step 4 - Be Careful
After you've finished applying the self tanner wash hands immediately (you don't want tanned palms!) and avoid wearing clothes until the tanner is fully absorbed and dry to the touch.
Step 5 - Moisturise
To make the tan last apply a body moisturiser like Triumph & Disaster Body Moisturiser as you need it. This will help keep skin in tip top condition and will help counteract the drying effects of the DHA (the tanning ingredient in fake tans).
If you decide to top up your tan with some natural rays, make sure to check out our SPF guide! And don’t forget to check out Lesson 9: The Good Foot Guide.
