I am white, really white. I am almost clear. I have freckles and now I have age spots from the sun. I am going to be THAT old lady. I am trying to be okay with it. My compromise has been self tanners. I'll never lay out and get a bikini line or show up on Monday with a glowing tan from a great weekend on the lake or at the pool.
I've tried my share of self-tanners and thought I'd share my favorites with you. I'm not afraid to try any of them- I like to spray them on at night before bed. I tuck my jammie pants up mid-thigh and roll my t-shirt sleeves up. A few minutes of prepping for bed and the next day and I'm dry enough to go to bed. It seems to work well.
If you have the money to spend, St. Tropez products are wonderful. They cost $30 - $40 per bottle. They leave you with a real tan color- nothing orange. The spray foam is a favorites of mine. It does have an odor, but only until you shower the next morning. I used the Neutrogena micro-mist all of last summer. I selected it over St. Tropez because it was a spray. Nice to not have to scrub your hands after applying tanner and worry about an odd colored palm or pinky the next day. It works well and you are confident of your coverage area with the wide sprayer. It costs less than $10 at the grocery store.
My micro-mist was out so I tried the tan towels 2 weekends ago. I love that there is just 1 towel in a packet and it covers your whole body. At $4.99 per towel, you expect it to work. I just didn't get much color at all from it. Boo. This weekend, I purchased the Banana Boat spray tan at Target. It was next to my Neutrogena micro-mist on the shelf and about $3 less. It actually smells wonderful- a citrus scent. The only bad smell came the next morning in the shower. But, overall, this gave me a subtle amount of color and smelled good. It is the cheapest on the list by far! I think two applications two days in a row will yield the amount of color I want.
Over Memorial Day weekend, I tried air brushing. I went to a salon, stripped down, and had her spray me like you would detail a car. It wasn't as awkward as I expected, being naked and 10 inches from a stranger! The color was good and strong, the odor was minimal; however, my freckles and age spots were magnified with airbrush tanning. My assumption is the pigmentation that creates an age spot is the same pigmentation that really sucks up the tanning juice. I found spots I never knew I had. I might do it again for our trip to the beach only to get a good color foundation, but it won't be an often occurrence for me.
So, tell me, any other self tanners I should be using? Any you'd recommend?
