I'm confused about how to fake tan!

B44

Hi

I've never faked tan before and would like to do so for an event coming up. I'll do it myself, as in out of a bottle.

As I havnt done it before I'm a bit confused (I know it sounds silly) - do I fake tan all over my body? Can you fake tan your face? Would it not look a bit odd if I tanned everywhere apart from my face? I'm very pale naturally so I am wondering if I would look a bit odd?

Thankyou

j.e.j.

I'd say try a test patch first to check that you like the shade.

Regarding whether to fake tan all over, I guess it depends how far from your natural colour you're going to go. If you make it subtle then you don't need to put it on all over if you don't want to, just a bit on your face and arms, maybe. Depends also on what you're wearing.

I use one in the summer, and I find the colour deepens for about an hour after you apply it. It can stain clothing, so make sure it's dry before dressing.

hth

glowgirl_2

I use fake tan all year round, I don't tan my face but I do use a bronzer to even things out but its still paler than my body, in general fake tan and faces don't really mix unless you have really good skin. With your type of colouring and as you are new to this I would try a gradual tanner and slowly build it up, I haven't used one of these for a long time but I used to like Boots Soltan, I have heard good things about a new Fake Bake range aimed at pale people who want a light glow, I think they sell it in New Look and lots of people like Dove but it didn't show up on me at all, I'm super pale naturally. I use professional products that I buy online, they take a while to get used to though. Another tip would be for you to use latex gloves and an application mitt, they both help avoid mistakes and make things easier good luck:)

Waffle_On

If you've never fake tanned before, and it's a special event.... personally I don't think it's the best time to be experimenting.

I'd recommend getting it done professionally the first time, so you can see what sort of shade suits you, what preparation is required, and how to deal with your face. If you don't want a stranger rubbing the tan in, get a spray tan - although they don't last as long you should be able to find one for £15-20.

Save learning DIY tanning for a time when you can hide it if it goes wrong!

TimBear

If you do decide to do it yourself, I'd recommend getting a tanning mitt from Boots or somewhere. They're only a couple of pounds but protect your palms from getting tanned and make it easier (for me, at least!) to apply it evenly and rub it in properly.

I second the gradual tan recommendation though. The best I've ever used is by Sanctuary, and is called Sunshine Spa. You can buy it on cheapsmells.com (.co.uk?) for about £3 or £4 a bottle and it's amazing! Smells lovely too.

ali-t

If you are determined to do it yourself I would recommend something like johnsons gradual tanner as you won't make mistakes with it and it can be built up over a couple of days. The other option would be to get a spray tan that you could get for around £15 and it should be flawless. It would let you see how good a fake tan can look rather than having a patchy tan with streaks on your back, orange wrists and ankles etc. Perfecting fake tan takes practice.

**Juice**

I use either Xen Tan or Loreal Nutrisummer (which is a gradual tanner) - you can get fake tans for the face which are a bit "lighter" in consistency, but tbh I normally just apply a light layer of normal fake tan to my face, sometimes mixed with a bit of moisturiser so it isn't streaky. I'd also recommend putting a little bit of moisturiser on your elbows/knees about an hour before doing fake tan if they're a bit dry so they don't do patchy/orange.

If you've not done it before I'd say go and get one done somewhere, it will be more even and all those hard to reach bits will be done too. You can usually get a spray tan for anything from £10-£30.