A couple of years ago, I did tons of research on the best self-tanners on the market. I tried everything out there and nothing was even close to what I wanted. You know the standard wish list, a self tanner that doesn’t streak, doesn’t turn orange or yellowish, lasts longer than 5 minutes and doesn’t rub off on clothes. I even special ordered some self tanner from Canada that was “suppose” to be the best (sigh), talk about a waste of money. Really, all I wanted was a good self tanner that didn’t make me look like, well… an Oompa Loompa…
Just when I was about to give up, I stumbled on a skin care message board (can’t remember the website) and I saw a posting from someone who swore that she had discovered the best self tanner recipe that turned into a gorgeous natural color, lasts 5 days and gives amazing streak free coverage. Yea, right, heard that before! But, what really caught my attention were all the responses (at least 50) to her posting of happy ladies who had tried her recipe and came back to the message board to basically proclaim her the self tanning goddess of the mythical sun world. Hmmm… This is interesting.. Maybe I should try it? What the heck huh? Well I did, and boy was she right! I ran back to the board as fast as I could to pay my homage to this brilliant sun goddess as well. Finally, my search was over! Goodbye orange!
The crazy thing is that this recipe is super simple as you just mix two existing self tanning products together. Used separately, these two products are just ok, but something magical happens when you mix them together in equal parts. I have now used this recipe faithfully for a couple of years and it works beautifully every time, gives me a fabulous deep dark natural real tan color, never streaks and lasts for at least 5 days. I have shared this recipe with several friends of varying skin tones and all of them agree, it’s amazing and perfect! So what is this recipe? Here you go:
*****UPDATE 5/8/13!! This is an old post and there has been a recent formula change with the L’oreal Sublime Bronze and it now has a shimmer/glitter in it and it has a strong odor! While it’s not as amazing as the original mix, it does give a pretty color tan that is more natural. However, it is a little greasier and takes longer to dry.
I mix equal parts of both products right in my hand before I apply. I mix enough for my legs and wash my hands. I then mix enough for my arms and then wash my hands, and I keep mixing and washing as I go along.
Keep in mind that both of these companies offer several variations of self tanning products on the market. When I haven’t been able to find the exact product above at the store, I have “substituted” with another one of their products and I have not had the same great results that I do with the exact products above. However, Banana Boat makes two colors in the Sunless Tanning line which include a light/medium color and Deep Dark Tan and both work perfectly but I only use Deep Dark Tan in the thick of summer because it is really dark. I have an olive complexion and the Deep Dark Tan is really dark and only use it when I am already tan in the summer to even out my tan. I highly recommend using the light to medium first because it’s pretty dark itself. Also, I do not use these products on my sensitive face.
You will not see the best results until about 12 hours later and unfortunately, the first day you will get that self tanner smell. I always put the self tanner on a day before I really need it.
A few other things that I do is that like all self tanners, I exfoliate first. If I don’t, I get patches of darker color and the tan will not last long. Also, even though these products are streak free, I blend and rub in as much as possible. It’s hard to see if you have these products blended but I just keep blending. I also moisturize faithfully everyday that I have my self tanner on to make it last longer.
Ok, so there you have it! Happy sunless tanning my friends!
I know that I have veered the last few postings from decor projects and I have a fun one coming up shortly. As always, thank you so much for your sweet comments, emails and notes! I really appreciate your feedback.
Have a fantastic week!
Cheers!
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