A Just A Little Bit Orange Feature. By Vicki Mayhew. Copyright © 03/15/2003. All Rights Reserved.
The Dark Sunless Tan: Getting It And Keeping It
Introduction
Summer is approaching, and your heart's desire is a deep, dark sunless tan to rival your tanning bed buddies. One that is not yellow, orange, or splotchy. One that lasts a week, without applying a sunless tanning product every day. One that looks good in all light.
The lovely tans of the Victoria's Secret models are a goal of many. And they do look gorgeous. But please keep in mind: each celebrity appearance takes a crew of experts to produce that perfect tan, involving three hours or more of prep time.
So is this elusive pipe dream possible? Must you resign yourself to looking washed out?
Achieving a dark sunless tan, or even a medium sunless tan, takes time and lots of practice. It requires proper application, and getting familiar with what works best with your skin — not a special product.
Learn To Get A Good Light Tan First
If your light sunless tan does not look good, the problems will be even more visible with a medium or dark tan.
You should be able to achieve a good-looking light sunless tan consistently before you try to master a dark sunless tan.
You need to know which products work best for you (mousse, lotion, or spray, etc.).
- Learn how often to exfoliate to get the best sunless tanning results. (Varies greatly from person to person; once a week to once a month).
- Know which moisturizers work best for you (lotions, creams, body butters).
- Become aware of how your skin looks when it is time to reapply a maintenance coat of sunless tanning product (before it looks lizard-like).
- Get familiar with bronzers. A dark tan will show fading and mistakes more then a light tan; bronzers provide a quick fix.
Which product?
Until you get application and maintenance down, even the best special order product won't work well on you.
Typically, for a dark tan, you will need to apply at least two to three coats of a dark product. However, many people find several coats of a medium or even a light ST looks more natural.
What is an ST? An abbreviation used for Sunless Tanning Product or Sunless Tanner.
If you have oily skin, are DHA resistant, exercise daily, or shower frequently, you may find you need as many as 4+ coats of a dark sunless tanning product.
What's DHA resistant? A term used to describe someone who does not get as dark from sunless tanning products as everyone else does, even though they use as much or more product. For some reason, the active ingredient in sunless tanners, DHA, does not color their skin as well.
The ideal product should give you the color you want in two or three coats. If you need more then that, consider a darker product. If you are a skin type III or IV, you may find you need three or more coats regardless, especially when using drugstore products.
