Sunless Tanning For Hands And Feet
A Just A Little Bit Orange Feature. By Clara Pettitt. Copyright © 05/19/2001. All Rights Reserved.
Many sunless tanning graduates still struggle with hands and feet, me included.
Why are the hands and feet so difficult? There are many, many reasons:
The thicker skin absorbs too much sunless tanner. These areas have more sweat glands than most areas of the body. You have to blend the sunless tanner in without getting it on the palms of your hands and the soles of your feet. Your nails and cuticles can be stained by sunless tanners. Shoes and hand washing rub the color off.
It's no surprise that many people give up on their hands and feet and put bronzer on them instead. This is difficult to maintain on hands, as the bronzer will come off the next time you wash your hands. There's a surprising number of people out there with a tube of Bonne Bell Gel Bronze in their purse for that little problem.
Below you will find my five favorite techniques for hands and feet. All of these methods work best if you protect your hands with gloves while you apply sunless tanners to your body, saving your hands for last. Hopefully, one of these methods will work for you!
Four Ways To Perfect Hands
The Simple Method
What you will need: light/medium sunless tanning lotion, damp washcloth, hand lotion, cotton swabs, liquid eye makeup remover.
Get a washcloth damp and set it aside. Take off your gloves. If needed, rinse your hands off in the sink [those darn powdered gloves, you know]. Put a dab of the light/medium sunless tanning lotion in one hand, close the product back up, then rub the sunless tanning lotion all over both hands and wrists exactly as if you were putting on hand lotion. Immediately wipe your palms on the damp washcloth. Using a cotton swab dipped into liquid eye makeup remover, clean your nails and cuticles. If you don't have any liquid eye makeup remover, skin toner or nail polish remover works well. After ten minutes, rub your hands and wrists well with hand lotion, and use the damp washcloth to wipe off your palms and fingernails again.
My favorite product to use with this method is Neutrogena Build-A-Tan.
Paint Them!
This method is my personal favorite.
What you will need: medium sized cosmetic brush [a large eye shadow brush works well], saucer or small bowl, light/medium sunless tanning spray or mousse, damp washcloth, hand lotion.
Squirt a light sunless tanning spray or mousse into a small bowl or saucer. Close the product up. Get a washcloth damp and set it aside. Take off your gloves. Rinse your hands if needed. Let the mousse melt into a liquid, which will take just a few moments. Do not moisturize your hands beforehand [doing so may cause the sunless tanner to bleed into the lines on the palms of your hands]. Using a medium sized cosmetic brush, paint the liquid onto the backs of your hands and fingers. Go between fingers but don't get any on the palms of your hands. Now wipe the palms of your hands on the damp washcloth. After ten minutes, rub your hands and wrists well with hand lotion, and use the damp washcloth to wipe off your palms and fingernails again.
My favorite product to use with this method is Banana Boat Instant Bronzer & Sunless Tanning Foam, Light to Medium.
Spraying From On High
What you will need: light/medium sunless tanning spray, damp washcloth, cotton swabs, liquid eye makeup remover, hand lotion.
Get a washcloth damp and set it aside. Shake up your bottle of sunless tanning spray and give it a couple of practice squirts to make sure it's functioning properly. Take off your gloves. Rinse your hands if needed. Holding your hands away from your body, palms down, spritz a light sunless tanning spray about two feet in the air above your hands. If you can get someone else to do the spraying, your results will be even better. Close the product back up. Now wipe the palms of your hands on the damp washcloth. Using a cotton swab dipped into liquid eye makeup remover, clean your nails and cuticles. After ten minutes, rub your hands and wrists well with hand lotion, and use the damp washcloth to wipe off your palms and fingernails again.
My favorite product to use with this method is Neutrogena Sunless Tanning Spray Micro Mist Medium, but almost any light or medium sunless tanning spray will work.
Cosmetic Sponge
What you will need: cosmetic sponge [triangle shape preferred], any light/medium sunless tanning gel or cream, damp washcloth, saucer, hand lotion.
Get a washcloth damp and set it aside. Put a small dab of sunless tanning cream or gel on the saucer. Close the product back up. Take off your gloves. Rinse your hands if needed. Holding one corner of the triangular sponge, rub it in the sunless tanning lotion or gel. Using the sponge, spread the sunless tanner on the backs of your hands, backs of fingers, and your wrists. Since you are holding the sponge by one corner, you shouldn't get any of the sunless tanner on the palms of your hands. Now wipe the palms of your hands on the damp washcloth. After ten minutes, rub your hands and wrists well with hand lotion, and use the damp washcloth to wipe off your palms and fingernails again.
The Fire Method
No flame involved!
First, use yellow dishwashing gloves to apply sunless tanners to your body.
Second, take off the dishwashing gloves and put a "finger-applicator" on right index finger. Make your finger applicator by cutting a finger off an old pair of yellow dishwashing gloves. Then put about a teaspoon of sunless tanning lotion on the top of your left hand and spread it with the right "gloved" finger, making sure to blend in well between fingers and up wrist.
Third, transfer "glove" to left index finger and repeat the process for the right hand.
Fourth, take Creamy Vaseline or another hand lotion and rub it into each knuckle, and any place else that grabs color. Some people rub Creamy Vaseline into their entire hand.
Last, clean fingernails with a baby wipe.
Next morning — voila! Beautiful hands!
From Fire, Sunless.com message board visitor
What About Those Feet?
All of the methods described above work just as well on the feet. I prefer the painting method for my feet because it is the method least likely to get sunless tanner on my toenails.
Precautions
After applying sunless tanner to the backs of your hands, avoid washing your hands for one hour.
Do not put on shoes for one hour after applying sunless tanner to your feet.
If your feet sweat a lot, apply sunless tanners to your feet at night before going to bed so your "tan" can dry for several hours before your shoes have a chance to rub it off.
If the tan on your hands or feet starts to fade faster than the rest of your tan, do a special application to the hands or feet only. Afterwards, rub in hand lotion around your ankle or wrist to blend your "tan."
Heavy sweating will remove a sunless tan. Some people have less of a problem with the tan coming off their feet if they apply baby powder to their feet before putting on shoes.
Happy Sunless Tanning!
Shopping List
- Banana Boat Instant Bronzer & Sunless Tanning Foam, Light to Medium
- Neutrogena Build-A-Tan
- Neutrogena Sunless Tanning Spray Micro Mist Medium
- Kiss My Face Olive & Aloe Moisturizer for Extra Sensitive Skin, Fragrance Free
- Huggies Natural Care Baby Wipes, Unscented
- Ansell Medi-Touch Powder Free Latex Disposable Gloves, Small
