A Just A Little Bit Orange Feature. By Clara Pettitt. Copyright © 05/29/2001. All Rights Reserved.

Mike Gives Himself A Sunless Tan

My brother Mike has had some great sunless tans, but he has never applied it himself — I always did it for him. This summer, when he visited from Arizona, it seemed time to let him do the work.

The plan: he would apply a sunless tanner, and I would take lots of pictures.

There were a couple of complications. First, almost a year ago, Mike and his bicycle had an encounter with a moving car that left him with scars on his arms. On the advice of his doctor, he wore long sleeve shirts continuously to protect his healing flesh from the sun.

When he took off his shirt, he assessed the situation: "I am whiter than white."

Second, Mike's a skin type I and has to exercise caution using sunless tanners. A product that was too dark would look unnatural on him [I call him the secret redhead because his hair is light brown but his beard is red].

So I didn't just cast him out into the sunless tanning wilderness.

First I set the stage with all the paraphernalia a sunless tanning addict can muster: Au Courant Sunless Tanning Mousse, Yves Rocher Monoi de Tahiti Express Bronze for hands and feet, sponge applicators, baby wipes, lotion, cotton swabs, gloves, nail brush, and a clock.

I choose Au Courant Sunless Tanning Mousse for Mike for many reasons: I knew it would be easy for him to apply over leg hair and would be forgiving of any goof ups.

The bronzer in the product would make it easy for him to see where he had applied it.

It was gentle enough for his eczema prone skin.

The mousse would be easy for him to apply over the scars with no pulling or tugging of the skin.

Last but not least, the bronzer in the product would look good on camera.

Let the sunless tanning begin!

I started him off by applying the Au Courant Mousse to his lower leg so he could see how it was done."Start one inch above your anklebone," I said, my first of many encouraging words.

The plan was for him to start there and work his way up. Later, he would go back with the Yves Rocher product to do his hands and feet.

Right away, it was interesting to note his technique, or, rather, his lack of it.

He didn't glide the sponge applicator over his skin, but jabbed himself with it.

He also had a tendency to go over the same area, to put way too much on the sponge, and to let the sponge go dry. But, after constant and gentle nagging, he got the hang of it.

Mike's friend Yolanda monitored his progress. She tried to say nothing about his appearance: stripped to his shorts, wearing gloves, his hair neatly tucked under a plastic cap.

But she didn't make it. "You look like a baby all ready for his bath."

I laughed, but kept a grip on my camera. We need total coverage!

Fortunately, Mike ignored our silliness. Before long, he had one leg completely done.

As he watched his skin tone transform from milky to bronze, he announced, "This stuff is the bomb."