A Just A Little Bit Orange Feature. By Clara Pettitt. Copyright © 02/08/2000. All Rights Reserved.

Should You Try a Drugstore Brand Sunless Tanning Lotion?

Because sunless tanners are scary, it's tempting to throw money at your fears. The rationalization is that you can avoid disaster by paying a premium price. Based on visitor feedback to sunless.com, the top selling brands to the frightened are Estee Lauder and Clinique.

Estee Lauder won its position by saturating the media with sunless tanning advertisements for more than a decade; the latest ads featuring Elizabeth Hurley, a classic skin type II, haven't hurt any. Clinique, which has built its brand image around harmlessness, is inevitably appealing to the ultra squeamish.

But before you go plunk down $18 for 1.7 ounces of sunless tanning lotion, perhaps you should consider a few facts.

All sunless tanners contain the same active ingredient, dihydroxyacetone or DHA, which turns the outermost "dead " layer of skin a brown color [see sunless.com frequently asked questions for more information on DHA]. This means that brands which cost more can't do more. And this means that your reluctance to purchase drugstore sunless tanners is irrational, if understandable.

Although all sunless tanners may be created equal, there are problems with drugstore brands you need to be aware of:

1. Few smell acceptable due to powerful synthetic fragrances that can cause pain and suffering to the unwary. Don't automatically assume that the generic brands will be the worst offenders. They rarely are.

2. It's not unusual for the "deep dark" sunless tanner from your local drugstore to be really "light medium." Sunless tanners from the drugstore contain a lower percentage of DHA, so you can end up using more to achieve the color you want, which means you can end up spending more, too. In this area, the generic brands do tend to be the worst offenders.

3. Drugstore brands may be packaged in tiny containers that disguise how little you are getting for your money. There are numerous department store and special order brands that cost less per ounce than drugstore brands. See the sunless tanning database to avoid being taken for a ride.

4. The consistency of drugstore products can leave something to be desired. A product with a poor consistency is hard to spread evenly, and that means your fake tan could develop unevenly. As a result, drugstore brand sprays, foams, and mousses are the best option.

In spite of these potential pitfalls, there are many drugstore brands which are as good as or better than department store brands. Take a look at the Ten Best Drugstore Products, where you will find drugstore brands comparable to, and sometimes better than, Estee Lauder and Clinique [the two companies do make some of the best sunless tanning products on the market].

Looking for an online store that sells your favorite sunless tanning product? Head to shop by brand name.