For Applying A Self-Tanner What Are The 15 Expert Tips?

Self-tanners help get the right shade of tan for your skin. Here are the reasons behind it. Get the advice of experts in this case. 

For Applying A Self-Tanner What Are The 15 Expert Tips?

Why Do People Opt For A Self-Tanner?

Some people can’t resist the allure of a suntan despite the well-known dangers and repeated warnings about UV damage. Self-tanners are the answer for those who love the look of bronzed skin but want to avoid the health risks of sun exposure. 

To appear tan, sunless tanners are the only safe way. Here we find it comes as sun damage with any pigment coming from the sun as a tan or burn according to an assistant clinical professor of dermatology at Yale School of Medicine, Deanne Mraz Robinson, MD. She explains that it also breaks down collagen and elastin in the skin accelerating the signs of aging as unprotected sun exposure is a proven risk factor for developing skin cancer. 

Making some feel hesitant about attempting to do the job on their own, are the risks of looking orange or streaky. A faux glow is the best way to go as the good news is that with a few expert tips, and a little patience. 

Understand The Tan

It helps to understand how sunless tanner works firstly. It is a plant-based sugar molecule called dihydroxyacetone the ingredient that turns your skin bronze. To form brown compounds called melanoidins that stain your skin, the DHA reacts with amino acids in your skin. The tan wears away, as the surface skin cells rub off over the course of 7 to 10 days. 

Avoid Alcohol

As alcohol is not only drying but can also trigger skin reactions including dermatitis and rosacea flares, Robinson advises opting for an alcohol-free tanner. 

Patch Test

Robinson warns that you risk an allergic reaction as with any topical product. Before coating yourself in it, it is always wise to test an application in a small area. It will help you determine how the colour will develop by doing a patch test that serves another purpose. Courtney Claghorn, the founder of Sugared + Bronzed spray tanning salons, is of the opinion that to check the shade level and how it reacts with your unique skin tone, she recommends always doing a spot test first. 

Start Smooth

Dry patches will react with the tanner and look darker than other areas as DHA deposits into the dead surface layer of the skin and then you want to remove the flaky layers that are about to shed. Fabiola Trujillo, the owner of Sobe Tan in Miami, explains this is why preparation is crucial. To ensure you have a smooth surface as the tanner can uniformly dye the skin, she advises exfoliating ahead of time with a washcloth or loofah in the shower. 

Prolonging the life of your tan is exfoliation. Getting the newest cells possible to the surface for application will help extend how long the tan lasts since the formulations work with the outermost layer of the skin as Robinson explains. 

Watch Rough Patches

Focus on rough, scaly areas like the heels, knees, and elbows as the DHA deposits more heavily there. As Robinson states, they absorb more DHA as those areas are prone to thicker patches of dead skin cells. Along with these are the areas that shed more slowly than the rest of the body. 

Apply A Barrier Cream

For this Robinson suggests applying a light layer of the barrier cream like Aquaphor into your nostrils, on your lips, around your cuticles, and also on any rough patches to avoid those areas getting too dark before you apply a tanner. 

Take Your Time

Being in a rush makes it more likely you will miss a spot as Trujillo’s warning is to always take your time. Before doing anything else, she suggests doing tanner in the evening and waiting overnight. She says when you are in a hurry you should never do self-tanner. To dry and develop properly, you will always need to give it time. 

Wear A Mitt

Designed to apply self-tanner, the experts suggest wearing a mitt. They prevent your palms from turning orange as Robinson says not only does mitt provide a smooth surface to help blend the tanner more seamlessly than your hands. 

Move In Circles

Working in small sections will help avoid streaks as Claghorn says it is found when applying in a circular motion. She further says that when applying a self-tanner, you don’t need to apply a lot of pressure. Doing the trick is a gentle but consistent pressure over the body thereby easing up over the knees, elbow, neck, and wrists. 

Reach Your Back

Trujillo suggests heading to the kitchen if you can’t enlist a friend to help with your back. To the areas on your back that are out of arm’s reach, her trick is to slip a tanning mitt over a spatula and use that to apply the tanner. 

Skip These Spots

To your heels and your ears, avoid applying the tanner. Looking unnatural, Trujillo says that it will just stain. 

Allow Time To Dry

Your work isn’t done just because you have applied the tanner. You should stay in loose-fitting clothing for the next few hours as ideally, you should wait at least 15 minutes before putting clothes on as Trujillo advises. Thereafter it provides the time to absorb for the tanner. Causing the tanner to wear off and look splotchy and uneven is getting wet, sweaty, or wearing anything too tight. 

Wait A Day

Thereafter it is found that Trujillo explains you need at least 24 hours to determine the rate of how the self-tanner will fully develop on the skin and see the complete results as this is also the time when patience is crucial. She further states, it's better to build the colour than start with a shade that is too dark and unnatural for you as one application may not be enough. 

Moisturize

As Trujillo says, the key for a tanner to work on your skin is moisturising. To help extend the life of your tan, keeping the skin moisturised helps slow down the natural shedding process. 

To Conclude, Don’t Forget SPF

While it does not, what people often get wrong about the self-tanner thereby is thinking it protects them from the sun as Robinson explains. You don’t have any additional protection and the same SPF application guidelines apply as she says just because the skin looks bronzed. 

 

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