Keeping your skin hydrated and healthy is what ensures longevity for self-tanners. The sun dries out your skin, causing damage that disrupts your tan. So, make sure you keep applying sunscreen to keep your skin healthy, hydrated, and your glow going strong. A lasting sunless tan starts with the best products.
To minimise the fade out, make sure you wait for at least 24 hours after self-tanning, use a sharp, fresh razor, apply a gentle moisturiser and apply only light pressure while defuzzing.
Moisturise & Maintain!
Prior to tanning, we'd recommend applying moisturiser to typically dry areas like your hands, feet, elbows and knees to prevent tan from clinging to any dry patches, resulting in a flawless result. Once your tan has developed, we'd recommend applying moisturiser daily to help elongate your glow.
Although steaming your face and body is excellent for cleansing your skin, opening up your pores and removing blackheads, it can also make your tan fade a little quicker. This is because treating yourself to a steam actually encourages your older skin layers to flake away to reveal fresh, smooth skin.
Yes! Moisturising is key to a long-lasting, streak-free tan. Moisturise daily post-tanning to lock in hydration and leave your skin buttery smooth.
However, it's important to keep your skin moisturized to maintain the longevity of the self-tan. For those with dry skin, self tanner may only last for 0 to 1-2 days. Dry skin tends to absorb less self tanner, so it may fade more quickly. It also sheds faster, leaving you pale.
Maintain Your Tan
Now that you have a beautiful, bronzed glow, the trick is keeping it even and long-lasting. We'd recommend gently exfoliating every 2 or 3 days, and moisturizing often. This will help your tan last up to 10 days. Top tip: You can also boost your glow with our Gradual Tan Body Lotion.
Stop your skin from drying out
Moisturise regularly to prevent your tan from fading unevenly. Hydrated skin will hold onto the tan better and keep it looking flawless for longer.
The best moisturiser to prolong fake tan is an oil-free moisturiser like Purity Repair Skin Conditioning Treatment will help keep lock in moisture, and help to keep the skin nourished and hydrated. While also extending the life of your self-tan by up to 48 hours.
The Importance of Hydration and Exfoliation
Dehydrated skin can lead to a patchy tan, so keeping your skin adequately moisturisation is key. Likewise, exfoliation is paramount for removing dead skin cells, ensuring an even application of your favourite tanning products.
Why won't my tan go away? When the cells become damaged with pigment, discoloration that doesn't fade occurs, leading to a tan that doesn't fade. In fact, it tends to stay dark unless you choose to have this hyperpigmentation treated professionally.
Shaving after a spray tan can remove some of the tan, leading to uneven or patchy results. Waiting 8-12 hours after the session and using gentle shaving techniques is important to maintain the tan.
Help your tan last longer by avoiding body scrubs, peels, and certain face masks. Also, watch out for acne treatments and ingrown hair products containing salicylic acid. These products can cause your skin cells to shed more quickly and may fade and take your tan with it.
Applying at night gives your self-tanner time to develop a natural tan look. Things like showering, rain, or tight clothes can mess up your tan when it's trying to settle. And some tanning products will also stain! As the self-tanner process can take up to eight hours, applying right before bed is super convenient.
It is important not to wear tight clothing after applying fake tan as this can cause your tan to rub off or cause marks. This can make self-tanning in the morning more difficult as you must wear dark, loose clothing to avoid any transfer and you can't use deodorant or perfume.
If you showered after just a few hours, you might notice your skin is not as tanned as you'd expected. Don't fret! Your colour will continue to develop and darken for a few hours (and a spray tan takes up to 24 hours to develop fully).
Soak in oil and buff with an exfoliating mitt
Oils, on the other hand, break down DHA and can fade fake tan faster. It does, so lather up or soak yourself in oil. You can also use coconut or olive oil, which should be left on the skin for 10 minutes before washing off.
Moisturize Before and After Self-Tanning
In addition to exfoliating, moisturizing your skin before applying self-tanner is key. The drier your skin is, the more likely it is to shed and therefore make your tan fade more quickly.