Shower at least half an hour before you plan on self-tanning to cleanse your body and remove any deodorant, make-up or moisturiser that will cause your tan to become patchy or streaky.
Can you apply self-tanner without showering first? No, you need to exfoliate really well the night before you want to tan. No, the rule book for best practices includes having a shower an hour before self-tanning.
Cleansing the Skin: Showering before tanning helps remove sweat, dirt, and oils from your skin. This ensures a more even tan and helps the tanning product (whether it's a spray tan or self-tanner) adhere better.
about why you should shower at least 4. hours before you get your spray tans. now showering too close to your appointment time. may cause water clogged skin. water clogged skin makes it extremely difficult. for the tan to develop on your skin. and it is harder for the tan. to come out as dark as it normally would.
Exfoliate a day in advance, shave and then on the next morning when you wake up, hydrate your body with body creme. Then apply self tanner and don't dress until it has absorbed and fully dried. Wait one day and apply the self tanner again. Works best when you can incorporate natural sunlight.
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.
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).
Apply Moisturizer Before Tanner
After exfoliating your body, continue the prepping process by applying a moisturizer. You shouldn't apply self-tanner without moisturizing first, because skipping out on this prep step could potentially leave you with patchy color — this goes for your face and the rest of your body.
Avoid shaving immediately before your spray tan session. Ideally, shave 24 hours prior to allow your skin to recover and avoid any potential irritation. Exfoliate gently: If you're shaving before tanning, gently exfoliate your skin using a mild scrub or exfoliating glove.
Dhesthetics has 2 recommended body washes to use in the shower to help preserve your tan. Aveevo Daily Moisturizing body wash or Cetaphil Daily Nourishing body wash. All of these body washes have great ingredients in them that will help to preserve not only your tan, but keep your skin healthy.
Your perfect tan starts before you set foot in your local PBT. You'll want to shower, shave and exfoliate at least a day before your tan (preferably two!). We recommend using our Premier Collection® body washes as the perfect pre-tan prep. Exfoliating is especially important.
After extensive testing, we determined the highest rated self-tanner to be the St. Tropez Self Tan Express Bronzing Mousse. It's an airy mousse that's easy to apply and blend and leaves you with a natural-looking glow. You can also customize the depth of color based on how long you leave it on your skin.
Papaya: Like carrots, orange fruits and vegetables, such as papaya, help to enhance your tan naturally thanks to its high beta-carotene levels. Melon: This refreshing fruit, rich in antioxidants and beta-carotenes will help you to keep your golden skin tone.
When you apply self-tanner to unexfoliated skin, it can cling to patches of dead skin, resulting in a streaky and uneven tan. Exfoliating before tanning provides a smooth and clean canvas for the tanning product, ensuring that it goes on evenly and adheres to your skin properly.
As for when you can repeat this process, typically you can use self-tanner every day or every other day until you reach your desired level of color and then once or twice a week to help maintain the results.
Instead, my go-to formula is leaving the self-tanner on longer than specified, and applying another coat halfway through. For example, I'll apply the 2 HR Express formula and plan to leave it on for 5-6 hours, setting a timer to apply another coat 2.5-3 hours in.
Tanning lotions are fantastic for gliding across smooth skin but can be trickier to blend into a hairy chest, legs and arms. We recommend you opt for a tanning spray or mousse instead because the lighter texture is easier to buff into the skin even when applied over hairy areas.
Many people rinse only 1 hour before and will get a nice outcome, however the best rule is 2–4 hours prior to your tan. After showering, rub your body dry with a towel for a little bit of extra exfoliation. Exfoliate 8 to 24 hours before your spray tan for the best outcome.
Moisturise: After shaving, apply a gentle moisturiser to hydrate and soothe your skin. This step helps prepare your skin for the self-tanning product and ensures it goes on smoothly. Wait 24 Hours: Give your skin ample time to recover from shaving before applying the self-tanner.
Before applying fake tan it's vitally important to have clean skin. By making sure you have a relaxing bath or shower with some of your favourite spa products and using a good cleanser on your face you will make sure you have thoroughly eliminated all residual dust and dirt as well as dead skin cells.
Moisturizing creates a smooth, hydrated base that helps your self-tanner glide on evenly. Without it, dry areas of your body—like elbows, knees, and ankles—soak up more product, leaving you with darker, blotchy areas.
It's recommended to shower prior to a tanning session to ensure clean skin that is free of makeup, perfumes and deodorant, all of which can negatively affect the quality of your tan. During the shower, make sure to exfoliate in order to remove dead skin cells so that the clean skin underneath is ready for the UV.
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.
You can leave your self tan on for as long as you like, with each product having a different recommended timeframe. Some people prefer to sleep with it overnight to get a deeper glow.