We all know the harm of being in the sun and getting sun damage, so how do we get a decent leg tan?
There are some fab products on the market now, but prep is the key. I have fair skin and quite blotchy legs so fake tan or trousers are good options.
First, you need to prepare the skin so it is smooth and exfoliate (sounds like a Dalek!). Basically this removes dead skin layers so that your fake tan doesn’t go scaly afterwards, making you look like some kind of new reptile. I use either home made sugar scrub (normal sugar about a table spoon with about 3 tablespoons of almond oil/olive oil or coconut oil – mix the sugar and oil together) This is really nice in the shower as it makes your skin really soft and smooth and depending on which tanner you go for sometimes you can skip the moisturise stage. I also use a body scrub with jojoba microbeads, which dissolve (unlike the plastic ones in the lower quality products).
Next, you need to moisturise the skin, particularly in the drier areas like ankles and knees etc this stops the fake tan from being absorbed too much.
I prefer gentle tan build ups, using products such as Dove Summer Glow, Palmers natural bronze and Olay everyday sunshine.
For a faster effect, I use Clarins Sheer bronze tinted self tanning (this makes it easier to see where it is going on, but the tint does wash off leaving you with your self tanning glow, but this has been discontinued now.) I also use Forever’s Aloe Sunless Tanning Lotion, but this is also discontinued, so palmers seems to be my favourite at the moment and smells kind of chocolatey with less of the fake tan smell that you get with some of the other products. Its also very moisturising as it has cocoa butter in it. For a gradual tanner it’s actually fairly fast.
Use a mitt! For years I used my hands and plastic gloves, trying to avoid any streaks by working it in, but the mitt makes life so much easier. You get even coverage and it doesn’t really get on your hands, although I do wash them afterwards to be on the safe side.
Moisturise daily to keep your tan. This helps to maintain your tan, if you are using the moisturisers or lotions the tan will build up over time anyway. Perfumed moisturisers can reduce the tan affect due to their alcohol and oil contents.
Self tan mistakes If you find you have over used the tanner and its uneven or streaky, you can use a paste of baking soda and water to make a quick paste and gently exfoliate the area where you need to correct. Do this over a cloth or towel to avoid making a big mess 😀 Alternatively some people have suggested lemon juice works, but see my video below as I did NOT have any success with that. I also understand that you can use hair removal cream and it comes off immediately, but I haven’t had to try this yet.
Lemon Juice did NOT work in removing old fake tan
The Bicarb worked with a bit of effort see video
Since doing these videos I have used other mitt products to help remove fake tan and both were excellent and fast. Better than the lemon and baking soda methods. The first Magi Mitt (original), I now use in the shower to exfoliate as well. It’s really fast easy to hang up and dry and gets the fake tan off while you’re in the shower. THIS IS THE BEST PRODUCT I’VE USED TO REMOVE FAKE TAN
The second product is a more luxurious mitt “Solmitt” 3-IN-1 Tanning mitt. It exfoliates before you apply the tan then you can use the soft side to apply the tan evenly. It’s great and feels lovely, but your hand does move slightly inside the mitt. Then to remove the tan, just take the mitt in the shower and rub the area while you are under the water and its excellent, takes a little while to dry the mitt though and because it’s wet you can’t then reapply the tan using the mitt the same day. (To get over this you can use the quick drying Magi mitt and then after the shower I used the Solmitt to apply the tan). The mitts were definitely the best way to remove a tan.
The BEST PRODUCT TO APPLY THE TAN is the St Tropez Mitt. It was really cheap, easy to use. It does wear after a while, but it’s so cheap you can afford to buy a second one. It applies evenly and smoothly and I now use this with Palmer Natural Bronze , which for me is the BEST NATURAL TAN LOTION as its great for lighter skin where you can build up the tan colour you want through consecutive days. It gives a very natural looking tan, moisturises the skin and smells of chocolate.
UPDATE: I am still using the Magi mitt. It is so good that I don’t use it if I don’t want the tan to go, as it strips ALL of the tan off completely. I’ve also used a new one to gently exfoliate my face too, better than any product I’ve ever used. Although I don’t use the same one for my face as I do getting the tan off!! Next time I need to take the tan off I shall try to do a video to show you how well it works.
