Choosing The Right Self-Tanner

With summer just around the corner, you may be thinking about the perfect tan, but getting that look doesn't mean you have to go into the sun. The Early Show Beauty and Wellness Contributor Dayle Haddon offers some tips on how to fake and not bake.

Self-tanners are best used within six-months of purchase. If you've got a few sitting on your bathroom shelves from last summer, toss them out and purchase new ones.

More expensive is not necessarily better - you can find self-tanners from $10 for drug-store brands to about $25 for prestige brands.

Some self-tanners will react differently with your skin, providing varying (but minimal) changes in color. Moisturizing cream and lotion formulas are easier to smooth across the skin, will add hydration, and work well for dry, aging or sensitive skin. Lotions and creams are also easier to work with than sprays because you have a better idea of exactly where you're applying the product.

Suggested products:

1. Frederic Fekkai Self Bronzer with Shea Butter
   
2. Philosophy's The Healthy Tan Extra Dark Self Tanner
   
3. Clarins Self Tanning Milk with Sun Protection (SPF 6)

Gels and sprays dry faster, are more convenient, and may work better for combination, or oily skin types. They also dry faster than creams, and are generally considered "quick-dry" formulas. Additionally, spray-on tanners are recommended for men, because of their body hair.

Products:

1. Biotherm Express Self Tanning Gel for the Body (color begins to develop in 1 hour)
   
2. Clinique Self Sun Tanning Body Mist
   
3. Decleor Express Self-Tan Hydrating Spray

Choose a product with a hint of color so you can see what you're doing and where you've applied the product.

Products:

1. Estee Lauder Go Bronze Tinted Self Tanner for Body
   
2. Neutrogena Sunless Tanner and Bronzer in One

How To Choose:

• Obviously, the color of your skin naturally will help determine how deep you want your faux tan. The lighter you are, the faker your tan will look if you use a very dark self-tanner.
  
  
• If you have pale skin, opt for subtle shades in the peachy-apricot end of the bronze spectrum. Bronzing when you're a blonde is all about getting a healthy glow without seeing the product.
  
  
• If you have medium or olive skin, most shades of bronzer from light to deep bronze will suit you. But if your skin has pink undertones (like Jennifer Lopez) avoid bronzers with too much red in them, as they will make you look too ruddy.

Application:

The first step to a smooth, even application is exfoliation. Because dry skin absorbs more of the color, it's especially important to exfoliate the driest areas of the skin, such as the knees and elbows. Use of a body cream that contains an AHA for a few days before applying a self-tanner will achieve the same result as a manual exfoliant - obviously manually exfoliating will be much quicker.

Skin should be free of soap and moisturizer residue because soap, which is alkaline, can mix with DHA (the active ingredient in all self-tanners) and turn skin orange.

Some people recommend applying a moisturizer before self tanning, others do not. Because self-tanners are easier to apply and spread more evenly across smooth skin, apply a moisturizer one or two hours before an application of tanner.

If you apply self-tanner in streaks, you'll get streaks:

• Use long, sweeping movements.
  
  
• Go over the area again, using wide, circular movements.
  
  
• Use a quarter-sized dollop or less to cover the lower leg, and the same amount for the thigh. Use excess lotion to cover the knees, feet and elbows.
  
  
• Have a friend around that can help you with your back and other hard-to-reach areas.
  
  
• The self-tanner shouldn't stop and start at any one place on your body. After you've applied a self-tanner, massage moisturizer from your ankles to your feet, to your knees and elbows.
  
  
• Using a facial cosmetic sponge (used to apply foundation), apply a bit of self-tanner from the top and back of your wrists to the top of your hands.
  
  
• Don't get tanner in your hair or eyebrows, as it can color hair.
  
  
• Use cuticle remover to eliminate self-tanner mistakes on small areas like the feet, hands and ankles. To fix mistakes on larger areas, exfoliate skin with a body scrub. Exfoliants, AHAs, or at-home lightening creams will also help to speed the fading process if you've made a mistake.
  
  
• Re-apply every 2-3 days to maintain the "tan".
  
  
• Keep skin moisturized, which will help keep your color.
  
  
• Sometimes, even the most thorough washing will leave your palms orange. So, self-tanning mavens have learned that surgical gloves (purchased at your local drugstore) can solve the problem. If you don't choose to use gloves, use a manicure/hand brush, warm water and soap to cleanse the hands.
  
  
• Wait thirty minutes for the lotion to dry before getting dressed. You'll need to wait at least 10 minutes with even the quickest formulas.
  
  
• If you prefer a deeper tan, wait an hour or two, and then apply a second layer.
  
  
• Don't shower, swim or do anything else to disturb the tanner on the skin the day it's applied.

General Tips:

To extend a tan, keep the skin moisturized by applying a moisturizer every day. To maintain a tan, apply a self-tanner every two to three days.

Most self-tanners do not contain sunscreen. Even if they do, it's important to remember that sunscreen should be re-applied every two to three hours.

Look for formulas that contain a SPF, or wait one hour after application of a self-tanner and apply a separate cream, or lotion that contains SPF 20 or higher.

Products:

1. L'Oreal Ombrelle Self-Tanner Cream for Face with SPF 15
   
2. Physician's Formula Sun Shield Sunless Tanning Lotion with SPF 20

Cosmetics/Body Makeup

If you like the idea of sun-kissed skin, but aren't interested in the use of a self-tanners, there are formulas designed to mimic the warmth that the sun adds to the skin, without the commitment.

Products:

1. NARS Body Glow
   
2. Revolution Tinted Moisturizer
   
3. Knockout by Scarlett

Many of today's bronzers contain a mix of light and dark tones, which create a more natural-looking color than the single-toned products.

Using a powder brush, sweep the color where your face would tan naturally, which is usually across the nose, high on the cheekbones, across the forehead, and the tip of the chin.

Products:

1. Estee Lauder Bronze Goddess
   
2. Urban Decay Baked