4th of July Series-How to Use Self Tanner

One thing that I’ve come to dislike about the off the
shoulder/strapless top or dress trend is tan lines.  Now this isn’t the trend’s fault of course,
but it’s something that I have had an issue with.  You see, I work out inside, but sometimes
during lunch at work I like to take a nice walk or jog outside the building
because I love my fresh air.  There’s
nothing more relaxing than leaving the office building just to be outside in
beautiful weather.  Now I’m usually
wearing something that will leave tan lines like a tank top, racer back,
etc.  You can still kind of see the tan
lines in these pictures even though I tried to cover it up haha.  My problem is even though I’m really pale, as
soon as I start going outside my skin almost instantaneously changes
colors.  No, I do not burn (unless I go
out for hours with no sunscreen) and if I do it turns into a tan.  With that being said, I’m that moron walking
around with strapless/off the shoulder tops with massive tan lines.  So even though I love the trend, I avoid it
most of the time. 

Until…

Don’t mind the quality of the above two pictures they were taken with my phone, and on a timer since there was no one home to take my before and after pictures!

I was introduced to a self tanner that actually works.  I talked about a moisturizer that has a
little bit of self tanner in it, but if you are looking for something that
gives you a great color within one time of using it I found the best one.  One of my blogging friends Ruth from MyLittle Nest has given me so many recommendations, and her recommendations have
never failed.  She’s also fair skinned
just like me and she had told me that this self tanner works especially for us
really light skinned ladies.  It’s
extremely hard to find a tanner that looks natural without having to sit in the
sun.  It’s called Fake Bake
Flawless.  No, this is not sponsored, I’m
just sharing some awesome stuff with the world haha.  It comes with the self tanner which is a
spray and a mit.  When I posted a
sponsored post about Jergen’s a few weeks ago I actually use that during the
week to keep up with my color and I only use the self tanner once a week.  The Jergen’s is also easier to use because
you use it in the shower, whereas the Fake Bake is something you need to
actually reserve time for in order to make sure you apply it properly.  I wanted to also talk about this in today’s
post because I’m going on vacation soon and I wanted to be tan before I left so
that’s why self tanners are perfect for that. 
It’s also 4th of July weekend and you can pick up Fake Bake
at Ulta.  YOU’RE WELCOME!

Here are some tips if you are a first time self tanner user.

Exfoliate

Ok, so with the Fake Bake I made the mistake of shaving my
legs right before I did it so at one point there were spots on my legs, so
shave your legs in the morning, then exfoliate at night haha.  The reason why you want to exfoliate is
because it’ll get rid of any dead skin that may be on the surface of your skin
so that the tanner can be absorbed without any weird lines, streaks, etc.

Only Moisturize Dry Areas

Your skin is almost like wood, when there’s an imperfection
you can see it with self tanner which is why I say moisturize.  Basically this includes your elbows, knees,
and ankles.  I wouldn’t moisturize
anything besides the three areas I just specified because usually those are the
spots everyone has trouble with.

Use sparingly around elbows, knees, and ankles

As I said in the above to only moisturize these areas, also
use the self tanner sparingly around them. 
Only because for whatever reason that’s usually where the self tanner
has some kind of color issues.  I can
speak from experience that these are the areas the tanner looks weird in the
creases/cracks.  I also DON’T use it on
my face unless you get the self tanners that are specifically meant for your
face because I just use makeup and bronzer to blend it into my new skin tone.

Apply at Night

I applied it in the morning but that’s only because I was
sitting at home with the AC blasting and I had already finished meal prepping
and I legit had nothing to do.  If you
are planning on going outside where you know you will break into a sweat, don’t
put it on.  Wait until night time so that
you can sleep and wear some old clothes instead of wearing your favorite light
colored shirt on accident haha.  With the
Fake Bake, from what I’ve heard, if it gets on clothes it comes off, but to be
honest I wouldn’t take the chance.  Also,
you can take a shower when you get up because for whatever reason, the Fake
Bake bottle says the body absorbs the color better while you sleep. 

Don’t Wear White/Light Clothing

Speaking of what I said in the previous point, even if it
says that you can put on your clothes and there shouldn’t be a problem I would
wear darker colors, just in case.  This
may just be me being paranoid, but some self tanners actually say to wear black
clothing or that this product might stain your clothes so just get into the
habit of wearing darker colors.

Take Your Time

There’s nothing worse than applying your self tanner and
rushing because that’s when you don’t pay attention and you’ll have streaks,
blotches, or you’ll just miss a spot and then it’s super noticeable that you
use a self tanner.  The whole point of a
self tanner is to make sure it looks natural and doesn’t look like a self
tanner.

I did use the self tanner prior to taking these pictures (the pictures in the white dress), I didn’t
have a lot on so that’s why you can still see my tan lines, but compared to
what they were prior to these pictures the tans lines look great.  I personally found 2 products that fit what I
was looking for in a self tanner and I’m so happy because I was starting to get
sick of always being the pale one in the summer because I’m a little scared to
go out in the sun now.  I’ve seen fine
lines from all the times I went tanning before, and I’m also afraid of getting
melanoma so this is the next best thing!