Self Tanning

Do you want that awesome Jamaican tan but you don't have the money to go to Jamaica? Well, I have news for you. It's in a bottle! (or in a airbrush machine)

I am a HUGE advocate of self tanning or the "spray tan". I can't go without a tan anymore and I don't have the patience to sweat in a tanning bed. Plus, I'm terrified of cancer since it's very prevalent in my family. I only just became brave enough to use self tanner by myself this past June. I read about it on NattynGeorge's blog (which is amazing!). She recommended Sunlabs or St. Tropez. You can get St. Tropez online at Sephora but it's not available in stores, which turned me off of it. So I went to Ulta and bought me a bottle of:

This bottle, I believe, is about $48 at Ulta. I bought the "Dark" instead which is $38. I'm sure both are amazing.

Sunlabs tanning lotion smells like cherries, which I like. After a couple hours it gets that nasty "biscuity" smell but I put it on an hour or so I go to bed and in the morning I take a shower and I don't have to deal with the tanning smell.

Things you'll need:

1. Latex Gloves (I prefer these over tanning mits)

2. Lotion to put on your knees, elbows, knuckles and ankles.

3. A loofa or some sort of exfoliator

4. Bottle of tanning lotion (Sunlabs)

5. Razor and shaving cream (shave your legs)

6. A good clean shower! :)

7. Jergen's Natural Glow

1. The first step is to take a shower. I shave my legs first and then take a sponge with an exfoliater top and with some shower gel I buff out all areas of my skin. I really concentrate on the areas where my skin is the most dry (knees, ankles, hands and elbows) and especially my chest and neck because I feel that's the most important place to get an even tan. When you're done dry off and tie up your hair.

2. Apply lotion to your knees, hands, elbows and feet. Then put on your latex gloves.

3. Apply your tanning lotion (which will look like mud with a green tint) to your legs first. I start at my calves and ankles before moving to my thighs because when you have a big chest like me if you start thigh to calve you'll get lotion on your chest ;)

4. After you've completed your legs, I do my stomach. Then I move to my chest and neck. For your back you'll probably need someone to help you. I call in my little sister for that haha. Then do your arms last. 

5. I don't put self tanner on my face. My skin is pretty dry and when I put self tanner on it, it just flakes off after one day. Besides it also makes my face oily and I use foundation that matches my tan so no one will notice that my face is pale under my makeup. That's only my personal preference. Your skin is not like mine. We're all different :)

6. Then I take Jergen's Natural Glow and apply it to my hands and feet. This way I don't put concentrated self tanner on my hands and feet, which is an obvious sign that you fake baked at home! 

7. It kind of takes a little while to not feel sticky so I just do whatever else I need to go before I go to bed before putting my clothes on. It sucks to stand around naked for 15 mins but I'd rather be tan.

8. For me, the self tanner stains my sheets a little. I know this will be a deal breaker for some people but it's fine with me because once you wash it off it's gone.

With using Sunlabs I became a MAC NW/NC30. I could probably go up to an NW/NC35 but I like applying bronzer so I go a little lighter. But when I don't use Sunlabs I'm a little bit lighter than an NW15. That's a big jump! Plus Sunlabs doesn't make me look like a carrot. It looks very natural. I love it!