Blame it on famous fashionista Coco Chanel.  In 1920, she sailed from Paris to Cannes aboard a yacht and came back with a suntan – and the result was a craze that has lasted for generations.  Women put away their parasols and became sun-worshiping, bathing suit wearing pinup girls á la Betty Grable.  Tanned skin was a symbol of wealth and leisure, a sign that you could afford a luxurious vacation and had time to bask in the sun.  Since then, we all love the look of a deep, sexy tan.  It looks healthy, but it’s not: tanning in the sun is actually extremely dangerous, putting you at high risk of developing skin cancer (not to mention wrinkles, which we spend a fortune trying to avoid).  Fortunately, we now realize the dangers of sun tanning, and modern science has come up with many innovative ways to look tan without putting ourselves at risk (the first was in 1960, when Coppertone introduced their cream called Quick Tan, or QT).  Unfortunately, these methods can come with their own pitfalls – scary orangey colors, streaks, and products that just plain don’t work.

Why Go Faux?

One in five people will develop skin cancer in their lifetime.  One in five!  You’re at higher risk if you have light skin, hair, and eyes, although you’re by no means safe if you’re naturally darker.  Also count yourself in the high-risk category if you have freckles, and if you tend to burn before you tan, or just burn and don’t tan at all.  If you spend much time outside, either from work or leisurely purposes, you’re also at risk.  And if you’ve had skin cancer before, your chances for getting it again are better than most people’s. 

To sum it up, sunless tanning is the only safe way to get that sun-kissed look you’re after.  It’s temporary, so you’re not committed to staying tan if, suddenly, gothic pale becomes all the rage.  Sunless tans take much less time to achieve than a regular tan, and you don’t have to fry in the sun or in a stifling tanning bed.  And perhaps best of all, you won’t look like a wrinkled old bag in ten years like your sunbathing friends will.       

Sunless Tanning Lotions

The main problem with sunless tanning creams used to be their hideous orange tint.  Too much, and you wouldn’t look tan but tangerine.  Then in the late 1980s, scientists came up with a better refining process, yielding a higher-quality DHA.  The result: a browner, more natural-looking tan … no more orange.  Presently, one of the biggest complaints about sunless tanning creams tends to be that you can end up with streaks – but thanks to the introduction of tinted creams, you can actually see where you’ve applied it, thereby making it more difficult to wind up with a streaky tan. 

However, no matter how easy contemporary self-tanning methods have been made, there are still a few guidelines to follow to make sure that you get the best results.  Use the following steps to ensure that you get a flawless and realistic looking application:

Allow yourself plenty of time.

If you’ll be following these instructions to a tee (be sure to read them thoroughly before beginning), it will take you approximately two hours before you’ll be ready to get dressed again, so make sure you’ve allowed yourself ample “tanning time.”  To really take good care of your skin, apply sunscreen during the day and wait until the evening to apply sunless tanner; they don’t contain sunscreen, so if you apply and then go out in the sunlight, you’re not protected from the harmful rays.  It’s best to do it a couple of hours before you go to bed.

Gather the proper “equipment.”

Your bathroom is the best place to use as your sunless tanning headquarters.  You’ll need a bathtub or a shower, a rough cotton washcloth or exfoliating scrub (more about scrubs later), a sink, and a headband and hair tie to keep your hair back from your face.  It’s optional, but a clock or timer can also be helpful.

Take a bath or a shower.

Stay in the warm water for a few minutes to soften up the skin, and then use the washcloth to gently rub over your skin in a circular motion to remove any dead cells.  You can also use a commercial exfoliating cream for this, but read the label carefully – you don’t want an oil-based cream, because it can create a barrier on your skin that will hinder the absorption of the self-tanner.  While you are exfoliating, pay extra attention to your knees, ankles, elbows, shins, and the tops of your feet.  If your skin is even remotely sensitive, don’t shave; the self-tanner may irritate if you do.

After you’ve bathed, give yourself a few minutes to make sure that the bathroom, and yourself, are completely dry.  You don’t want the bathroom to be steamy and you don’t want any moisture on your body either – not even sweat, so relocate to a cooler room while you’re waiting for the bathroom to air out.  Apply regular moisturizing lotion to any place on your body with fine lines or textures in the skin: your hands, wrists, ankles, feet, elbows, neck, and face.  Give it a few minutes to soak in. Put on your bathing suit or snug-fitting outfit.

Time to apply the sunless tanner!

A few tips before you start: make sure you remember to tie your hair back.  Apply the self-tanner a little more heavily than you would apply normal moisturizing lotion.  Also, it isn’t necessary to rub it in until it completely disappears, even if the package directions say so; if you do this, you could take too long and run the risk of staining your hands.  Don’t worry if there is still some lotion visible on your skin; spread it as quickly as possible, in a circular motion, but be thorough.  Remember to make sure your skin is completely dry before application!  And to avoid staining your hands, wash them every five minutes (that’s what the timer or clock is for), scrubbing every part – even your nails.

Begin with your legs, and do one whole leg at a time.  Work your way from the edge of your bathing suit or shorts downward.  Use the lotion sparingly, and blend it carefully, around your knees.  When you get to your ankles and feet, don’t apply more lotion; instead, blend the lotion from your legs lightly onto those areas.  It’s important to use as little self-tanner as possible in these areas, as they tend to “suck up” the pigments and turn dark or orangey faster than the skin of other body parts.  Don’t apply tanner to your heels, your toes, or the sides of your feet.  If after you complete this step, it’s been five minutes, don’t forget to wash your hands well!  Ideally, it should take you about five minutes total to do both your legs.

Now move upwards.  If you’re tanning naked, smooth the lotion onto your torso and back first.  For your back, sunless tanning lotion is easiest to apply if you have a sponge paintbrush, two to three inches in size, with a handle length of at least three inches.  These types of brushes are widely available at hardware stores.  (Be advised that applying the lotion to your back this may be pretty difficult; if you’re a sunless tanning newbie, consider enlisting a trusted friend to give you a hand.)  If you’re wearing clothes, apply the self-tanner to your arms first.  Just as with your ankles and knees, use the lotion sparingly on the elbows unless you want them to look dark.  Don’t forget your armpits and sides!  Then blend the lotion over your chest and shoulders (if they’re bared), working upwards from the edge of your bathing suit, and stop at your neck.

Your face and neck absorb self-tanners better than other body parts, so it’s wise to invest in a type of sunless tanner that’s specifically formulated for the neck and facial areas.  These can be a little more pricey than regular self-tanner, but it’s worth the extra expense because you don’t want to run the risk of looking like you’re wearing an orange mask.  Even if you do buy the special formula for faces, it’s still important to use it sparingly.  Most important of all, blend well everywhere, but especially along the jaw line and into the hairline.  If your hair is light, you may want to apply a little bit of petroleum jelly to your hairline to avoid staining.

When you have finished tanning your desired areas, take some ordinary lotion (not sunless tanner) and blend it into your feet and ankles.  Do the same with your elbows (and the inner part that bends) and knees (especially the part below the kneecaps), wrists and hands.  This lightens the effect of the sunless tanner on the areas that often pose problems, and helps to blend the color more seamlessly into your hands and feet.  When you’re finished, wash your hands again.  Now it’s time to let yourself dry.

If you have the freedom and privacy to walk around naked for half an hour, by all means, do it!  Otherwise, wear your “tanning outfit” for thirty minutes.  After that time, you can get dressed, but proceed with caution: anything tight-fitting, such as bras or snug jeans, may affect the development – and later appearance – of your tan.  If at all possible, you should wear something loose like a robe or nightgown and avoid getting fully dressed in street clothes for at least an hour.  You can do your self-tanning right before bed; just apply it, wait for thirty minutes, put on a nightgown and go to bed.  In the morning, you’ll wake up tan.

For at least three hours, avoid any activity that could potentially expose your skin to moisture – anything that will make you sweat, for example.  Wait for a full eight hours to bathe again.  If you want to achieve a darker color, you can apply more sunless tanning lotion after you bathe.  Exfoliate with a commercial exfoliating scrub (or even something from your own kitchen cupboard; corn meal works wonders!) rather than a wash cloth, and apply the second coat of self-tanner.  Moisturize your skin every day with regular lotion, and reapply the self-tanner every three days or so.

Tips to remember ...

• If you make a mistake, it’s fixable – depending on how big it is.  If it’s small, leave well enough alone.  If it’s a bigger, more noticeable mistake, moisten a cotton ball or cotton swab with hydrogen peroxide, apply it to the problem area, and then rinse it off.  Sometimes it helps, sometimes it doesn’t; it’s a gamble!
• Sunless tanning lotion may darken freckles and moles, so be prepared and don’t be alarmed.
• Newer scars and stretch marks may look more prominent with sunless tanner; older scars and stretch marks will be much less noticeable.
• Don’t use self-tanner on the bikini area; it can end up just looking dirty.  Eww!
• The skin on sensitive areas such as the lips and nipples are unaffected by sunless tanners, so blend right on over them.  If you try to avoid them, you could end up with unsightly “borders.”

Spray-On Tans

If you’d like an all-over tan, but you’re wary of your own sunless tanner application skills, then a spray-on tan just might be the solution you’ve been looking for.  Chemically, it is basically the same as self-tanning lotion – its active ingredient is DHA, just like its rub-on counterparts.  The real difference lies in the way it’s applied: sprayed on, as its name suggests (and the fact that it’s applied in a salon rather than at home).  There are two different application methods for spray-on tans.  The first takes place in a booth or small room, where the sunless tanner is “misted” onto the body in fine droplets.  Your hands, feet, fingernails, or any other body part that you don’t wish to tan is treated with a blocking lotion.  With this method, you may prefer to tan completely nude, because the room is private; if you do wear something, it might get stained.  The second method of spray-on application is done by a trained aesthetician, with a device that looks very similar to an airbrush.  Since someone else is present during this application, many people prefer to wear something, so just follow the same clothing guidelines that you would with sunless tanning lotions.

To prepare for a spray-on tan, you should exfoliate – just like with a “do-it-yourself” tan.  Some spray-ons are tinted, so that you look bronzed immediately after having it done.  When you shower for the first time after tanning (wait the recommended four hours first), the bronze tint will wash off, but the DHA that creates the longer-lasting tan will still remain in the skin. 

After tanning, moisturize your skin well.  The intensity of spray-on tans can be deepened by repeating the application two or three days after your initial tan; otherwise, the tan will generally last about four or five days.  You’ll still need to use a sunscreen when you go outside, because these types of tan don’t offer any UV protection.

Tanning Pills

There is much controversy over the effectiveness of tanning pills.  Regardless of their effectiveness, their safety has also been called into question.  There are two varieties of tanning pills: those containing carotenoids, and those containing tyrosine.  (Some tanning pills contain neither ingredient, which basically makes them placebos.) 

Tanning pills with carotenoids contain a pigment that is deposited into the tissues of the body when taken internally.  It’s the same pigment that gives carrots their lovely orange hue.  There are several types of carotenoids, the main ones in these pills being canthaxanthin and beta carotene (and, more recently, lycopene.)  Ingesting carotenoids in quantities big enough to change the color of your skin is dangerous. They penetrate the fat layers that lie just beneath the skin, giving a “tan” appearance – but they penetrate much more than that: specifically, they tint every bit of waste that your body excretes with an orange-red color, including sweat and tears.  The pigments are also deposited into the retina of the eye, causing permanent damage to vision.  This is one of the reasons why this type of tanning pill has been banned in the United States by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The other type of tanning pills (also sometimes referred to as “tanning accelerators”) contains tyrosine, an amino acid touted to stimulate the formation of melanin, which is the skin pigment responsible for tans.  But according to the FDA, there’s insufficient evidence to prove that these things do work – and actually, several studies have concluded that they’re completely ineffective.  The FDA classifies them as “unapproved drugs” and issued warning letters to several manufacturers of this type of product. 

The bottom line: if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.  Getting a rich, golden tan by simply popping a pill?  I don’t think so.  Don’t gamble with your health where these “miraculous” tanning pills are concerned; in many ways, it’s just as harmful as “real” tanning.

Bronzers

There are a variety of products on the market that don’t give you a lasting tan, but temporary: just for the day, or for an evening out.  These are bronzers, and they come in either lotion or powder form.  The lotion is applied just like regular lotion, but it’s tinted to give you that warm glow.  The powder form is usually for the face, and can be applied with a powder puff or brush anywhere the sun would hit to give a natural-looking effect.  The tan you get from a bronzer, in either form, is much subtler than what you could expect from a DHA-containing sunless tanner, and can be washed off at the end of the day like makeup.

No one can argue that a suntan makes you feel good, and it makes you look good – it can even make you appear thinner.  But if you want to “go for the glow,” it’s so much better to do it the safe way.  Sunless tanning is a harmless and effective method of keeping you tanned and beautiful year-round, without sizzling in the sun.  Your skin will thank you … and in a few years, when your complexion is still smooth and wrinkle-free, you’ll be glad you stayed indoors!