Self tan experts...

[alter ego]

Can you tell me what the difference between this http://www.qvcuk.com/bareMinerals-B...t.206068.html?cm_sp=VIEWPOSITION-_-4-_-206068 and this http://www.qvcuk.com/bareMinerals-B....200343.html?cm_sp=VIEWPOSITION-_-53-_-200343 is please? Apart from the price.

I've only ever had self tan disasters - from patches, odd looking hairy bits, fetching tangerine colours and even a streak running down my leg that looked like I'd wet myself and it had gone rusty!

I'm intrigued by the brush as I think I'd be too cack-handed with a mitt. Can I use it on the face (I'm pasty looking even in the summer)? Or should I get my skates on and order the POM?

TIA

 

[Dips]

Alter Ego, they look the same product to me! I'm also extremely fair, which I think makes applying tanner difficult, so I would recommend the Decleor glow range which is a gradual building self tan. I apply it 2 nights in a row on first application and them top up every 3 days after that. Alternatively, if you want one that colours in one go, pick a range that offers shades and choose light.

 

[Vikki]

Crazy angel is good for novices as the guide is dark and you only need one coat which you can apply with a mitt or gloves, if you shower rather than bathe, use oil free moisturiser after you leave it on to develop overnight you get a good 5 days if not more out of it. It's a good colour too.

 

[grovesy]

I even streak with Decleors glow range.

 

[Mazza]

Have you ever tried Garnier Summer Body, a build up tan in a body lotion, so like Decleor glow but dead cheap! It comes in light and dark only. I bought some in Boots last week, standard 250?? Ml bottle half price at £2.50. Mine did streak a bit last year but I think I should have taken a few days off and started again rather than using it every day until the large bottle I got then ran out. It might be worth trying at that price.

 

[alter ego]

Thank you all.

Unfortunately, some of my greatest disasters have been with the gradual tanners. I suspect my lack of patience with application has got a lot to do with it.

I remember my first shot - Ecotan from Q. OMG! I honestly thought that the "light spray mist that is fine enough to spray in the air and just walk through" (AY's suggestion) would be perfect for me. I did just that and got up the next day looking like a spectacular vertical sunset. That was also the stuff that left my legs looking like I'd "peed rusty" (my 8 year old niece - out of the mouths of babes and all that). My face looked like I was auditioning for some tribal musical!

Then there was the Clarins gradual for face. This was the stuff that made me feel I needed some kind of applicator (and that BE brush looks nice). It didn't look too bad the first few times, then BAM! I got up one day with orange eyebrows "like Willy on the Simpsons" (another sage niece quote) and even oranger palms, despite washing like I'd been in contact with an Ebola carrier.

So, mitt, plastic gloves or this brush. What do you all think given this tragic history. My niece is older and wiser now, naturally dark and has never self-tanned (I wonder why?!). She's also developed a very caustic tongue... not sure I could cope with any more observations.

 

[Dips]

AE, I think it's probably time to admit defeat and be pale and interesting, rather than streaky and interesting to talk about!

 

[grovesy]

I too had problems with Ecotan and thick streaks.

 

[Polly Esther]

Ecotan left me smelling like a mouldy HobNob. And it streaked.

 

[alter ego]

Ah, thank God I wasn't the only one! AY said it was so easy... I stopped believing a word she said after that.

I'm an easy tanner but avoid the sun these days so would still like my glow back. Not ready to admit defeat yet!

 

[Akimbo]

My advice is buy a tan with a guide colour. Wear gloves and apply more product than you think you need for each section of you body. It will let you massage and cover the area completely; it's the missed patches that result in streaks rather than the applied bits. Depending on the formula use a tanning mitt (plastic liner with a flock outer surface). Lotions like Xen-Tan https://www.xen-tan.co.uk/products/see_all/xen-tan_dark_lotion/ give you more blending time, if you use a mousse like St Moriz http://www.stmoriz.co.uk/ you have to blend quickly as it dries within a few seconds.

Exfoliation is the key: Scrub throughly and moisturise about 3 times in the week before applying the tan. When you shower off the guide colour don't exfoliate but the next shower/bath after that exfoliate again. It may seem as though you're undoing the fake tan but if you don't keep up a regular exfoliation the tan will fade very patchily. It also means that you're ready anytime for a second application. I'd also avoid oily bath products like bath oils, shower oils or dry oil body sprays as they seem to lift off the tan more quickly. If you get dark patches on dry skin (why didn't you exfoliate? :wonder::wonder Alpha H Liquid Gold on a cotton pad will reduce it.

Here endeth the lesson :mysmilie_59:

 

[Brissles]

I've used St Tropez spray for years on my legs - just a light mist every day does the trick. HOWEVER, I do stand outside like a one legged stork to the spraying, so you have to get the wind in the right direction beforehand !!!!!

 

[alter ego]

Thank you Ladies.

I sent the Alpha H back after it was a POM as it didn't seem to do anything for me. The best thing I've used to remove streaks so far is one of those Flash magic block thingies (the melamine type ones like the sell on Q). I have had an over-zealous rubbing accident with one, though. It was like carpet burns!

I would LOVE to see my neighbours faces if they caught me standing Karate Kid style in the garden :mysmilie_13:

I used the exfoliator in the Elemis TSV earlier and found it left my skin feeling very nice. Funny as in the shower it didn't feel like it was doing much. I think I WILL try a tanning mitt - nothing ventured, nothing gained and all that.

 

[iloveshopping]

Poundland sell tanning mitts

 

[loveallthingsitalian]

On a Gok Wan show a make up artist suggested that you use a paint roller! That was it last "tip" I listened to as I thought if that was the quality of advice these people were giving then I was a lost cause.

 

[alter ego]

On a Gok Wan show a make up artist suggested that you use a paint roller! That was it last "tip" I listened to as I thought if that was the quality of advice these people were giving then I was a lost cause.

I was told to try that by a friend, too (one of those little radiator rollers) - If I did that I can imagine the comments from my niece that maybe I should prime with Polyfilla first :mysmilie_507: