Being unable to tan has created its on new challenges, like finding a makeup that matches freakishly pale skin and not looking like a ghost during the summer months when everyone else has such a lovely sun tanned glow. So a few weeks ago, I went on a fact finding mission to find out if self tanner actually works. I've done the whole spray tan thing a few times at my tanning salon, and it just wasn't my cup of tea. I didn't like that I couldn't control the places it covered - HELLO, weirdly orange feet and hands. I also really despised the smell of it (I have a sensitive sniffer). So after seeing Jessica James Decker talk about how she stays so perfectly sun kissed in her hair tutorial video, I decided to give it a shot. If you've ever watched Eric and Jessie, you know how fantastically tan that girl is, so I decided to hit my local Sephora up to see about some St. Tropez self tanner.
Enter awesome makeup lady at Sephora. I talked to her for a while about St. Tropez, application, smell, sensitivity, etc. and eventually after my interrogation, she suggested this Vita Liberata stuff. I told the Sephora lady that I hated the smell of self tanners, that I wanted something not orange, and something that wouldn't irritate my skin (I'm also cursed with ridiculously sensitive skin). Vita Liberata is organic and adjusts to the pH of your skin so you don't get orangey. The chick who created it is Irish, so it's made by pale people for pale people.
It was a little more expensive than the St. Tropez, but being that it was organic and odorless, I felt okay paying a little bit extra. She also suggested I purchase a mitt to go with it. The Vita Liberata and St. Tropez are designed to set on your skin so quickly that using your hand to apply causes freaky dark palms. Of the two, she suggested the St. Tropez mitt instead of the Vita one for application. She said it was personal preference, but I figured she knew what she was doing and chose the St. Tropez mitt.
Here's what I found out about Vita Liberata and Self Tanning In General:
1. Exfoliate like a maniac, but do it the day before. I exfoliated with a Burt's Bees sugar scrub right before tanning and my tan came off ridiculously fast (within a week and a half), which was odd because it was supposed to last 3-4 weeks. I realized a few days later that my sugar scrub was leaving a light film on my skin so my tan wasn't fully absorbing.
2. READ ALL THE INSTRUCTIONS - They actually are very helpful.
3. The first day you want to tan, do it at night. Take a shower, wash your hair, get nice and clean, then get ready to tan. You aren't supposed to wash with soap until you've completed 3 applications (you're creating the base tan), which is basically a day and a half if you do it my way (see #4). If you're obsessively hygienic like me, it will be torture, but getting a good clean in before tanning will help.
4. Tan at night the first time, sleep, wake up, rinse the excess tan off (NO SOAP), tan again that morning. Sit in your filthy self tanningness for the day, rinse before bed and tan again. That's 3 applications with about 12 hours in between each application (they say 3-8 hrs, but I wanted to be thorough…and tan). My Sephora lady suggested applying at night every night for 3 nights. Rinsing each morning before work. But yeah, I can't go that long without soap.
5. Make sure you don't rinse out your mitt until you are positive you've covered your whole body. Yes, I forgot an arm once. No judgments, please.
6. Use a damp washrag to smooth out the tanner on your elbows, around your wrists and around your armpits. I didn't have any issues with my knees being nasty, so I didn't bother with them much. My wrists were the only place I noticed anything uneven and only the first time I did it.
7. Don't freak out when you wake up and you have an uneven looking tan. The excess tan that your skin didn't absorb tends to make things look really scary until you rinse it off.
8. To keep your tan looking good, I suggest doing an application a week after the initial 3 application base to keep it fresh. I've done the base tan plus 2 applications, and I think I'm barely halfway through my bottle. It definitely lasts a while.
9. I almost forgot this one - don't buy that face tan stuff to go with it. I just used the excess on my mitt to tan my face and it worked perfect. No breakouts, no sensitivity, nothing. Just make sure you use the damp rag to wipe a little bit around your eyebrows and upper lip.
Here's my after picture….
 |
| Successful Self Tan |
I have to say that this stuff is really forgiving. I'm a complete mess about everything in life and yet somehow this stuff came out looking really nice and professional. I was like 99% sure I was going to look like a streaky idiot, and I didn't! Just make sure you have someone to help you with your back - I had a giant white spot in the middle of mine, because I refused to wait for my husband to come help me. Patience is not one of my virtues.
As far as sensitivity goes, I have't had any. And yes, there is a very slight sunless tanner smell to it, but nothing that I found offensive or overwhelming. Also, I got the medium color tan, but I feel like I could've gotten the dark and been fine with it. It just depends on how risky you want to get with it. I like my tans DARK, so next time I'll probably try the darker color. However, I do have the complexion to carry tans well. If you aren't able to naturally tan very easily, I would still suggest the medium or maybe light.
I sincerely hope this helps you all in your tanning endeavors, if you have any questions, leave me a comment!
No comments:
Post a Comment