Seasoned fake tanner, but you still get streaks? Us, too. But with these nuanced insights gleaned from industry insiders – everyone from celebrity fake tanners to beauty editors (and not just the ones at Red) – you can be a step closer to fake tan perfection.
1. You’ve succumbed to your beloved scrub
They’re wonderfully indulgent and give gorgeous results, but that salt’n’oil tub scrub you love won’t do your tan any favours. The oil stops it absorbing evenly.
Stick to a gel-based scrub or mix a handful of salt with your shower gel and work it into just damp skin from the feet up.
Buy: The Sanctuary Spa Hot Sugar Scrub, £12
It warms on contact with skin, so feels a bit less boring than your average non-oily scrub. And it’s in a tub!
2. You’ve shock-started your skin
Fake tan is drying (it’s why people love it for blemished skin), so skin needs to be in top condition all over for it to hold onto the tan evenly.
Plan your tan a few days ahead and make sure you exfoliate a few times (a gentle exfoliating shower gel means you won’t over-scrub skin), as well as deeply massaging in body lotion twice a day.
Buy: Aveeno Moisturising Creamy Oil, £5.10
This generous-sized lotion is a pleasure to use, and makes skin soft and supple quickly.
3. You’ve missed this clever trick
The secret to many a beauty editor’s perfect facial fake tan? They use a foundation brush to put it on. Start with a small blob in the brush, and blend and build in very sheer layers as required.
Without reloading the brush, finish by sheering your fake tan down your neck - necks don’t get as much sun as faces, so using less here will keep the look natural.
Buy: Shiseido perfect Foundation Brush, £30
This award-winning brush has dense bristles and is great at getting into all your corners and angles, both of which help ensure a streak-free application.
4. You haven’t booked it in
Put your fake tan session – yes, the one you’re doing at home - in your diary. Sounds like as fuss, but it means you won’t rush. ‘Applying fake tan in a hurry is one of the main causes of streaking,’ says Jules Heptonstall, the man responsible for Suki Waterhouse’s gorgeous glow and tanning ambassador for St Tropez.
‘Give yourself at least half an hour to work it in nice and evenly and let your tan dry for ten minutes before you put any clothes back on.’
Buy: St Tropez Self Tan Bronzing Mousse, £20.33
It’s a little easier to apply than the lotion, and therefore better for fake tan beginners while they get used to the process. The lotion gives a better pay-off colour-wise, though.
5. Put moisturizer on your knuckles and knees
It’s confusing, we know. A layer of hydrating oil is a no, but applying lotion before fake tan is a yes. Why?
Applying a non-oily moisturiser to just the dry areas – knees, knuckles, ankles, elbows and wrists – stops them absorbing too much tan and creating dark patches that scream fake.
Rather than a body lotion, though, work in a facial moisturizer, as it’s richer and the thicker texture gives more control.
Buy: Bioderma Hydrabio Riche Rich Cream, £14
It’s nourishing and the price means you’re not wasting your £££ face cream on your elbows.
