Make Your Tan Look Real

Have your tan look real with these tips tp prepare your skin and to apply and blend the tanning product. Let's be honest, having a great tan can make anyone feel good.

Tips For Real Looking Tans

Tans add color to the face, brings out your eyes and makes a trip to the beach a pleasure because you know you are golden brown. With a tan comes a sense of health and beauty.

However, we also know that the sun can do terrible damage to the way that we look so many of us opt in for fake tans and spray-on. While the idea may seem perfect, this can often mean lines and splotches where we least want them! So how do you get the perfect, "authentic" tan and have tans look real?

Preparing the Skin

Before you even begin to think about taking out that bottle, you need to have skin that is ready to evenly absorb the tan. It helps to have a gentle exfoliation before your treatment. Want something from home? Grind salt into your shower gel. You will need a small palm full in order to exfoliate properly without overdoing it. Rub this over your skin and rinse off thoroughly.

Be sure not to go overboard because red and irritated skin is not ideal for applying anything onto. In fact, this can damage the skin and even cause scarring. Once you have exfoliated, you should wait at least 5 hours before application.

Application

Now that your skin is exfoliated and clean, you can apply your tanning lotion or spray. These fake tans don't only stain your skin though so be sure to do it in an environment where all the white things have been removed. Also, you need to be in a temperate room because sweat can affect the final result and Goosebumps will make your tan uneven.

The best way to fake tan and have your tan look real is to use a gentle, slow developing tanning lotion i.e. Gradual tans that build up over time. Put a dollop (that is approximately the size of a large coin) in your hand and apply it to the skin in circles. You should only do one layer to prevent streaking.

Once you have applied the tan to one area, wait a moment or two to allow it to take. This will prevent the skin from getting smudged when you try to apply to other areas. For the tricky and difficult-to-reach spots, ask someone to help you. Many of us try to reach around our backs on our own or use stick applicators. The truth is, you will never be able to get it perfectly right this way. If you can't reach it, don't do it!

Blend, Blend, Blend

Blending is very important to make your tan look real. The areas around joints can often collect tanning lotion so you end up with lines and marks. Keep blending in a circular motion until the tan has dried all over the body. It is best to do this without any clothes on.

Then stand with your legs apart and your arms up in the air to allow the lotion or spray to dry evenly around the body. Once you can no longer feel that slight stickiness, you can relax. Try to wait for at least twenty minutes before putting your clothes back on. You'll think it's natural.

Tan Look Real
Published October 6, 2011

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