Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Tanning 101

A tan.....LOVE IT, something about it just makes me feel good, good and tan LOL. Maybe cause when you look good you feel good and in my opinion a tan looks good! Some girls look amazing pale but those are the VERY pale skin girls with porcelain looking skin...again MY opinion. I am naturally tan for the most part, I would never be WHITE hahaha! Got alittle Cherokee Indian in me and growing up my mom always had us at Hollywood beach (Hollywoooooooood)(Hollywood FL not CA) and I've been tanning in a tanning bed/booth since I was 15-16 years old. I am pleased to announce I am skin cancer free thank you very much...phew! Yes I know it is a risk but one I am willing to take after all it's not like I am baking in the sun 24-7, like the girl I just saw last week on TLC's new show My Strange Addiction...OMG it was CRAZY!!! I atleast wear sunblock on my face and neck (it's in my tinted moisturizer I wear every day) I rarely ever lay out at the beach or by my pool for a tan, maybe to relax for a little bit but thats it. So much quicker to go in a tanning bed for 10 minutes or do a spray tan PLUS I HATE tanning lines! So whether you are anti-tanning bed or not here is my routine for both tanning beds and spray tanning.

Tanning Beds: 
     I've been tanning in tanning beds for almost 15 years. I go atleast once a week. I always wear eye goggles! As for using lotion or not... I don't, I know they try and say it makes a big difference but I never noticed and I've been tanning forever! There has been times when I have used lotion but only because I was either given a bottle as a gift or something or sometimes just feel dry skin so I get a sample pack just cause but like I said I NEVER noticed a difference. Tingle vs. Non-Tingle? NON-TINGLE!! Holt crap I used a tingle lotion once and had the itchies sooooooo bad it was torture NEVER AGAIN! I cover my face 95% of the time. I'd be an idiot not to considering I am getting micro and peels done on my face all the time. Putting a towel over your face doesn't cut it so I eventually started making these tanning face masks covers out of sunblock fabric. I was gonna start making them to give to friends as gifts and maybe even sell locally but stopped due to my wedding last year and then moving, maybe I will start again one of these days! Anyway point is try and cover your face, unnecessary wrinkles ain't cool nor cute!
The mask is made out of sunblock material (the solid color material on the side that rest against your face is the sunblock fabric) then has a piece of boning down the middle to it lays on your nose properly and your able to breathe and has velcro straps on the sides to stay on.




Spray Tanning / Self Tanning Lotion:
     I generally don't spray tan at the tanning salon too often, I do it myself! Here is what I do...
Before you must exfoliate really good and shave. To exfoliate I use a body scrub and before I step under the shower but in the shower (if that makes sense) while dry I use the scrub, then rinse and shower and shave! This is the scrub I LOVE!
I get this at my local healthfood store but if you can't find that I also really like Neutrogena's Body Sugar Scrub. As for shaving I am a Gillette Venus girl ; ) Once you are out of the shower and depending what you are going to do either spray tan or use self tanner lotion.. 
* You can do both if you want BUT I wouldn't recommend it if you are really pale to start

Spray Tan:
     The spray tan I use is Mystic Tan. Once out of the shower put on lotion, extra lotion on the tops of hands and tops of feet and knees and elbows if yours tend to be really dry. Put on a shower cap to cover hair but let your ears stick out, don't want white ears with tan face LOL
Get back in shower and start to spray, I start at my face and work my way down using a side to side motion then do the back, then sides and not forgetting all sides of the arms and inner part of the legs. It's hard to describe, I think it's best to get a spray tan at a tanning salon a few times to get the general idea. Once done get out, wipe off tops of feet, they tend to get all the fall out and if you don't it will look like you've been running around barefoot in the clay at a baseball field. Look in the mirror check yourself out and if all's good then take the blowdryer and blowdry yourself till you no longer feel wet. Chill out naked as long as possible but not really necessary, I usually throw on my robe or a night shirt after. Always best to do before bed, then shower in the morning if you must, don't scrub though obviously, just shower to get the smell off, all spray tans have a smell that isn't really pleasant! 


If the tops of my feet are looking too dark or my hands I use this self tan remover. 
You can buy it here for $18 
My bottle looks different, I got mine a couple years ago on sale from Victoria's Secret. It's basically just a scrub so you could just use any scrub I'm sure. I've also been told nail polish remover works!


Self Tanner Lotion:
     The self tanning lotion I use is Faux Tan by Bare Escentials, this is what I do...
Once out of shower (exfoliated and shaved) I mix the Faux Tan half with my regular lotion (I usually use Palmer's Cocoa Butter). I mix it so it's not such a dark tan incase I don't get every little part (for instance getting all your back can be a challenge) I just rub it all over like I would regular lotion. When done the palms of your hands will be very dark so I wash and scrub with the above self tan remover. This dries quicker and feels less sticky than the spray tan so can be done more often (again my opinion) Here is Faux Tan and the regular lotion I use and mix it with. You don't have to mix it if you don't want.

 You can buy the Faux Tan here for $22

I try and use the self tanner once a week as well.


Lastly there is bronzing daily moisturizers you can use everyday to keep a subtle glow, I use to sometimes use one by Jergens that also says it's "firming' but last week got this one from my local healthfood store

Doesn't smell great but neither did the Jergens!

Hope this all makes any sense, it's easier to explain and show in person than type. It's one of those things you need to try an few times and use your own judgment (common sense)

Jamie xx

No comments:

Post a Comment