Spray Tan Tips For Pale Skin: The Pale Girl’s Guide to an At-Home Spray Tan
Lord knows I was not blessed with a sun-kissed glow. So, after many years of trying to fake it, burning myself, and getting a patch of pre-cancerous skin cut off the back of my arm last year, sunscreen is my best friend.
And so is self-tanner. After trial and error, I have discovered a way that works best for me to achieve a pretty good at-home fake tan.
But I can achieve a good glow that is about 3 shades darker. Let’s be realistic– some spray tans look awful on pale skin, so telling yourself that you will never be bronze but you will have a glow will make you feel better. So, let’s get to it, shall we? Here are my spray tan tips for pale skin!
Spray Tan Tips For Pale Skin: The Pale Girl’s Guide to an At-Home Spray Tan
As far as the actual self-tanner goes, get whatever you like that has a spray nozzle. And yes, ALL self-tanners will have that smell, so don’t buy something on the premise that it doesn’t have an odor. I’ll address the “smell issue” later.
Before you get started, you might want to get on YouTube and research a little on the method of spraying the spray tan bottle onto your body. I go in an “S” direction all over my body, and I even apply a fine mist to my face. YouTube is your best friend on spray tan application methods. Yep.
Steps Towards Perfection:
1. Shower and exfoliate your entire body and face with your favorite scrub.
2. Towel dry completely.
3. Put on a shower cap, gloves, and your socks while the rest of you is in your birthday suit.
4. Stand in the tub/shower (this prevents you giving your bathroom/house a spray tan)
5. Spray the self-tanner on in sections, starting with your legs and rubbing it in as best as you can as you go.
The rest I do out of the shower:
6. Hold the can about 12 inches away and spray a fine mist on your face. Do not rub in.
7. Remove socks and apply a fine mist to feet and rub in.
8. Remove gloves.
9. Hold hands in a claw like shape and apply a fine mist. Do not rub in.
10. Let body air dry and then wear dark, loose clothing.
I let the tan develop overnight and then I rinse off in the shower in the morning, using a little bodywash. This prevents me from smelling up a room any time I walk in. Like I said, pretty much all self tanners will smell. I stopped looking for the one without a smell, rather concentrating on finding one that I think gives me the best color for my skin tone. I also stopped using the “daily glow” lotions, as I find those smell too and you have to leave those on your skin for them to develop the best color. Personally, I just prefer a spray. I am currently really loving:
Neutrogena Micromist in Deep (yes, this will work on pale skin)
Banana Boat Summer Color Self-Tanning Mist
I also make sure to moisturize my skin post-tan every day so that the tan does not get splotchy and to ensure that it’ll last longer.
I hope these spray tan tips for pale skin helps you achieve color that doesn’t put you at risk for any sort of skin damage!
Are there any self-tanning tips that you’d like to share? What do you swear by?
It helps me to put some regular lotion on my wrists, knees, elbows and ankles before the tanner. It keeps them from getting too dark.
I also think its really important to hydrate–not neccesarily right before, but with a self application, or especially a spray tan, it seems to help.