My False Tan Routine

Ive pretty much removed false tan from my life over the winter months, I think I applied it once in January, and that was it. But now the sun is shining again and I dont feel the need to be as wrapped up, I just hate how pale my skin can look in the bright daylight. I love English Rose skin, but mine isnt this at all, its just ghostly greyish pale, and any blemishes that may arise are highlighted by this. I used to have really bad acne in my early teens on my back and chest, and I still suffer with a few spots now and again but nothing on what it used to be. But I still feel like theyre more hidden with a bit of a tan.

Anyway, stop blabbering Hayley! This is the routine I normally get in once I start tanning regularly in order to maintain my tan so it goes on evenly and stays even without coming off all patchy.

Day 1. In preparation for starting my tanning rountine I will exfoliate and shave the day before, and also apply a good body butter after showering. This will mean my skin is silky smooth for the next day. If I shave on the same day and then apply tan straight after I find it finds its way into every pore where my hair has gone, and I end up with loads of tiny dark bits on my legs where the tan has sunk into the pores a bit. It sounds disgusting, and doesnt look great so I shave the day before to avoid this.

I use Flake Away or The Breakfast Scrub both by Soap and Glory to exfoliate, Gilette Venus shaver to shave and then a Body Shop Body Butter or Soap and Glory The Righteous Butter.

Best body butters ever, smells amazing!

Day 2.
I have my shower and again apply a good body butter afterwards., focusing on any dry spots such as elbows and knees. I leave enough time for it to soak in and then I apply St Moriz Self Tanning Mousse with a tanning mitt.

St Moriz is a well known copy of the St Tropez Mousse Tanner, and is raved about all over the online beauty community. It is priced at around £3, which is amazing and means I can afford to keep up my routine. I buy tanning mitts from a cheap cosmetics store such as Semi Chem for around £4. Using the mitt means you dont get the streaky orange hands, and the velvety texture of it helps the tan go on more evenly and smoothly. I can use a mitt for about 5 times of tanning, and then I wash it. You can do this with the rest of your wash in the machine or by hand if youre worried it may stain your clothes. Ive not had this problem before but it could happen I guess. The mitt will look a dirty brown after the first use but it will still work just the same, I jsut wash it every so often to get rid of the tan build up on it.

My well loved tanning mitt looks horrible, but it works!

I tan my arms first, and pump my tanner onto the mitt not my skin. I use 2 pumps per arm, rubbing it thouroughly over the enitre arm and moving into various positions so you can see you are getting it everywhere at every angle. I do my tan in front of a mirror to make sure Im getting it even.
I then do my legs, which is usually around 3 pumps per leg, and use the same method. I then do my chest and stomach and then my back using the same method. I usually go back and repeat on my arms and legs making sure I blend out well at the shoulders, as these normally tan more on me and I find two coats is best for the look I want, not too orange but at least a bit of a difference!

The tan can look really dirty looking and scary but just go with it and it works nice :)

Always make sure to blend out onto the hands, going between each finger, and I do this with my toes as well so it doesnt look like my tan jsut stops at my ankles. Blend well into the hairline too and up the neck for a more blended and natural look, its best if you have your hair clipped up right on top of your head out of the way.

Ridiculous photo of me with my hair shoved on top of my head having just done my tan. I willlive to regret this I know, but hey were all friends here :)

Day 3.
I will shower around 24 hours after I did my tan the previous day, to make sure Ive given it time to develop and settle. Before you have the first shower, your tan can be a bit scary looking with St Moriz as the application guide colour is quite dark so you can see where to put it, you will see this all come away in the shower. Be warned, if you have a bath instead your bath water will turn a comical orangey colour! You will be left with a lovely more natural looking tan once youre out and dry.
I apply some form of moisturiser after every bath or shower when Im tanned, to keep it even looking, I find Girligo Moisturising Mist by Soap and Glory to be enough most days, or I turn to my well loved body butters if my skin is a little dry.

Day 4.
I repeat the same steps as Day 3.

Day 5.
This may sound gross, but I only shave my legs once every 5 days or so, as my hair is very light blonde and very thin, and it takes ages to grow, so I only need to shave this often, which Im quite pleased with. Understandably some people may need to more often so just carry this out a day or two earlier. I exfoliate today, ask there will be some dead skin cells by now and I want my skin to shed evenly so my tan doesnt go patchy. This step is very much the same as Day 1. I know some people say dont exfoliate and shave on the same day, but Ive always done this as my skin is not at all sensitive, I know this could irritate some skin types so jsut be aware of this if your skin is sensitive.

Day 6.
This all depends on how my tan is coming along, I will either just leave this day out or use it to false tan. I can usually go about a week but if I have a night out coming up or something I might switch it up a bit, and do it two days in a row for a deeper tan, it jsut all depends on my plans!


So I hope this was helpful in some way to some of you...Not quite sure how! But thanks for reading anyway :)