My sunless tanning experience
 

Okay. So I am one of those people who does not tan. I am a redhead with very pale skin (not the super-freckled kind of redhead complexion, more the milky with a few freckles). Anyhow, a tan is not possible for me by normal means, so I have used sunless tanners in the past just to try them out.

They turned me orange. So I tried again yesterday (hadn't tried it in about 5 years) and I am tan! Not orange, but a nutty light tan. It looks awesome!

I used Ban de Soleil Radiance Eternelle in the medium/dark formula. It comes in one of those two-chambered containters just like the coppertone endless summer. It worked so well! I picked that one because a pale person who I was teaching with a few weeks ago looked awesome and told me it was from a bottle. She told me what kind she used and I bought it, afraid to use it until school was out so that the kids wouldn't give me crap if I looked like an oompa-loompa.

Anyway, if you are pale and don't want to damage your skin, I recommend it. it even makes me look thinner!

Woo hoo!

dzsaigirl :)

I have the same problem-pale skin and redheaded. I have not tried a sunless tanning product since HS (about 15 years ago)-it was a horrible experience I was orange and so were my hands (forgot to wash them off-opps). It was a pain to put on and then you had to wait 3 hrs for it to work. How long does this new one take? Did you use only on your face or did you put some on your arms/legs etc... Is it oily?

Last week, I tried those spray on tans that they do at tanning salons. I LOVE IT! You're instantly tan when you leave and it looks really natural. It's $30, but it lasts for at least two weeks. Basically the same price as going tanning but without the death.

Make that three redheads/pale skin! Dzsaigirl, would you tell us more? Does it last after a shower? After shaving your legs?

I had a basal cell skin cancer removed last year, and I NEVER want to risk melanoma!!

......
 

I like Coppertone's. It lasts a long time too. It has the two parts like the Ban de Soliel does. Anyway I recommend it, b/c it comes in light and medium/dark. Much better than Neutrogena!!!!

for all of y'all who have tried mystic (or sunless) tanning....what did you think? mystic is when you get sprayed by a person or a machine. i did it quite a few times, including right before rush. it is expensive, $25/session, but you can get packages to get a better deal. the way it worked for me, you go in this little booth type thing and you are totally naked with a shower cap on, and this machine just sprays you front and back for 10 seconds. its like this mist stuff, it smells real bad. but then you're done and you are SO DARK! i loved it....lots of girls at my school do it like twicfe a week and they are just too dark if you know what i mean...but it is def a good idea before a big event! i have pics of me before and after, if anyone wants to see just PM me!

As someone that works at a cosmetic counter. . . .

I actually really like how my sunless tan looks. I use the self-tanning mousse from Lancome. It goes on beatifully and you turn a lovely brown (except on the knuckles, but I just have problem with those in general!). it is tinted but the tanning starts to appear in about an hour.

Anyway, that's enough of my speal! I would definitely have to say that the self-tanners out there today are a lot bettern than those 5 years ago. i would also recommend the tinted tanners so you can see where you are applying them. :)

Sarah

that mystic tans sounds good. I tried the sunless stuff, and I wasn't very good at it, thanks goodness i only did my legs. Does a person spray u or what? Any other info you would likle to add, please do. Thanks. :)

ally,

a mystic tan is where you stand in a booth, either with or w/o a bathing suit, and a machine sprays you from head to toe. you put a lotion on your hands and feet so they don't get too orange and the tanning stuff is water soluable so it doesn't stain, unlike sunless tanners (bad experience). i saw it on good day live one morning. looks cool and stays about a week. but can be expensive.

i use the vitaskin tanning set from banana boat. the one with the exfoliator and tanner. love it. and it's pretty cheap too.

Here's my problem with sunless tanners...I can't reach my back! And my boyfriend is never around to help me when I want to apply it! grrr....

Anyway, I think that "bottled" tans look pretty decent, if you use the correct brand and have someone help you apply it. If not, you can look streaky and funny :p

Glad to hear that you ladies are having such good luck with your tans. Maybe I'll pass the word to my fellow pale friends ;)

My tan has not washed off at all. I have taken 3 showers since I tanned.

Be sure you get your belly button. Mine is tan on the outside and white on the inside (like a tiny coconut :))

I have not shaved just because my leg hair grows really slow so I only have to shave once a week. I shaved right before applying the tanner and I also exfoliated with a bath puff.

I did not do my face. I have a rosy complexion on my face so it doesn't match my body anyway. I just used the darker color of my two foundations. My face darkens a little in the summer even though I don't tan elsewhere.

I can't wait to see how long the tan lasts.

If anyone else tries this brand, let me know!

Thank you for your quick response! Actually, I have given up on ever tanning - the only way that will ever happen is if my freckles run together! But I would like some color on my legs - I like to wear shorts and the pasty white bit is just a little gauche.

What I wanted to know about Mystic Tan or MIST and Tan (which ever) is how does it not stain your clothes if you go in there with a bathing suit...and furthermore do you have to wear eye protection still so as to not get it in your eyes?

I tried sunless tanning once for my 8th grade graduation dance because I had a bad farmer's tan and I wanted to make my shoulders and upper chest tan... my dad helped me do it (my mom's handicapped so she doesn't have much hand control) and I was wrapped up in a towel. Well the neck of the dress dipped a little lower than the towel had so I had a line going across my chest and then it was white until the neck of the dress. :(

I hope I entertained you all with my sunless tanning disaster. :p