Sunless Tanning for Pale Girls

Summer is in full swing and living in Florida it's so tempting to go down to the beach to get your tan on. But with Swedish ancestry and a family history of skin cancer it's a painful, burning process. I've used fake tanner before but always found it frustrating.

Gradual tanners take too long for my attention span. But most instant tanning products streak or turn very yellow and make me look a little sickly. So when Sssamanthaa over at /r/makeupaddiction on Reddit did a sunless tanning review I was hooked. She recommended a product called Fake Bake Flawless Darker. Her post showed how she went from super pale to natural looking bronzed.

See her post here

Fake Bake Flawless Darker is a spray on liquid tanning product that you buff in with the included applicator mitt. I used the velour side. Just spray it on the mitt then start rubbing in circles. The color guide is a handy dandy visual for how the tan will develop. It tells you where you've applied too thin and where might streak. Just keep buffing away in circular motions for an even, streak-free tan.

The nice thing about Fake Bake Flawless Darker is that it gives a very natural, reddish tan. It's a "I tanned for hours" tan not a "my skin is naturally this shade" tan.

I bought it from Amazon for $15.90

Here's my leg before coloring

I followed the directions by exfoliating with a sugar scrub, making sure there was no soap residue, applying lotion to knees, ankles, and feet then toweling it off after a minute. You'll want to wear gloves under the applicator mitt as a precaution. The box comes with one pair of latex gloves and the applicator mitt. You spray the velour side of the mitt then buff it onto your skin in circular motions. Just keep it moving and keep buffing. If anywhere got too much product I used the rougher sponge side to kind of scrape it off then re-buffed it with the velour side.

And immediately after applying (you're seeing the color guard here)

It says this product works best when you leave it on for at least 4 hours, but they recommend applying before bed to let it work all night. I applied this in the afternoon and it felt dry to the touch after 30 minutes and completely dry after 2 hours. I left it on and went to bed then rinsed off in the morning. So total it was on for about 18 hours.

Some reviewers complained that they watched the color guard wash down the drain. They must not have left it on for the minimum amount of time, because I did not lose any color at all.

18 hours later

The directions say to apply twice a week, exfoliating once a week. And there's a fair amount of product in the bottle. I could see this lasting you for a couple of months, even with a twice a week application.

The comparison between my paleness and my fake tan-ness

Overall, I love it! I think it looks really natural and it was pretty easy to apply even for a total fake tan novice. Next time I think I'll super moisturize then wash it off after 30 minutes. I have very dry skin. And it says you can use it on your face but it did collect a little around my stubble where I'd shaved so I feel like it might sink into pores. I'm going to get their face tanner instead.