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Oh poo, I thought, as I hoofed myself out the door yesterday to go and talk to celeb bronzing-wonder Nichola Joss, spokes-tanner for St Tropez. As a non-tan-fan, I wasn’t exactly fired up with enthusiasm for this task. But of course I Know My Beaut.ie Duty and I’m aware loads of you love the sunless stuff, so I thought it could be worth it – plus, Nichola has a rep as an expert facialist and all round beauty-guru.
Expecting the usual by rote ‘exfoliate-moisturise-apply’ advice, I came home with a lot more, as it turns out that she’s a bit of an inspiration actually. Full of insider tips and advice, she even managed to fire me up with the necessary zeal to tackle the dreaded self-tanner again. No mean feat, to be honest.
“Tanning is like cooking,” says Nichola. “It’s all about using the right ingredients and following the recipe.” OK, she had my attention now, I absolutely love any form of an analogy, me. Ingredients-wise, she reckons you’ll need the following: baby wipes, latex gloves, a foam mitt, a black or dark-coloured towel to cover your hair, soap (or tanning remover), flip-flops (or something to cover your feet, to prevent skidding about on a tiled floor), vaseline, a dressing gown or loose clothing for afterwards, and of course – your tanning product of choice.
And what’s the all-important method?
“Prepare, prepare, prepare,” is Nichola’s mantra. “You need to take the right steps to get the best results,” she insists, explaining, “after all, if you’re not doing all the steps in a recipe, it won’t work out the way it should.” I can get down with that rationale, so to achieve the ultimate at-home tan, exfoliation is step number one.
Step two is to moisturise with a cream or lotion – avoid oil-based products unless your skin is very dry, as the result will be streaky . “Aim for supple, velvety skin,” says Nichola. But, eh, when exactly should you be doing this fabled moisturisation? “That depends on the intensity of colour,” she reveals. So if you want a light tan, exfoliate and moisturise, then apply your tanner once the lotion has absorbed. For a darker shade, prep the day before, of if you’re in a hurry, prep in the morning and apply your tan that evening.
Step three? The tricky one – application. Firstly mask nail beds with some vaseline to prevent staining. Nichola herself adores the St Tropez Self Tan Bronzing Spray, which she says is a cinch to spray-and-go with, but it’s one that often terrifies novices, so she reckons the new Everyday Gradual Tan Mousse is a good product to start off with. It’s easy to work with and doesn’t develop too much, so you can build your confidence before you move on to bigger – and more DHA-packed – things. “Apply this with a mitt,” she advises, adding, “start from the legs and work upwards, using light strokes – don’t massage it in.” You can use latex gloves either, and use the mitt as a last, smoothing step.
If you’re not using gloves, avoid the whole bronzed palm-thang by washing hands well with soap periodically: say, after you’ve done legs, wash; after torso, wash, and so on. That begs the question – they’re the last thing to tackle, so how should you get your hands looking good? Tangoed fingers are a definite no-no, so what to do? The solution is genius, and Nichola gets up to demonstrate to me what she means: “place the backs of your clean hands on the sides of your bum and press lightly – that’s all you need for a transfer of colour that’ll look natural,” she reveals.
Finishing is a big part of getting your tan looking great, and in order to achieve that realistic ‘I got it on a two-weeker to the sun’ three dimensional colour, you’ve got to do a few finishing steps. So number four on your list should always be this: get out the baby wipes and run them over palms, in between toes, over your heel and achilles tendon, round the sides and soles of the feet, inside the belly button, and lightly up the insides of the arms.
This’ll give you a realistic, blended effect that’s a lot nicer looking than a flat, solid-looking tangoed tan. Lastly, you’ll need to let the product settle for a bit so get into something loose. “Dark coloured clothes are best,” Nicola advises. “I have a black dressing gown I always use, and it’s perfect.”
Me? I actually can’t wait to try this method, baby wipes at the ready, and I’ll be bringing you the answers to some of your reader questions tomorrow, so stay tuned for that.
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Good post girls,
i actually have a great tip for tanning hands using a mit, so apply your tan everywhere else then apply a LIGHT moist to your hands everywhere from nuckles to nails now you want a nice coat but not too much, so then using your mit with tan on it apply liberally to hands your moist will creat a barrier so the tan will only develop a small bit, and vola your done, its fool proof.
hope this helps xx
Well I thought I had the whole tanning thing down to a tee, but that hands-on-bum tip is ingenious!!
cathyfly – I know, it’s amazing. I think this is what inspired me to wield can of tan again.
Kirstie – I’m the same…I am going to break out the Everyday sitting on the top shelf and give it a go tonight. I think the preparation is where I have gone wrong…I don’t tan often and when I do its usually last minute. Have been moisturising all week with L’Occitane’s shea butter so hopefully will get a good result.
Great post with great tips
haay guys, first time blogger here and hav t say dis post definetly caught my attention.!Linking those tips alot.,i personally love my fake tan.,and have tried the st tropez but after a good year of using it i think im becoming immune to it now and the colour doesn’t come up so good on me no more
this ever happened any of ye before.?I saw a new tan on xpose the other night., its called au courant.,looked kinda cool.,went into town yesterday and asked round a few places but couldn’t find it.,anyone try it or any idea where I cud get me some.?
Girliegirl – I have one to test, not gotten the courage to yet though. Here’s where it can be bought: http://www.aucourant.ie/retail.html
thought the hands on bum method was my invention
Girlie girl that happened to me, Loreal Sublime used to come really deep on me but lately not as much!
Can’t wait for her to give us the tips about the trials of tanning shins!!
“start from the legs and work upwards, using light strokes – don’t massage it in.”
would this not result in streaks? I always give mine a good massage in…
Fluttergirlie – I am merely reporting what the esteemed Ms Joss imparted! She says not to massage but to lightly blend instead.
Thanks Kirstie, I may have to try that method next time, just hope I don’t end up with legs that look like woodwork
My top tip for fake tan is to use a tinted one, at least that way you can tell where it’s going, very hard to blend the ordinary cream ones correctly, I always end up missing patches.
I sorta gave up on fake tans after few disasters, and haven’t tried any in few years, but these tips make me wanna try a light tan myself. Still not sure I will get it on OK – think I’m hopeless
woo great post. im quite pasty meself aand i do love a light tan. anyone use the gradual moituriser stuff? which is the best one? like johnsons and dove etcetera. cheers.
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Up until I read this I have been mixing moistuirser on the side of the bath with a little tan and then applying it to my hands. This is a pain and not that effecitve. I will now be doing the bum trick forever more. Genius!!!