I don’t know how the weather is in your neck of the woods, but in Ohio we skipped from cold and rainy to hot and humid in a matter of 2.5 seconds. That means that, sadly, my legs are approximately the color of… well… nothing. It’s blinding, really.
Because hot weather means leg-baring fashion, I skipped off to Target in search of some gradual tan lotion. I’m typically not a huge fan of self-tanners, mostly because of that icky smell that tends to linger for days. That, and the fact that I always end up with orange knees and ankles no matter how much I exfoliate. ANNOYING. And attractive!
I am almost always allergic to Jergens products, so that line was out; I thought Aveeno had a gradual tan lotion, but if they do my store didn’t have it; so that only left me one choice: Nivea Sun-Kissed Beautiful Legs Gradual Tan Moisturizer.
Image from Drugstore.com, but spoiler alert: Save your pennies.
It’s your basic gradual tan lotion – some orange-ing, some streaking, have to wait for it to dry before getting dressed. The lotion claims to be “shave minimizing,” but I call malarkey on that – I’ve used it for an entire week, and have actually felt the need to shave MORE OFTEN than I normally do. As for the smell – it doesn’t have the typical self-tanner smell, which is good; but it has a pretty strong musky scent that I’m still not terribly fond of.
Do I have pasty legs anymore? No, but they are kind of a nice streaky orange color. So, overall, I’m not super impressed.
What is your go-to self-tanning product?
Disclosure: I bought this with my own money, and did not receive any compensation other than orange legs. Lucky me!
About Jo-Lynne
With self tanner, as with most things, you get what you pay for. I have really good luck with the higher priced brands, and I use self tanner A LOT. My favorite is by Clarins, but right now I’m using one that I got as a free sample with something and I like it quite well.
I think success with self tanner is largely a personal thing. I may just have skin that likes self tanner. YAY. I think it looks pretty natural, although it can get weird on the legs, I don’t know why.
As far as knees and ankles (and feet), I don’t apply it at all to those areas. I work around them, and at the VERY end, when it feels like there is nothing left on my hands. I do a quick sweep across those areas to hopefully blend it in. It usually works for me, although invariably there is ONE spot that I get too much on.
I agree, but sadly there’s apparently not much of a market anymore for the “gradual tan” lotions. They used to be everywhere, and now I can’t find them. GAH!
I use Jergens, which hasn’t turned me orange [yet]. And usually what I do to keep streakiness to a minimum is apply a little bit of my regular lotion right after, to kind of smooth things out.
Sigh Ohio, why is your weather so unforgiving?
Jergens doesn’t work for me.
I have used the spray-on stuff with decent success. It will never be perfect, but it takes some of the glare off.
Saint Tropez has a gradual tanner that works pretty well for me. I’ve only used the lotion, but it also comes in a mousse.