fake tan virgin - but this is the year! help me

[eggybrokenoff]

sick of the damage that baring my legs is doing to my eyesight every summer - that white dazzle is too much! but I have always been terrified of fake tan. my old flatmate used to have permanent rust coloured ankles and orange stripes between her toes. plus my skin is dry and I worry it would be patchy.

so I thought if I start now using a gradual moisturising type tan then I might get a slight build up by the time legs get bared.

which give a light natural look?

I like the garnier one..it gives a natural warm bit of colour and the smell is better than most.

I like the St Tropez gradual tan, I use a body moisturiser over my feet, ankles elbows and hands before applying the gradual it gives it a more natural look.

Firstly, I am no FT virgin ;-) Been doing FT on and off for long enough.

Garnier is good.
Nivea also.
St Trop - yes.
L'Oreal also good

My sis is very pale, think she likes Ambre Solaire's.

you will need to try them for yourself and see which one is ok for your skin tone. Once you've decided which one you will need to do this:

Give legs a thorough exfoliating with a scrub or one of those bath mitts that removes dead skin cells.

Dry thoroughly and wait half an hour after bathing.

Apply FT as evenly as possible bearing in mind that drier areas will take more colour (knees, ankles, etc.). I rub on some moisturiser on these areas before the FT to make sure I don't have orange parts.

Toes and inbetween toes also get the moisturiser treatment for the same reason and be careful that the tan doesn't go in places where you wouldn't get tanned or it'll look ridiculous (edges of feet !!?)

This may sound complex but it's really not. Practice does make perfect.

happy tanning ;-)

good tips but now I am scared again. perhaps pasty is the way forward after all. I dread beimg orange!

The only way to do it is to get bogged in.... The buildable moisturisers with tan are okay but I find by the time you get a good colour they start to go bitty on the skin. I am a fake tan freak, I don't usually recommend expensive products, but for a beginner they may be best. St Tropez is brilliant but expensive. If you want to try a cheap alternative I found a bargain with a real cheapie, St Moritz, available from B&M Wholesale for about £3. I thought it would turn me orange, but surprisingly the colour is a lovely brown. It's a foam as well so a bit easier to work with than liquids or creams. Buy a tanning mitt, they only cost a couple of quid, gives a more even cover and saves your palms. Keep practicing, I have a professional spray tan machine and I can now get as good a coverage using St Moritz and a tanning mitt!

st moritz is a lovely colour - light hazlenut, really natural. fake tanning is a proper pita though

Last year I bought Sally Hanson Airbrush Legs for the first time and I bloody love it. It's instant so no waiting ages for it to develop only to discover I've ballsed it up and no horrible burnt biscuit smell. You can apply it pretty much straight out of the shower too.

I would also say St Moritz applied with a mitt.

It's not orange which for starters is a massive bonus!

Just exfoliate and moisturise beforehand.

Hmmm...I must try this Sally Hansen stuff. Does it come off on clothes? Is it an instant/wash off tan? And really stupid question...is it just for legs?

St Moritz!!!

I have the Sally Hensen airbrush legs too as I'm also a disaster with proper fake tan. It just takes the whiteness off and makes legs look more even toned.

• it doesn't come off on your clothes
• it just washes off in your next bath/shower.

I haven't used it anywhere other than legs but I don't see why you couldn't.

It definitely doesn't come off on your clothes as I wore it with a very pale blue bridesmaid dress for a whole afternoon and evening. I'm even considering it for the beach. I use the medium one which gives a light tan and not too orangey. Haven't tried using it anywhere but legs yet.

I go by the supermarkets skin creams with a hint of fake tan, they are fan. Go for the darker ones not the light ones.

Scrub skin in the bath with a mitt, then moisturizer wildly using the cream. Every second day. It won't build up or go too orange. I've always stayed away from actual fake tan but the ones with a hint are great.

Cannot wait for summer!!! Buying my self wax strips next week and currently growing my legs hairs out for a massive waxing sesh!

Doesn't Sally Hansen run if you get it a bit wet though

something - which is ypur favourite?

it the St Moritz one a gradual tanner please? Have just seen it on Amazon for £2.99!

oh and would you recommend the medium or dark St Moritz, ta.

I don't know if St Moritz do a gradual tanner, they do have instant tans that wash off but haven't seen anything else. The one I use is a foam and it is coloured so you can see where you are putting it and it develops over a few hours into a lovely natural tan. I find I can even put it on first thing and wear it all day, something I couldn't do with some of the more expensive products (some of them use a dye that looks a bit orange when first applied so I would put them on at night and shower off the excess in the morning). It all depends on your skin tone and time of year as to whether you need the medium or dark - do you tan well naturally? I am very dark haired and would go nutty brown in the sun so i use the dark tan, but if you are lighter go for the medium, you may be able to push a bit darker in the summer. Keeping it natural is the key to getting off with a tan otherwise you risk looking like Katie Hopkins.

If you are scared try rimmel wash off tan in light. It is a gorgeous colour.

Otherwise garner is foolproof I think. Lovely colour, glides on really easily

st moritz is a mousse and I didn't get on as well with it

St tropez gradual tanner is excellent

Best one I found is Johnson's Holiday Skin, the deeper tan one.

Sorry for the typos in my earlier post. Must type more slowly and check before pressing post!

I was hoping a gradual moisturiser would be a halfway between a wash off and a proper fake tan. might try either the johnsons then or the garnier one depending what I find first on offer!

i am dark skinned really. I think i meant to ask is St Moritz one that washes off or does it wear off!

The St Moritz foam that I buy wears off, they do have a wash off on as well, I think it is called instant tan or something like that.

I have Fake Bake Gold, but am too scared to try it