Thinking of dabbling in 'gradual tan' for emergency sunburn coverup

[QuimReaper]

Over the Easter weekend I managed to get a hideous stripy sunburn on my chest (am furious with myself!). I have that milk-pale skin which takes forever to fade, so whilst I've made some headway with exfoliating and aftersun, I still have a horizontal line halfway down my chest which looks awful with my V neck dress. Realistically it's not going anywhere by the weekend.

It occurred to me this morning that I could see if a couple of applications of that gradual tan cream might even things out a bit. I tried it when it was first all the rage in about 2005 before I embraced paleness, and don't remember very compelling results, but I'm hoping things have come on a bit.

My main concern is that I don't want my neck and chest to be a different colour to my face, I would want a very subtle result indeed, just enough to darken the under-burn bit really. I'm guessing I'd have to use it all over so as not to look even weirder, but would definitely prefer to avoid putting it on my face.

Any advice? Any recommendations? Will I regret it?

I feel like more could go wrong that will go right to be honest especially if you won't be doing the face and aren't used to fake tanning. Could you not pop a bit of tinted moisturiser or your usual foundation with some spf mixed in with it to take the redness down? I've done this before and it's worked well as a temporary fix- though generally I just dress to hide it until it's faded.

Otherwise something like Vita Liberata Body Blur or the cheaper (but just as good IMO) rimmel sunshimmer instant tanne in matte in the palest shade. They'll wash off in the shower but will stay on throughout the day. At least that way you can see if it evens it out and wash it off if you aren't happy. The rimmel is probably about the same price as a gradual tanner.

Great tip bacon, thanks! I had intended to just use makeup on it but I figured it wouldn't last very well, and since my makeup is all the same shade as my face (i.e. milk coloured!) I was be hiding the red than colouring the white, which probably won't be as effective as the other way around...