Women who use fake tan on holiday - help!

[Mollysocks]

I want to use fake tan whilst I’m on holiday (hot country) at the end of Sep but it just doesn’t stay put.

Last time I did this, I put tan on and it looked great but sun lotion just melts it off in patches and combined with sun, sea etc. I ended up applying every evening and washing it off in the morning.

It isn’t how I want to spend my holiday this year but I don’t feel confident without it as I always get comments on my white ‘ghost’ skin. One man on the beach pretended to jokingly stand on me and then said ‘ooh didn’t see you there lol!’ implying I was as white as the sand! Which I am but there’s no need to be such a nob about it tbh.

In the U.K. this tan stays on for weeks so it’s a good tan.

Someone said I should just put it on before I go and then as it fades I’ll get a real tan but I really won’t. If I don’t wear factor 50, I burn, within like 5-10 mins of being in the sun. The only way I tan is if I burn first and I’m not doing that as it’s dangerous.

Does anyone else successfully wear tan that doesn’t need nightly topping up on holiday?

I know I should embrace my natural Celtic skin colour and I am working on that but until then, any tips would be very welcome ☺️ Thank you!

Dd uses tanning wipes .. terrible for the environment but look amazing .. no particular brand she gets what she can

Aw I do feel you. I am Celtic white too and spend all
Summer in the U.K. putting fake tan on which makes me feel and look so much better.

Sadly I don't do hit summer holidays where I have to swim etc so I haven't had this problem but I have always wondered what the solution is? 🤷‍♀️

Perhaps the answer is to just embrace being v pale and swim and keep your factor 50
Topped up and hope you might get a faint glow - try to enjoy your holiday anyway.

Ooooh I’ve never considered these I’ll have a look when shopping tomorrow thank you! 😊👍🏻

I prefer the gradual tanners - moisturiser-style, particularly the Bondi Sands stuff.

They're more subtle and since you use them daily, whatever gets rubbed off in the sea / sand is 'filled in' with the next application.

Normal fake tan is more one-and-done with an intense colour, so you end up looking like a dalmatian if it goes patchy.

thats me right now OP. We are in Turkey and if I don’t put factor 50 on, I would get the most awful rash. A week before we left I started exfoliating and applying this daily. Whilst on holiday, I put it on every night before we go to bed. Would I rather not have the faff? Yes, but do I look miles better with it on ? Also yes ! I’ve got the application down to less than 10 mins, hubby does my back. I mix this with my regular moisturiser for face & neck. It’s not the darkest tan but gives a nice glow.

I am very pale and always do, it haven't found mine rubs off in patches? Do you mean instant tan op?

I use bondi sands express- apply with gloves/mitt, takes an hour to 'set' then shower and its good for 5 days. Works for me!

Maybe having a good exfoliate and shave legs etc the night before applying would help? I do this to ensure it goes on evenly!

I try and avoid the pool and just go in the sea but it still comes off. It might a combo of sun cream, after sun, sand etc.

I know, I should and I even went without tan during the first lockdown and felt confident and then some smart Alec made a comment like ‘oooh why are you so pale I’d hate to be so pale lol!’ (I dunno, genetics and living in a Northern European country, why are you so horrid?) but it just set me back again.

I literally don’t get even the tiniest glow unless I’ve burnt first. Maybe I need to just get tougher and not care what people think.

Celtic here, factor 50 forever.

I use the Skin Deep Tanning wipes from Amazon, usually every other night mainly legs and arms. I always burn and just feel I look better with a pale biscuit glow.

I'm exactly the same as you ,I hate it.Could be sat in the sun for hours and all I'd get it a random red patches.I look and feel so much better with a bit of fake tan,however it is a bloody mess,husband was absolutely horrified when he saw the state of our white sheets in the travelodge recently.(I didn't expect that much to rub off).
So am going abroad next year and am thinking of getting a spray tan instead,I'm not sure how long they last for(only going for 5 days).Just can't be doing with the faff and time it takes and the mess of reapplying fake tan everyday.Hope it works.

Oooh that’s how I look with the tan I use (Bondi Sands foam dark) it goes kind of mottled (sort if pixelated I can’t explain it) on hol, I’m going to check out your links now thank you!

I tan before I go and then take a gradual tanner with me to fill in the gaps (feet especially awful!) while I'm there.

I use Bondi Sands foam in dark. It has a clloured guide, you put it on and leave for 4-8 hours then wash off and it lasts about 2 weeks over here but on holiday it goes all speckled in a day!

It’s like the tan comes off completely so I’m back to pale but with tan patches that aren’t a solid block of tan they are mottled, if that’s the right word.

I’m going to check out the express one as if it’s like the one I use but quicker to dry it might be the perfect solution!

Well now I know that idiot man has seen this meme! That is me though 😂

excuse pic quality … it’s so bright here I can’t see them on my phone, but here are my arms and feet with it on today. I always make sure I put loads of moisturiser on hands, elbows, knees and feet before applying. I also paid double what the glow oil is currently on offer for so it’s a good deal at the moment. Good luck !

I’ve just seen that it’s on offer, thanks for the links, and your tan looks great by the way, I wouldn’t know it wasn’t real!

Also we have the same Birkies 👍🏻

The bondi sands gradual tan is really good. Start a few days before your holiday to build up a base and do it every day or two while there. Doesn't come off patch like other tans. I'm a factor 50 wearer also. Had the same issue as you with it taking off my tan. Eventually discovered that oil free sunscreen won't take off your tan.

I am in the same boat OP but on holiday I usually don't bother with my 'proper' fake tan and use a gradual tanner. I like St Tropez watermelon body lotion as it gives me a nice colour and doesn't wash off as easily as the other stuff.

Weirdly, other St Tropez products do nothing for me (I like Bondi Sands and Isle of Paradise mousses). But I do find they easily wash off with other products so a gradual tanner is better. Just put some on each night after your shower and it should last throughout the next day even with putting suncream on etc.

I used to use fake tan a lot, I'd always go for the St Tropez gradual tan. Gradual tans are better but still there's not really an easy fix to it coming off, especially if you want to swim. Sea water will affect it as well, as does showering/ bathing a lot.

The best way to mitigate it are:

Be careful when towel drying yourself - try to dab as much as possible rather than rub.

Use gentle cleansers, nothing too harsh.

Keep showers quite short.

Always use moisturiser after a shower.

And tbh, every so often, just exfoliate the whole lot off and start again, because it will start to look bad eventually whatever you do.

Since then I have started to embrace my natural (ghost white) skin a little more, I agree it's hard, but in other ways it is so much easier to not feel the need to faff about with fake tan unless I actually want to!

Bondi sands express or gradual I find are both better than the normal one

I just use the light Dove tinted moisturiser for a bit of lift. Marian Keyes has pale skin and always looks gorgeous and says she has now embraced it. Have a look at other pale celebrities who embrace it. Michelle Williams is one.

Please don't let comments from dickheads ruin your self esteem. I love celtic colouring.

I use gradual tanner as well. Smooth it on all over just before bed. As easy as body lotion.

Thanks everyone.

I have bought a gradual tanner and a normal ‘develops in an hour then wash off the guide colour’ style of tan.

I’m going to put the self-tan on before I go then the gradual on every eve (instead of after sun) but take the self-tan if I need to top up.

Hopefully there’s more room for food and drinks this way and less time on keeping my ‘tan’ up 🙂

Thank you! I have naturally almost jet black hair which probably makes me look paler.

I think am going to start to embrace my fair colouring this Winter (I’ve made the mistake before of wearing neutrals like the cool kids when in fact my colouring looks better with bright jewel tones). Hopefully then I’ll get the confidence to go pale next summer 😊

Before your first tan, spend the week exfoliating and moisturising as much as you can to make sure the top layers of skin are in as good condition as possible. I use the Bondi sands mousse before I go.

when I’m away, I use creamy sun lotion (I find oily stuff breaks down the fake tan on the top layers of skin more quickly!) and then in the evenings use gradual tan moisturiser to both maintain my skin (and stop the original tan breaking down) as well as topping up the colour.