Protect Your Skin from an Uneven Tan

Unless you’re shooting for some sort of new-fangled tiger look, beware the stripes of overly dark and overly pale skin that some self-tanners produce on your skin. A common self-tanning mistake, this one is possible to solve! AuerSaver Tanning & Fitness offers this sage advice:

Prepare your skin by exfoliating every morning in the shower a few days before you apply self-tanner (try Banana Boat’s VitaSkin Pre-Sunless Skin Smoother Exfoliating Scrub, $5; at drugstores). Use a moisturizer liberally for the days before you self-tan, but not immediately before-hand (it will interfere with the self-tanner’s absorption). Shaving also exfoliates, so it’s OK to do that a day ahead of time too. And wait at least a full day before de-fuzzing again; doing so sooner will shorten the life of your tan. (The same goes for waxing, says Viotto: Give yourself at least a day or two before–and after–your self-tanning application.)

Also, don’t speed up the tanner application process. Instead, take your time and be careful to fully rub the product in. If you’re still experiencing streaking, it could be due to your quick-drying foam…replace this with a lotion. This will buy you some extra time to smooth out uneven spots. And one more tip on this subject: built-in tints also reduce the chance of unflattering streaks.