Secret Ingredients For a Streak-free, Faux Tan

I’ve turned a corner in my life, and I am very proud of myself. Hear me out.

I was always the girl who slathered baby oil on their body and would lay in the sun until I had reached exhaustion. Being the Irish/German/Swiss/American mutt that I am, I would turn 10 shades of red before I would reach golden goddess status. With that came a price – sun damage. Mainly on my nose, decollaté, and a little bit on my face, although I like to call them freckles. I’ve been working my a$$ off correcting sun damage through mainly skincare, and avoiding the sun was a big Rx from my facialist. I LIVE for the sun. I don’t function well without a sunny day. This winter has been a real challenge on my productivity, especially not drinking caffeine… but back to the sun.

Years ago when I was a beauty buyer, we sold Tan Towels. They were a top seller all year long. I never tried them out, almost always choosing the real version (or gasp… a tanning bed?!). After making the care of my skin a priority and sunning my body less, I’ve been on the hunt for a sunless tanner that won’t streak or turn orange on my ghostly white complexion. My favorite hands down, after being right in front of me all these years, is the Tan Towel.

It’s super easy to use and transport. They are packaged as single use towellettes, and one towel will work for your entire body. If I want a little bit more color, I use two. No streaking whatsoever, and a shade of tan that actually looks like a real tan that lasted for at least four days with little maintenance. Case in point – photo below on my recent trip to Rio. I sat in the shade almost the entire time. This was our first evening there, I was as tan as the rest of the ladies who had spent time on the beach. The only thing missing is that post beach glow – so my secret for achieving is to apply a shimmer on top of the self tanner. My favorite is a new brand I’ve discovered called Willa – Born to Glow, Daily Tinted Shimmer. It has SPF 15, a slight shimmer, perfect for highlighting and contouring for a beach ready bod, and the slight tint covers imperfections, like veiny legs (my ish). Unlike other shimmer body products I’ve used, this dries very quickly and doesn’t end up all over your clothes.