Back in the 90's, when self tanner was surging onto the market, I remember watching a light-skinned friend turn a rusty shade of orange seemingly overnight. She suffered from what I like to call the "self tanner dirt effect," where the stain from the lotion faded into pale on her hands and feet, and a streak or two of tanning product mixed with sweat rippled down her legs. Over a decade and a half later, I've sampled just about every product on the market, completing my own quest for the perfect sunless tan. I hope you enjoy my findings.
The Best Smell: St. Tropez Bronzing Mist
The much talked about St. Tropez Bronzing Mist comes with a foam sponge for perfect blending, but I preferred to just use my hands. The color looked good and the smell was almost perfume-like which is rare in a self tanner. The color deepens in a few hours which may have caused me to over-spray a bit in the beginning trying to achieve an acceptable shade of brown, but nonetheless there was little to no streaking and the spray dried quickly. At $26.00 this tanner falls in the mid-range category, believe it or not, and also comes in a gel and lotion.
The Most Affordable Option:
Jergens Natural Glow Daily Moisturizer
Of course I had to try the Jergens Natural Glow Daily Moisturizer because it is the one low-priced tanner that I consistently hear about. The key to the Jergens formula is that it is a gradual tanner so you cannot totally sabotage your skin, but on the down-side, you have to use it daily or at least every other day to get a deep color. Unfortunately, the smell tends to permeate and I tried to cover it up with perfume, but just like air freshener in the bathroom, it did not work. Eventually, I was able to adjust my nose to the smell, but anyone in the general public who got too close to me may disagree, but for only $5.99 I will continue to use it as long as my sniffer can handle the fumes...neighbors beware.
The Easiest Option: Tantowel Plus
The biggest surprise was how much I liked the tanning towellete I tried as an afterthought when I saw the convenient little packages up by the register of one of my favorite beauty boutiques. Tantowel Plus claims to be the odorless, colorless, no streaking tan towlette and sells for $3.50 for one towel which can color only two legs, max. I would debate the odorless claim, but it was not one of the more offensive. I found using the towellete very easy and not as messy as I had expected. The towellette goes on clear, so again it is hard to determine the exact color you will get, but it left no mess on my hands and no drips of stained color on my bathroom floor. The real benefit of these towellettes is that you can carry them in your purse and never be without a tan in an emergency.
The Best Color:
Sircuit Skin's Sircuit Soliel
My favorite of all the bottle tanners was a little known and expensive brand that had been suggested to me by the owner of a small beauty boutique in Malibu. Although Sircuit Skin's Sircuit Soliel carries the traditional odor of one part beach and two parts burned flesh, the color was beautiful. Also, the color shows immediately so I could control my level of darkness. This tanner went on the darkest of any others, with only one application and it was immediately a natural looking color. All of Sircuit Skin's products take advantage of something known as Chiral Technology which observes that all molecules have two sides and when you use only the effective side you are guaranteed that each ingredient has the greatest targeted benefits as possible, blah, blah, blah. Being that I dropped Chemistry in college, all I care about is the color and this tanner is the self-proclaimed product for tanorexics. Sircuit Soliel did look so perfect that no skin color could naturally be that great, but I wouldn't let a little thing like that stop me form using this gold in a bottle. Someone even complimented me within five hours on my healthy glow. You could never get this evenly bronze and beautiful from the real thing and this bottle doesn't come with a side of skin cancer, so as long as you can live with the $50 price tag this is your tanner.
In the end, the most important factor in achieving that beautiful shimmer is to exfoliate, blend well and consistently re-apply. Without these steps you can have a problem with even the best tanner. The other big factor is the smell and whether you can handle smelling like toasted flesh for a day or two. I will probably not be a beautiful bronze every time I go out of the house because I am just not dedicated enough, but the sun will definitely reflect, yet again, off my perfectly brown skin when the occasion calls for it. See you at the beach.