Expert Answers to Your Sunless Tanning Questions

Expert Answers to Your Sunless Tanning Questions

Expert A's to Your Beauty Q's: Sunless Tanning

In each issue of WebMD the Magazine, our experts answer your questions about skin care, beauty, makeup, hair care, and more. In our July/August 2012 issue, Amber Hermann, 32, a paralegal from Abingdon, Va., asked for tips on applying sunless tanners correctly. For help, we turned to Jennifer Linder, MD (a clinical instructor of dermatology at University of California, San Francisco) and Carolyn Jacob, MD (founder and medical director of Chicago Cosmetic Surgery and Dermatology in Chicago). Here's what they had to say:

Q:  Whenever I use self-tanner, I always have at least one streaky, blotchy spot. What can I do?

Tanning Myths: What's True, What's Hype?

Beach season is here, and the great summertime tanning debate is heating up once again. Is tanning really so bad for us? What's wrong with wanting to get a little color? And if we're too busy to sunbathe outdoors, what harm could a few sessions in a tanning salon do? This year, there's a new wrinkle in the tanning debate. Even before spring break, the Indoor Tanning Association launched an aggressive campaign with full-page advertisements in major newspapers. Among other claims, the campaign contends...

Read the Tanning Myths: What's True, What's Hype? article

Jennifer Linder MD's top picks:

Streaks and spots do happen, but you have a much greater chance today of achieving an even, natural-looking tan compared with decades ago. Then, as now, self-tanners used a colorless sugar called dihydroxyacetone (DHA), which interacts with surface skin cells to produce a tanned appearance within about an hour. Streaks develop because of uneven application or an excess of built-up cells on your skin.

To avoid a "blotched job," exfoliate the areas you're going to tan before applying self-tanner. My preference for face and body is a scrub with particles that are perfectly round so they glide over the skin, removing cell debris without irritation. Try Olay Skin Smoothing Cream Scrub ($6.99) or Kiss My Face So Refined Jojoba Mint Facial Scrub ($15), a skin polisher with gentle jojoba beads.

After you exfoliate, mix your self-tanning product -- I like Jergens Natural Glow Express Body Moisturizer ($8.99) for a gradual, even tan -- with a little body moisturizer so it spreads evenly. Allow the product to dry completely before topping your skin with another light layer of moisturizer. Try PCA Skin Body Therapy ($44), a cream that provides therapeutic levels of moisture and helps keep skin free of cell debris.

I usually recommend self-tanning at night, so you can wake up, shower, and slather on your daily body moisturizer. Most self-tanners don't protect you from UV rays, so a daily sunscreen with SPF of 30 or more is a must.

Carolyn Jacob, MD's top picks

In addition to exfoliating your skin to even out the surface, my best advice is to use your hand to really blend the product in. Even distribution is key.

Then moisturize, which keeps the cells that trap the self-tanner solution on the skin longer, making your faux tan last. Incidentally, it's not a good idea to put moisturizer on right before you self-tan, because then the formula can't stick to the skin cells. The exception to this is to apply a tiny bit first to knees, elbows, ankles, and feet to help the self-tanner go on evenly.

I am a fan of Neutrogena Micro-Mist Airbrush Sunless Tan ($10.99), which provides just a hint of color with each application. If you're prone to dryness before or after self-tanning, try Avène Moisturizing Self-Tanning Lotion ($22), infused with thermal spring water, to soften and hydrate skin.