Victorians did not like the sun. I can’t understand that! They were not the only ones in Greek and Roman times, women whitened their skin with lead paint and chalk to a literally deathly pallor and Elizabethan ladies painted on blue veins to affect translucent skin. WHY!
It wasn’t until Ms Coco Chanel skipped off a yacht, sporting a beautiful, bronzed skin in early 1920’s, It definitely wasn’t intentional, but then being tanned was suddenly ‘the ‘in’ thing’.
By the mid-1920s, Factory and mine workers did not have the money to sun themselves on a fancy holiday, so it was only the wealthy who had a suntan.
Aside from being fashionable, the notice realised how incredibly sliming and flattering it was to be beautiful golden caramel colour.
From the thirties onwards, tanning entered the mainstream, then with the arrival of the first bikinis in the fifties, came the first (near) all-over tan.
The first self-tanning products appeared in the 1960’sand gained popularity because Government health authorities confirmed the links to UV exposure and skin cancer.
At the time it was just a brown dye, nowhere near the sophisticated formulas we use today. A consistent tan became a possibility for those who could not afford to winter in the Caribbean. Some women even used tea bags to tint the skin, the first fake tan product hit the market as “Man Tan”. During World war II.
The early spray and rub on tanners had an off colour which made you look tangoed and the smell was ridiculous, and they did not have conditioners and used an unnatural form of DHA, so you ended up looking like a well-done piece of streaky bacon and smelled like old biscuits!
But theses day that has been resolved, a good job as the market is worth over a billion globally. Today they profile you with a natural glow to a deep chocolate tan and the DHA is derived from plant sources.
Just having a great self-tan is not enough on its own, you must take care of your skin, making sure its hydrated and exfoliated so you get an even long-lasting colour, this will also help your colour fade evenly. Avoid products with heavy oils in them as it can loosen the tan leading to patchiness.
To exfoliate I have been using Clarins body scrub (£30), it contains natural bamboo powders and a hint of ginger, so your skin is smooth and fresh, and to moisturiser I have been using is Bondi sands comes in 500mls bottle with a pump (£9). It has a beautiful coconut scent enriched with Jojoba and vitamin E, it also has antioxidant protection which shields the skin from environmental assaults and leaves my skin hydrated and radiant.
Once my skin is prepared, I put on my gloves and use a GAIYAH self-Tanning mitt (£6), it has an Anti-slip wrist which I love because your glove does not fly off halfway through!!Also remember to shave the day before, this will help your tan last longer.
I normally start at my ankles with my Bondi sand liquid gold (£15) I find this tanner gives me a lovely natural colour, I have tried many over the years and find the colour just was not right on my skin, when I used fake bake, I felt I looked a tinge green, not a good look! Anyway, I work my way up making sure it is even, I get Peter to do my back but if he is not around, I use a back applicator from GAIYAH (£8), missing out my feet, hands and face as I use a Kabuki brush (£7) for those areas. The brush gives a nice even look.
On my face I did use Lancôme Flash gel bronzer (£27.50) which has a lovely texture, leaving my skin golden but sadly Its discontinued. But over the past month I have moved on to Bondi Pure face mist, its lightweight mist is enriched with hyaluronic acid, vitamin C and E and is 100% recyclable. I just close my eyes and spray evenly over my face, then blend with my brush. Leave overnight and shower off in the morning. I normally top up my face, neck and hands after 3 days to keep it looking fresh.
Happy Tanning
Helena
Links to products – Asterisks are affiliated links, these help with running costs of the Blog
https://www.clarins.co.uk/exfoliating-body-scrub/80027223.ht