Like most women, I enjoy having a great looking tan during the summer
months. A tan gives your skin a healthy glow and reduces the appearance
of imperfections, giving your physique a toned look. The sad irony is that too
much exposure to sunlight can break down the elasticity in your skin and cause
irreversible damage, yikes! No one wants a jiggly, saggy, wrinkly…anything.
Most of my friends have eliminated fake-and-bake sessions, replaced tanning
goggles with oversized sunglasses and traded in accelerants for sunscreen, but
they still want that sun-kissed glow. The solution, sunless tanning…which, in
theory seems wonderful, “All the glow without the oh—no”! But, with so many
sunless alternatives on the market, it’s difficult to know what product to choose.
You can be airbrushed by a professional, sprayed in a booth by a machine or
apply lotions, self-bronzers or sprays at your own risk. Luckily, I can help save
you from the dreaded appearance of orange hands, discolored blotches/streaks
and my favorite…two-toned skin.
Over the years as the sunless tanning industry has evolved, I have evolved
with it in search of better methods/products, including: Jergens® Revitalizing
Daily Moisturizer, Lorac Tantalizer® Award Show Glow, Neutrogena® Micro Mist
Tanning Sunless Spray, InstaBronze™ Mystic Tanning Booths, Laura Geller
Baked Body Frosting and most recently Sun Laboratories Ultra Dark Sunless
Tanning Lotion.
These methods/products have one shared commonality; they give the
appearance of a tan until you need exfoliate or shave. The manufacturers
recommend you exfoliate, shave and shower before the application. I always
follow the aforementioned directions, but like most women, I shave more than
once a week. The result, your tan literally goes down the drain.
For this reason, I no longer pay for expensive airbrushing or spray-tan booth
sessions. Instead I apply my sunless tan in the comfort and privacy of my own
home.
The most recent product I tried, Sun Laboratories Ultra Dark Sunless Tanning
Solution gave me a rich-colored tan after one application. I was initially reluctant
to try the product, as the color of the lotion was dark-brown (most concentrated
lotions I’ve tried are light-beige, beige or cream-colored). As I applied the lotion, it
quickly absorbed into my skin without any visible streaking. My new tan appeared
within three hours (which was stated in the directions) and looked very dark,
evenly applied and real. I used the product three times over the course of one
week, which might have been overkill. I think using the product one-two times per
week helps give your body a great-looking tan. I also used Sun Laboratories Tan
Maintaining lotion and exfoliating body scrub.
The maintaining lotion had a light fruity (pear/citrus) scent, but was slightly
greasy. My skin felt soft and moisturized after I applied the lotion, but it didn’t
maintain my tan better than a typical body-moisturizing lotion. The exfoliating
body scrub gel contained apricot kernels and natural loofah to help slough dead
skin cells. During my shower, I slathered my body with the gel and didn’t feel it
exfoliating my skin. I might be bias though, as I’m partial to sugar and salt scrubs,
which have a thicker consistency and prefer creamy body washes, which create
a rich lather.
Although I wasn’t impressed with the maintaining lotion or exfoliating body scrub,
I would still highly recommend the Ultra Dark Sunless Tanning Solution, which
comes in lighter shades too. It is more expensive than Jergens, Neutrogena
and L’Oreal, but the effects are immediate, not gradual and last one-three
days longer (depending on your shaving/shower ratio). I also think Sun Labs
sunless tanning solution is better than Lorac’s Tantalizer® Award Show Glow. I
do like using Laura Geller’s Baked Body Frosting (which is in powder form) for
immediate results, but would recommend Sun Labs Ultra Dark Sunless Tanning
Solution for a long-lasting tan. Bottom line, after using the product for one week,
it looked like I had been on a tropical vacation.
Terrifically Tan,
Dena Riccio
Before Picture:
After Picture:
Before:
After:
Here's the link to the product: http://sunlabsonline.com/
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