spruced by marlene

Asked in an interview what quality he’d most like to change about himself, the comedian Conan O’Brien once said: „My inability to tan”. I laughed out loud when I read it. Then I reached for my bottle of self tan lotion.

You see, I don’t tan either. Rather, I collect freckles between June and August, mostly on my face and arms. My legs, however, stay firmly in December. Sure, I could insist that I just got back from my all inclusive vacation – in Siberia. But I’d rather not look like winter in summer. Since I use sunscreen religiously, and avoid sunbeds for health reasons, the only other option is to self tan.

I tried a tanning shower once. I came out of that experience with the colour of a roast chicken and smelling curiously like air freshener. Tanning sprays also don’t work for me. I’ve had the best results with lotions or mousse that give off colour gradually. When it comes to beauty products, my attitude is normally: the less effort involved the better. But I do what’s required when using self tan. So I scrub, moisturize, apply the self tan in the evening, so it can absorb properly over night, rather than doing it in the morning and having to waddle around the apartment like a demented duck, waiting for the stuff to dry.

I recently bought „Perfect Legs Gradual Tan” from This Works. When I looked at the price, I wondered if I had suffered sunstroke. But when I put on my white silk dress for the first time last week, with legs no longer the same colour as the dress, and instead a light, streak-free brown with not a tinge of orange, I thought: it was worth it. The self tanning towelettes from Comodynes and the „Gradual Tan” gel from St. Tropez have also passed my test. And I’ve heard good things about the „Alpha Beta Glow Pads” from Dr. Dennis Gross as well as the „Liquid Bronze” lotion from Clarins.

Any that you’d recommend?