Three Tips for Flawless Self Tanning
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(We’re very lucky at wht. Not only do we get to try a lot really amazing products (like this), we get testers who love some products so much, they volunteer to write about them! So please give Katie a warm welcome in her wht review debut of Xen-Tan’s Deep Bronze Instant Self-Tan. ~S)
It’s true. Brown flab is nicer than pasty white, never-seen-the-sun, flab. I’m not even one of those girls that is fair-haired and fair-skinned and is burn-only. I can get a pretty good tan, if I work at it. But I just do NOT want to get cancer. Nor, in 15-20 years, do I want to look like the brown leather couch that my parents have in their living room!
There are three basic steps to a fabulous fake glow.
1. Exfoliate. Exfoliate. Exfoliate. Give your legs, arms, chest, shoulders a good SCRUB. A salt scrub or other really gritty scrub works well. Shaving should be included in this step because you don’t want to shave off your tan the next day if you can help it!
2. Moisturize. Moisturize. Moisturize. You really want to be generous with the lotion rub every drop in. This step is dual purpose. Fully hydrated skin holds the tan longer. Plus, it helps to avoid unsightly splotches and streaks in the color.
3. Don’t be stingy. Be generous with the squirt self-tanner. Use a (moderately) big blob for every limb, carefully working it all over each leg or arm completely before moving on to the next one.
Self-tanners have really come a long way since their inception. You can still find orange-in-a-bottle if you so choose. But for a $25-$30 investment in a decent self-tanner, these results can be avoided! I was so lucky to get to try Xen-Tan’s Deep Bronze Instant Self-Tan ($26). They call it “a great once-a-week sunless tanning lotion, beautifully-sheer instant color. Long lasting sunless tan.” I’m proud to say that Xen-tan has trumped TooFaced’s Tanning Bed in a Tube as my new favorite self tanner. The Xen-Tan Deep Bronze is already a milky brown when it comes out of the tube, so you can instantly see where it’s going and that you have it rubbed in well! It only takes about 3 hours for the full color to appear on your skin. And it smells like cocoa butter – yum! (It’s actually based on a vanilla latte ~S. ) It really is the most natural, “comes from within” color I’ve ever gotten. And I’ve tried ’em all – Decleor, Clarins, Dior, Clinique, Bliss, TooFaced, you name it! Bottom line: I HEART the Xen-Tan.
You know what I did right after I tried Xen-tan for the first time? Threw out all my other self tanners! My cabinet was like a tanning graveyard. I had 6 different products, all promising great results. But there they sat in the cabinet after only one use each. They all had 2 things in common, 2 really BAD things. They stank that weird self tanner stink (chemicals and flowers, yum!) and they turned me a different shade of orange.
Xen-Tan is amazing cause it does neither of these things. I was totally prepared for both. First you’re hit with that yummy vanilla scent. Wow, it’s like a body lotion. No weird underlying chemicals at all.
Then the color. No orange, none. I really couldn’t believe my eyes. I looked tan, actual, real tan. Amazing!
If you’ve tried self tanners before and thought “never again” Xen-tan’s going to make you chnange your mind.
Great post Kate. I love the bit about brown flab vs. white flab, so true. I’m regretting not getting this now after your glowing review. I swore off self tanners a few years ago after a run in with Clarins gel. I may be stopping at Nordstrom’s on my way home!
It’s always the same, isn’t it? Self tanners always promise they won’t turn you orange. Then there you stand in the mirror, looking like an oompa loompa.
I was totally skeptical. I’d rather me white than orange! But Xen Tan has made this pale girl very happy. It really is great color. It smells really good. And it doesn’t streak! I didn’t have blotchy knees. (Good tips too Katie).
Totally worth the price. I can look like I belong among the living again!
Welcome to our latest wht writer, Katie! Ladies, let me tell you, this girl knows her stuff. Katie has most likely tested every beauty product on the market and always gives her honest assessment.
So, like Stef and Susan, I am second guessing my vow to never again use another self-tanner. If Xen Tan gets such praise from our katie, I am going to need to turn my white flab into brown flab for the summer months!
I feel like even a bad orange-skin experiment is STILL better than Cancer any day.
And I last week, after I had written the review, I did a reapplication with only one day between and I looked super tan and dark – but then I got a pedicure with a really good scrub and my knees down were sort of back to white again. But the really big difference let me know that Xen-tan really works.
I have to agree with the ladies above! I never shyed away from self tanners because i am so pale, especially my legs. No matter what, they just won’t tan. I too like Stef have a self tanning grave yard in my bathroom. but i got rid of them all and LOVE the Xen Tan. I was just in florida and of course my legs are super white. Anyway, its super hot and muggy down there so i figured what better time to give it a try so i can actually wear a pair of shorts. The smell is pleasent enough. but the main thing is my legs got color right away. As the day went on they got a color that was just right so that i could wear shorts without blinding anyone. I really like it that its colored so you can actually see where you are putting it on. No streaks!!!
I just might have to try this. I am very light skinned and I hate my blinding white legs during the summer. I just do not tan and don’t think it’s safe to try. This sounds great in the fact that it smells good and doesn’t turn you orange. I was going to spring for Lindsay Lohen’s new self tanner (seriously??) but I think I will try this one.
I am so glad I got to try Xen-Tan. Thanks so much for the sample ladies. I always thought that orange was better than white white. I was happy with orange flab.
Now, as god is my witness, I will never be orange again! I love my new bronze flab. My legs are too the worst. I’m a very fair skinned red head that is in the pool everyday for exercise. I found that I needed to apply more than once a week but that was fine with me. I also threw out my old tanners. I love the way my knees have no dark lines around them and the smell is so much better. I can put it on and go in public and not worry about my smelly self. I’m sold!!
I typically fear self-tanners. They all seem to make me look like a deranged oompa loompa, so I have a justifiable fear. I last self-tanned a few years ago. I sprang for an expensive self-tanner that will remain nameless (hint: it rhymes with Blarins) and I looked like an orange zebra. Oh, the horror…I trust you ladies, so I’m adding the Xen Tan to my shopping list…
Nicole, I would never have allowed you to buy anything Lindsay Lohan was selling. Never. I’d lose my bff card if I did.
The funny thing is the product she’s selling!! A Lindsay endorsed vodka? or red bull? or hair extensions? I still wouldn’t buy them, but it would sort of make sense. But poor Lindsay is queen of the orange loompa look! Why would anyone want to copy that?
True story some of you ladies may have heard already. I am super pale, like glow in the dark pale. One night I was wearing a shortish skirt out to dinner and the clubs. As I was applying some gloss in the restroom of the Lava Lounge, (RIP) a girl said to me ”I just love your tights! The sheen is great, where did you get them? Needless to say, I was bare legged and the white glossy “tights” were my deathly pale legs. I think I need to try this stuff!
I hate self tanners because of the icky self tanner smell you get afterward. Don’t get me wrong…I still use them, but if you found one that doesn’t smell then I need it. Great write up Katie!
I’m no self tanner, I’m pale as Casper but if I was into it this is what I’d use. I have some peeps who use self tanner though, and I will tell them about Xen-Tan. Great post Katie! =)
Good news straight from Xen Tan- they’ve launched a new website, complete with charts to help you find the right product and tips for perfect application (though Katie gave you some great ones in this post too!)
But best of all? Use code VACATION09 till August 30th and get 15% off! Just in time for summer.
Wow this stuff smells amazing when you apply it sort of like citrus with a hint of vanilla. However after a few hours it smells like fake tan but nowhere near as strong as other products. The colour makes up for this though it’s amazing no streaks and a natural been on holiday tan not a supernatural orange glow. I had several people ask me if i had been away. would totally reccomend.
Hi Hannah! Welcome to weheartthis! Yum – I love citrus and vanilla combined together (sounds much better than most tanning products). Yet another review that had no issues with getting an orange, fakey looking tan. If I ever decide to go for the tan look again, Xen-Tan is the only product I’ll use.
This is such a good product, I am fair with red-hair so I do not tan. I am so tired of burning in the sun and wasting my money in beds and sprays. This is honestly such a good product and so affordable. The color that it gives me is so natural and I get compliments everywhere!