I have been on the hunt for a good one going on 10 years now and have never found one I'd buy a second time. I have tried somewhere in the 50's plus by now and am really getting sick of the search. My criteria is that the brand must not test on animals which eliminates the majority of drugstore brands except for a few. Must not stink, must dry quickly, and must not cost a lot of 4 for a tiny amount. I have tried creams, lotions, gels, sprays, mousses you name it! I have fair skin and even the one's that state for a med-dark tan I still get barely any color! It's like self tanners just do not want to stick to me skin. I have the most trouble tanning my face. My legs usually take color well and arms, but my face..it's like a completely different type of skin! Anyhow, if anyone swears by the self tanner they use and it doesn;t test on animals 9if you don't know then just tell me the brand cause I'll know), doesn't have that gross self tanner smell or perfumey smell, dries fast, has worked on your face, and doesn't cost a ton of $4 for a tiny amount then let me know what you use please. I have tried the bottom of the barrel cheapie stuff to really pricey and it's all been the same.

I've heard California North Titanium self taner is THE best, but you can only buy it online.

I'm curious about your pre-tanning routine. What type of shower gel/soap do you use? Are you exfoliating - and if so, with what? Are you applying anything to your skin prior to tanning - like a moisturizer of any kind?

I definitely am an old pro when it comes to self tanning as I have been doing it for 10 years now so I ex-foliate w/ a sugar scrub/Shea butter scrub or salt scrub and moisturize directly after I get out of the shower or bath (before applying tanner) let moisturizer totally sink in and then apply tanner. I use a gel bath gel, but have used soap and gel creams as well over the past ten years. Nothing I use before applying has anything to do w/ the lack of results I get as I have used all types of products before hand and never had any change in results unfortunately.

what about neutrogena? I've had good results with them

Neutrogena tests on animals.

I would suggest something with a higher percentage of DHA - like SUN UD or DS, or one of the airbrush tanning solutions (which can be applied without an airbrush).

I'll look into the higher DHA content. Thanks!

Every container of self tanner I have used has said to moisutrize before applying self tanner. Regardless, over the past 10 years of using them I have tried everythign from not moisturizing to moisturizing right before to an hour or more before and I get the same non-existant results. Trust me, it's not my method that's preventing this from working as I have tried eveything imaginable. And Banana Boat tests on animals so they're not an option for me though before I knew they tested I did use them (many years ago) and had the same poor results.

I saw a program on TV a few years ago that said to mix lotion with the tanner in your hand before applying. It works great for me. Leaves no streaks this way.

I use tan towels and I love them. I have been using them for a couple of years now. In fact, my kids and I just bought a pack of 100 and are using them like crazy. I have 4 girls ages 10-17 and we all have different skin types and we all love them. They work great.

I forgot to tell you also that I use 1-2 depending on how much I want to cover and I only use them every other week. I'm not as dark by the time I hit the second week, but I still have some color which is all I care about. I don't do my face, I use a bronzer on it.

Tan towel user for a couple years too. love em!!!
Question to veggigodess: Does Clarins test on animals too?? curious
thanx
:wave:

I shall try the towels then!

No, Clarins does not test on animals. Very few department store cosmetics brands do luckily. The one's that do and some of these are haircare are Kenneth Cole, Marc Jacobs, Lancome, Matrix, Ralph Lauren, Redken, & Giorgio Armani, Shu Uemura, La Roche, Kiehl's, and CCB. Many of these are owned by Loreal who tests on animals so the while the companies they own may not necessairly test on animals, buy buying their products one would be supporting the testing because of who they're owned by.

thanks, i use clarins tanner off and on for the face or alba botanicals(from healthfood store)and use tan towels for my body-i try to stick to natural products as much as possible, so i'm glad to hear-ooh one thing for tan towels just make sure you exfoliate you hands/wrists and ankles/feet reallly well and you;ll be good ;) and just in case you were wondering i have and do use it on my face(which is sensitive:) with no streaks or problems
D :bouncing:

I'll look into these and see if they work for me! My main issue is getting my face to tan. I'll use the same product on my arms, legs, face and neck and everything except my face will tan! So annoying! I have a stubborn face!

interesting because my body will tan too(thank you tan towel) but not my face(just a little) so thats why i buy a seperate tanner to use constantly on my face on top of the tan towel to try to tan it-which takes alot and cannot aford to use tan towels on my face all the time(expensive!!) maybe we lack something in our skin-you have pale skin too right??? i'm half french and half italian so you would think i would have nice dark skin or at least tan easily...lol- i just get red in the sun but now i use sooo much sunscreen i dont know anymore if i would tan or not..lol
well at least someone else has my problems too:confused:

I use tan towels and I love them. I have been using them for a couple of years now. In fact, my kids and I just bought a pack of 100 and are using them like crazy. I have 4 girls ages 10-17 and we all have different skin types and we all love them. They work great.


What brand do you use, and how much do they cost? Thanks.

I use Estee Lauder's Go Bronze tinted self tan for Face for my Face and the Body version for everything else. There is definitely a difference in the consistency between the body and the face creams. They work amazing. I absolutely love love love this stuff. However, they do leave a smell - unfortunately, ANY self tanner you use will because of it's reaction to your body. It's easily solved though. Here's what I do. I take a shower at like 7 pm (exfoliate everything) and immediately afterwards, apply it to my face, legs, arms and chest. I sit around in a towel for like a half hour (it will get on your clothes) and kind of air out. Wear VERY loose clothing to bed. By the morning, you will be tan, but smelly. Take a shower, but don't scrub, just kind of softly use shower gel. Pat yourself dry and you will have a great tan and won't smell at all. :wave:

Hey and thanks for the recommendation. I just can't do the smelly one's though. Luckily technology wise there's many un-scented or pleasantly scented options now so I go for those. I have used the icky smelly one's that either have that "self tanner smell" or a perfumey smell and it's just too overwhelming to have to keep on all night long and I usually wake up w/ an upset tummy from having to breath it in all night. The rest of your routine is basically the same as mine w/ any self tanner except I also buy quick drying self tanners now only so where I apply it totaly dry in 15 min or less and I have actually never gotten any self tanner on my clothing.

definitely do neutrogenas sunless tanning INSTANT BRONZING FOAM...it works best if u apply it before bed..then taking a shower when u wake up

To those of you that use bronzer on your face, what kind of bronzer do you use? Is it a powder?

I wouldn't suggest Neutrogena self tanning foam the smell was so intense I blacked out one day from it.

definitely do neutrogenas sunless tanning INSTANT BRONZING FOAM...it works best if u apply it before bed..then taking a shower when u wake up
Neutrogena tests on animals so they're not an option for me. I also have used them in the past before I knew they tested and like the others they did not do anything for me.

me also-neutrogena and i DO NOT get a long..lol-smelly, orange color-hard to apply-eww reminds me of chemicals.

ok anyway i just tried the new jergens cream(for fair skin)(forget the name already:) that moisturizes but develops color in a week or so and its great. every morning after my shower(i lightly exfoliate) i apply like a moisturizer and its been a week and a nice darker glow skin color-no streaks-just wanted to share!!!
D :bouncing:
**oh i haven't checked the ingredients out yet(which isn;'t like me to not tdo that first..lol) but i think it would be pore clogging for my sensitive face:(
i'll update

There is a new tanning towel out by Loreal too! I've tried the tanning towels (bought mine on ebay pretty cheap) and they work really good. They can get expensive though, depending on how often you use them. I visit a tanning bed twice a week (that's it) no more than 20 minutes just for my body, and I keep just enough color without damaging my skin.

I believe that tanning beds are safe if you do not get burned, tan slowly, and don't overdue it. Of course, you will need to moisturize afterward. ;)

Has anyone tried the st tropez self tanning? Seems to be working pretty good. I'm new on using self tanners so still working out the kinks to get evenly on.

I just bought a new tanning spray, Neutrogena Micro Mist, which you can spray from any angle, and it dries almost instantly. The first application was a little tricky b/c I wasn't sure how it was going to show up, and a couple of places on my legs were missed, and a few were overlapped and a little dark. So, trial and error, I guess. It was amazingly easy to spray my back, though, which is something I've always had trouble with using lotions and other foaming tanners. I think there are a few so-called air-brush tanning sprays now, and with the fine mist that comes out of the can rather it's much easier to get an even application. I also have very very fair skin, and I don't like looking too orangey, and I'm pleased with the color this spray gives me. Also, you can spray only the tops of your arms where sun would normally hit so it looks a bit more natural and you don't get a harsh line where you stop spraying like you would get with a lotion.

Overall, 2 giant thumbs up!

I'm not quite sure, but I watch the home shopping network and qvc all time. Bare Essential's Faux Tan self tanner looks okay. On HSN, Toni's Tanning Body butter looks great. Maybe you should try that. I was thinking of ordering that for myself.

Oh I'm so happy I jumped off the tanning bandwagon and I don't have to worry about this anymore. But anyway, veggigoddess, when I tried self-tanners last year I tried Bath and Body Works Foaming Self-Tanner with a built-in bronzer... I liked it a lot! It was really easy... didn't streak, wasn't orange, I think the only "downfall" of it was that it didn't really last for more than a few days. I'm not sure if they test on animals, but if not, you might want to check it out!

jergens natural glow, (fair, or medium skin)is great. Only $7

i second the jergens natural glow. I use the medium version and LOVE it. Right now at my wal-mart it's on sale for like $5

ok its been about 2 weeks or so since i bought the new jergens glow(for fair skin) and its great!!! love it!!! i did try it on my face and it felt a little heavy and i did break out a little so for now will use only on the body!!!
a must try for the price
D :bouncing:

now i just need to buy my old standby for the face-clarins gel, but wanted something a little deeper but not sure what to use??? heard banana boat was good but cannot find here in Toronto, ON-CANADA..hmmm

ones i've tried for face: estee lauder bronzer-ok color but hated the way it went on though and sparkly..lol, neutrogena-AWFULL-all of them, no ad-too light, coppertone-yukky-orange, tan towel-good but expensive, vichy-nice but expensive and light, alba botanicals(from health food store) nice but heavy on skin-light too-ok probably have tried more but cannot think of them right now.

need a nice dark glow for face!!!!!

Hands down, the Jergen's Natural Glow!! Works subtle and looks very natural.