These 4 Self-Tanning Fails Are Pretty Much Unavoidable—Here's How to Fix Them
As an avid DIY tanner, I know that nothing ruins a cute beach look faster than an embarrassing faux glow faux pas. And unfortunately, when it comes to self-tanning, mistakes happen—a lot. From the proper prep to making sure you get all those hard-to-reach spots, there's room for error every step of the way.
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But I'm here to give you some good news: Even if you royally screw up your next glow session, there are ways to remedy it. I put the following fixes—recommended by Sophie Evans, St. Tropez’s skin finishing expert—to the test, and they really did work (though some better than others).
THE FAIL: You Missed A Spot
THE FIX: Wash-Off Body Bronzer
Why it works: It's the easiest way to disguise any areas of skin that your tanning mitt missed. For precise application, take a makeup brush and use it to apply a temporary body bronzer like St. Tropez One Night Only ($16, ulta.com) to the spot. My Casper-white skin instantly vanished—just make sure to really blend it in so it seamlessly matches your golden glow.
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THE FAIL: You Have a Super Dark Streak
THE FIX: Veet Hair Removal Cream
Why it works: A hair depilatory cream to get rid of a dark streak? I thought this seemed absolutely crazy, but it turns out that the chemicals in the formula help break down darker pigments on the top layer of skin. Evans suggested using a Q-Tip to apply the removal cream over the streak and said to leave it on for half of the amount of time Veet recommends (which is usually five to 10 minutes). I found that I had to wait all 10 minutes—after five minutes my streak had lightened, but it didn’t totally match the rest of my body. Another five minutes later, the streakiness disappeared. Just beware that leaving Veet ($8, amazon.com) on for too long can completely remove the self-tanner, so to be safe, break up the process into smaller intervals like I did.
THE FAIL: Your Tan Is Uneven
THE FIX: Baking Soda and Lemon
Why it works: Both of these household items can even out your tan: The baking soda gently exfoliates, while the acidity from the lemon lightens the color. After cutting a lemon in half, I sprinkled baking soda on top and began to rub. This technique was very messy. The lemon juice and pulp got all over me, and the granules from the baking soda slightly irritated my skin if I pressed too hard. In my opinion, this isn't the most practical thing to do if your goal is to even out large parts of your body, but it's great for smaller, dark patches that form in between your elbows, behind your knees, near your armpits, and on your neck.
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THE FAIL: Your Color Is Too Orange
THE FIX: Baby Oil and Hot Water (and Some Serious Scrubbing!)
Why it works: The combination of baby oil and hot water makes exfoliating your body more efficient—and exfoliation is key when it comes to fading a too-orange tan. As soon as I applied the oil, I felt like one of those glistening bodybuilders (sans chiseled washboard abs). Following Evans's advice, I waited 10 minutes to let the baby oil soak in before getting into the shower. I turned the water's temperature up as hot as I could handle and began scrubbing away. I'm not going to lie, you need to scrub a ton and definitely use an exfoliation mitt (like the Dermasuri Deep Exfoliating Mitt Body Scrub, $20, amazon.com) for the best results. But after 10 solid minutes of vigorously rubbing my body, I rinsed off to see if it worked. Success! My color had definitely faded to a more natural shade.
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