how to self tan your hands & feet
How do you get perfectly tanned hands and feet?
There’s nothing worse than finishing your self-tan routine and discovering you’ve been left with a patchy finish on your hands and feet. It can be slightly embarrassing, plus it definitely gives away that you haven’t really been spending time in the sun. Luckily, there’s easy steps you can follow to perfectly tan your hands and feet, achieving results that will naturally compliment the rest of your sun-kissed glow.
Step 1: Exfoliating
Before you start tanning, you’ll need to do some essential pre-tan pampering. Exfoliating your skin is key to getting the perfect base for a more even tan application. After showering, use an exfoliating mitt or natural scrub and gently buff your hands and feet in circular motions to remove dead skin cells. It also helps to remove previous self-tan from your skin that might be left over from your last tanning routine. It’s best to do this the night before you’re planning to tan so the skin can relax overnight.
Step 2: Moisturising
Next, you’ll need to make sure your hands and feet are hydrated. Hands, in particular, can get extremely dry as they’re exposed to the elements and to a lot of product whilst being washed throughout the day, so it’s important to focus on them. Self-tan has a habit of sticking to dry areas, so show extra TLC to your knuckles, palms and ankles, which are prone to dryness. Be careful when choosing your moisturiser as oil-based products may cause your tan to fade more quickly: oil can break down the DHA found in self-tan.
Step 3: Application
It’s finally tanning time and there’s several things you can do for a professional, streak-free finish. Choose a self-tanning product that’s right for you, remembering to consider shade and format: we have several varieties in our sunless self-tanning range.
You want to avoid overdoing it, so be cautious with the amount of product you use. If there’s leftover self-tan product on your tanning mitt, this can often be enough for your hands and feet. If not, apply as little product as possible.
When tanning your hands, create a claw-like shape so you’re able to reach the inside of each finger with your mitt. Afterwards, straighten your fingers and sweep over them again to ensure you’ve covered all of the creases. For a more natural look, focus on tanning the tops of your hands as this is where the sun would naturally reach.
For feet tanning, stretch your foot by pointing your toes downwards and sweep over the area. Again, focus primarily on the top of your foot for a more natural look. Also, remember to stand on a dark towel…nobody wants to accidentally tan their bathroom floor!
Step 4: Finishing touches
To get that professional finish, grab a make-up wipe at the end of your routine and clean up around your cuticles, nails, palms and soles of your feet to remove excess product. It also helps to lightly wipe down the inside of your wrist and ankles to avoid harsh lines – we don’t want any awkward tan lines.
Top tanning tips for your hands and feet
If you’re still anxious about self-tanning your hands and feet, we’ve got some extra tanning tips that will help you achieve a faultless finish.
- If you’re worried about blending, swap out your tanning mitt with a make-up brush. It’ll give you more control when applying the tan and naturally blend as you go.
- Usually apply your self-tan in circular motions? Try using sweeping motions instead for a more even application – just remember to blend.
- At the end of your routine, before your tan begins to develop, moisturise again to help soften your tan.
How do you fix tanning mistakes?
Made a mistake whilst tanning? Don’t panic! There’s always a solution to tanning slip-ups.
- If you’ve missed a spot, simply add a little more self-tan to the missed patch, along with the surrounding area, and blend well.
- If you notice any patches of darker tanned areas, try exfoliating slightly to lighten the colour.
- Need to remove a bigger mistake? Fix it quickly with a self-tan remover.