self tan and shaving

[happy_face]

Is there a "Golden rule" for this ?

I think I read or heard once that you shouldn't shave your legs prior to applying self tan as you would get spotty legs from the self tan going in to the follicles/pores ?

Is this true ?

Does anyone have any good self tan tips apart from the usual exfoliate,moisturise etc. I can never get a nice even colour on my hands no matter which self tan I've tried

[Little Lady]

It's not ideal to shave right before you appply self tan as it can send it blotchy sometimes though it may not so its down to luck on the day and your general skin type. Why not get them waxed for a change can take a while to gorw but if you have them waxed a few days before you apply tan you have hair free legs for longer.

As for applying to you hands even us therapists can find this to be tricky. The best stuff i have ever used is st. Tropez, always exfo before hand well and pay attention to areas of dryer or harder skin. e.g. elbows, heels, feet, knees etc. With st.Tropez you only moisturise these areas to as well as your hands and any creases were the tan may gather. e.g. the insides of your wrists or backs of ankles. Make sure you apply the tan evenly if you leave any patched these will be white, use half mixes with moisturiser on hands, feet, inner arms and legs, basically places that don't go as brown as other places. Make sure you put a half mix on your face and blend with moisturiser around your hairline and wrists etc. I have tried lots and can say this is definitely worth the money you pay. Hope this helps.........

[atolhurst]

I use 'Holiday Skin' by Johnson's. It's a moisturiser with tanning lotion in it. I exfoliate once a week and use this moisturiser once a day. As it builds a tan over several applications, there's no clear streaky/blotchyness.

I always have to wash my hands afterwards though as it builds up quicker there, and I don't want my plams being bright orange.

if you don't want to use Johnson's, try using your own moisturiser and add tanning lotion to that. Probably a bit cheaper (Johnson's is �4.50ish) but I'm afraid to do that in case I add too much lotion, and end up looking like I've been tango'd.

[keilo]

I agree that St.Tropez is the best, and I'm very fair skinned so not much works well without going orange. The technique I use for my hands that works really well is to apply all over, wash your hands (including the wrists) and dry. Then rub the backs of hands in a stroking motion on the last area you applied (e.g. upper arm) a couple of times, then rub the front portion of wrist just once. Now if anybody has any tips on not getting streaky feet, that's one I haven't figured out yet!