Self Tanner: Tips For Beginners With Bali Body

Hi Darlings, in today’s post we are talking about Self Tanner and I’m giving you my Tips For Beginners.

This post is in collaboration with Bali Body who kindly sent these products to me to review. As you guys know, I have worked with them before and both products I’ve reviewed I loved (check out the review of their BB Cream and the Glow Sticks).

So when they offered me to review the new Self Tan Remover, I’ve said yes but I told them that I actually have never tried a self tanner (which, side note, is what they’re famous for) so they offered me the entire kit to try it for you.

I might have had a minor freak out because I didn’t know where to start from, I had a lot of questions. Like, I got the gist of it but I didn’t want to make mistakes. So here’s how I applied self tanner, my tips for beginners and my experience with it.

The night before:

Step 1: Exfoliate

Everything actually started the night before, when I was in the shower I exfoliated my skin with the Dove Exfoliating Body Polish. I used it all over my body paying particular attention to the areas that tend to be drier (and self tanner likes to cling to dryness): elbows, knees, side of my ankles and hands.

Step 2: Shave

Q: Do you have to shave every where you put self tanner on (arms or else where)?

A: No, you don’t. I didn’t know this and special thanks to my friend Simone who helped me with this.

The reason why you shave before is NOT because self tanner looks weird on body hair but because shaving “removes” skin too so it would remove the self tanner too if you did it after.

Step 3: Moisturize

This got me a bit confused at first because I always moisturize after I take a shower but some people don’t so this is for YOU. Moisturize everywhere paying special attention to your drier areas.

If your skin is particularly dry you can moisturize right before you put the self tanner on but you always have to let it dry first.

The Day Of:

I did it on Sunday because I didn’t know If I could wear clothes with self tanner on to go out.

Turns out you can but since it’s so hot I did’t want to sweat it out and if I went out I’d have to wash my hands which I couldn’t do. So yeah, I stayed home under the AC watching Disneys.

STEP 1: Apply Self Tanner

I used the Bali Body Self Tanning Mousse with the Bali Body Luxe Tanning Mitt.

And yes, you need the Mitt because otherwise you’ll get your hands dirty (aka orange) and your application will be streaky.

1. Shake well
2. Using the mitt start from your ankles up and apply the tanner in long sweeping motions.
3. Ask your mom/boyfriend/girlfriend/sister to do your back. Some people use a hanger to create an extension to put it on themself. That sounded way too pro for me so I asked for help.
4. Once it’s everywhere run the mitt on your feet and hands. Don’t use any additional product and make sure to cover only the top part. You can make a claw with your hand to cover between the knuckles and the fingers.

STEP 2: Wait

1. Wait until touch dry before putting clothes on, it took about 5 minutes but I waited for 10 just the be sure. Wear a baggie T-Shirt and shorts, possibly black or that you don’t care if they got stains on. Mine was black and didn’t stain.
2. You can wash it off after 1 hour but to get a longer lasting darker tan wait for 4-8 hours. I started thinking I’d wait for 5 and then I ended up doing the full 8.

STEP 3: Shower

Take a shower and pat dry.

You can use soap but don’t use a sponge. Moisturize afterwards to make the tan last longer.

RESULTS

Here’s my before and after:

The result is very natural. In the before you can see I’m very fair and I don’t tan much in the sun. The colour I got is the colour I would be if I tanned in the sun so it doesn’t look weird or orange on me.

I absolutely love it and I would do it again, actually I will!

QUESTION FROM YOU:

Q: Is it streaky?

A: Not at all. It was very easy to put on with the mitt without streaks.

Q: When you wash take a shower, do you leave weird orange stains in it?

A: When I washed it off after doing it, there was a bit of tint in the water but it didn’t stain the shower. In the ones after nothing happened.

Q: Can you use a body self tanner on the face?

A: This is a bit tricky to answer. On the site, they say: “While the Bali Body Self Tanner is full of nourishing oils making it extremely gentle to apply to the face we recommend using our Face Tan Water for best results.”

Here’s the thing, I didn’t have the face water and ideally I would have bought it but I was a bit impatient to test the self tanner, so I did.

I mixed it with my regular serum and I left it on for 3 hours (instead of 8 like the body one). It worked and I didn’t have weird reactions.

Now, do I recommend it? Depends on your skin. I know mine and I know it doesn’t usually react to things I use so it’s up to use. Do it at your own risk.

I would recommend using a separate one and if I were smarter I would have realised earlier. I actually bought the Bali Body Face Tan Water but it hasn’t arrived yet.

Q: What does it smell like?

A: I’ve heard self tanner can have a bit of a weird smell but this doesn’t. It smells like my skin after being in the sun with sunscreen on. And I’m aware that’s very detailed but that’s the smell to me.

Q: Does it transfer?

A: It never transfered, not when I had it on and not after I washed it. It has been very hot in Italy and I didn’t have problems with it.

Q: How do I remove it?

A: I’m glad you asked it because that’s where the Bali Body Self Tan Remover steps in.

HOW TO REMOVE SELF TANNER

I didn’t know these kinds of products existed so it was definitely a discovery. Basically, you can’t put a new layer of self tanner on top of an old one because it would be too noticeable.

Before you had to really scrub your skin and I assume it is very time consuming and hard to do.

So Bali Body created this genius product you put on your skin for five minutes and it will dissolve the remaining self tanner.

It’s enriched with Aloe Vera and Glycerin for skin replenishment and it’s formulated with Rose Extract to gently remove unwanted tan residue from the skin.

It also provides intense hydration, it’s soothing and moisturizing.

Last but not least it’s vegan, cruelty free, free from parabens and sulphates and suitable for sensitive skin.

How to use it:

1. Apply the Bali Body Self Tan Remover to dry skin using hands
2. Leave the product on the skin for at least 5 minutes
3. Shower with warm water

If you have stubborn stains that need more strength to remove, use the Bali Body Exfoliating Mitt to remove the remaining self-tan.

RESULTS

So I put it on, and in my opinion, it needs more than 5 minutes, maybe 10 but it removed my self tanner beautifully, I run the glover over afterwards and my skin was ready to begin the process again!

Something I loved is my skin was super soft afterwards and it didn’t smell too chemically.

Here’s the before and after (To be fair most of my skin wasn’t as bad as this spot but I always have my FitBit on so it rubs on my wrist).

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Overall, my first tanning experience was great! Bali Body definitely has amazing products that made the entire process incredibly easy for me.

I will definitely keep doing it all Summer long because I don’t have many occasions to tan naturally.

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Love,

Mimi

I was not compensated for this post, however, I did receive all the Bali Body products free of charge in exchange for this review. The links in the post aren’t affiliated (apart from the Dove one). As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own.