 |
Category: Fashion, Style, Shopping
For a teenager, summer is about baking. You go to the pool in your cute little bikini and "work on" your tan. All summer you do this and you look HOT.
Let's face it, folks. We can say all day that fair-skinned women are more beautiful but in the summertime, when fashions are skimpier, pale, washed-out skin just takes away from an outfit. It's the difference between this:
and this:
As I've been told REPEATEDLY by the 20-something set, pantyhose are no longer allowed, period. Fashion faux pas to the max. In fact, 20-something fashionistas are more likely to pair some flip-flops with a nice dress than high heels. High heels and pantyhose are for "old people." Like 38-year-olds.
That's what they tell me anyway.
So your legs are going to need some sun. But most of us with LIVES don't have time to hang out by the pool five days a week. We could do a tanning bed, but give it a year or so of regular tanning and you're doomed to look like this someday:
Enter the world of self-tanning. Traditionally when we spoke of sunless tanning, most of us pictured someone looking orange and streaky, like an oompa loompa. Or Christina Aguilera.
But if you're smart and willing to have a LIGHT tan, you can look great in your pantyhose-less business attire without being asked directions to the chocolate factory.
You can do it yourself at home. I've heard raves about Jergens Natural Glow Moisturizer. It's just lotion...but it gives you a gradual tan. Reviews recommend going with the Medium shade even if you're fair-skinned, but you might want to check it out. Here's what it looks like:
If you're feeling a little bolder, you might want to venture into the world of full-on self-tanners. These aren't like the cheapies in the 80s. Manufacturers have taken care of the scent problems (the old stuff tended to smell like rotten syrup) and, as long as you keep it fairly light, you won't get that orangey glow. The gradual tanners seem to work well:
Also getting high reviews are self-tanners by Estee Lauder, Clinique, Lancome, and Neutrogena Build-a-Tan. But the warnings with these things still remain the same. Wash your hands well after applying, watch out around knees and elbows, and exfoliate before you put it on. Sunless.com is an invaluable resource for tips and product reviews. If you're thinking about sunless tanning, check it out.
If you don't want to do it yourself, you could try paying a tanning salon for it. I tried for months to find someone in Nashville who would airbrush tan. When I finally did find a salon, they told me the airbrusher was out that day and, like everyone else, practically shoved me into the Mystic Tan booth. This is Mystic Tan:
If you see one of these...RUN!
Okay, that may be a bit extreme. Your experience could differ but here was mine. I loved the convenience of it but about four hours later, as it started to develop, I realized I'd been hosed down with the same cheap crap they used back in the 80s. I was streaky, I was orange, and I smelled like rotten syrup.
Ick.
Plus, the tan faded the next day. It was a total waste of $12.
So I went back to that place and made an appointment for an airbrush tan. Again they tried to coerce me into Mystic tanning and I made no secret of my experience. They gave me some story about not setting the spray high enough - yeah, because what I want is a DARKER orange, streaky tan - but finally they made my appointment.
You will look awesome after your airbrush tan. For about three days. And it's not something you can go back and do every three days, unless you're rich. In fact, it's $50 for three visits, so figure that up on a monthly basis. But if you have a special event coming up, it might be worth looking into. Some airbrush artists can even contour you so you appear to have muscle tone you don't even have.
It's not nearly as easy as Mystic Tan, unfortunately. Instead of standing in what is essentially a shower stall alone, you are standing in front of some high school girl. You strip down to your panties and there you are, mostly naked, in front of a complete stranger. You look great afterward but how many people will put themselves through all that?
What's your favorite tanner? Has anyone but me (and Ross Gellar) had a bad experience with Mystic Tan? 
3:15 PM
Powered by  | | English | | Albanian | | Arabic | | Bulgarian | | Catalan | | Chinese | | Croatian | | Czech | | Danish | | Dutch | | Estonian | | Filipino | | Finnish | | French | | Galician | | German | | Greek | | Hebrew | | Hindi | | Hungarian | | Indonesian | | Italian | | Japanese | | Korean | | Latvian | | Lithuanian | | Maltese | | Norwegian | | Polish | | Portuguese | | Romanian | | Russian | | Serbian | | Slovak | | Slovenian | | Spanish | | Swedish | | Thai | | Turkish | | Ukrainian | | Vietnamese |
|