For a long time, tans from a bottle were something of a joke. “Tanning used to smell so bad, look orange and fade so ugly,” says Erika Vasco, founder of the Tan Edit, which sells spray tans and self-tanners. The skin-care boom has rubbed off on the category. The active ingredient is still DHA, dihydroxyacetone, which reacts with the keratin protein in the skin’s outer layer to produce brown pigment. What changed is everything around it.
A glow-down
Formulas have been redeveloped to be lighter, less orange and less smelly. Heavy lotions and creams have been replaced by mists, drops, essences and toners, and higher-quality DHA gives more consistent golden-brown tones. Isabel Alysa, a tanning professional with two product lines, ties the new generation to the no-makeup makeup trend: the point is for nobody to know you have done it. Peta Murgatroyd, the professional dancer with a tanning line called Peta Jane, says modern products are less about darkening than enhancing. They “blur imperfections, even out skin tones, make legs look smoother and more defined and make muscles pop.”
Know your undertone
One shade no longer fits every complexion. Vasco, who is Colombian and has darker skin, says people like her should use a product with a violet undertone. Very fair skin with redness wants a green undertone. Brands now print it on the label.
| Step | The pros’ rule |
|---|---|
| The day before | Exfoliate face and body 24 hours ahead |
| Application day | No moisturizer; “you want the skin bone-dry so it can suck in all the tan” |
| Tools | A mitt or brush in a swirling motion for ankles, chest and knuckles |
| Order | Stomach last, so you do not smear it reaching for everything else |
| Palms | A little hand cream first, or the orange palms give you away |
| After | Moisturize generously for days |
Jennifer Fisherman-Ruff, 56, a New York publicist who has used tanners for nearly three decades, recently switched to a mist for her neck, chest and arms. “What I like best is that it has no obvious smell and it doesn’t transfer on clothes or bedding. I can use it quickly right after the shower.” At the tanning chain Sugared + Bronzed, founder Courtney Claghorn says a custom airbrush tan gives “a radiant base, so people can wear less makeup.” Ashley Fodor, 39, compares hers to a good facial: “You walk out of there with goddess skin.”
The guide’s six picks run $35 to $59: a coconut tanning foam, a water veil, two mists, a gradual-tan moisturizer and a tinted mousse. The dermatology footnote writes itself. The tan you did not get from the sun is the one that does not come with a skin-cancer appointment at 70, which is a real line in a lot of our clients’ health budgets.