Yellow eyebrows, stained pillows, streaky legs – life's answer to our question "how to save summer tan through autumn?" But don't fret. It's not all bad.
To be honest with you: I stopped using self-tanners or lotions with self-tan a little while ago. I'm naturally pale, and at some point I just saw no sense in masking that. To compair is to despair, right? So I got at peace with my fair, olive skin tone. I even enjoy being a bit green in winter. Gives me an extraterrestrial touch!
The stuff stains everything: bath towels, bed linen, clothes, furniture… You get streaks, blotches, discoloured eyebrows – and a totally random wear off! The disctinct smell CAN'T be removed from selftanners, only masked with strong (and potentially) toxic fragrance.
DHA – used in both conventional and organic cosmetics – is not toxic itself, but research shows it can release formaldehyde while the product sits on the shelf. And while DHA is considered otherwise safe on the skin, even the FDA doesn't think it's safe to be inhaled. German scientists have shown in 2007 that skin is more prone to free radical damage after a selftan treatment (extra UV screen is due).
Another reason I stopped using selftan products are those crappy toxic ingredients I kept finding in them.
Last night I've checked random conventional selftan products simply typing "selftan" (rather "Selbstbräuner") in the Codecheck.info search.
On a related note: Check out this helpful pocket guide to avoiding endocrine disruptors.
Now of course I do have a plan B for the days I look especially pale and everybody else is rocking a healthy glow!
For the body, I used to buy your classical shimmery oils until I figured they were mostly paraffin-based, and the latest clean haul was practically made of palm oil derived ingredients that weren't even marked as organic – duh!
My next option was Melvita's carrot oil which isn't too shabby, but it (A) needs to be applied with a very light hand (or you turn genuinely carrot-coloured) plus (B) it's based on unexpensive sunflower oil (and it smells). It doesn't contain any shimmer.
…then I thought I give it a try and have a fun DIY minute!
And once I started adding mineral pigment to this carrot oil to play with the colour and add shimmer, I ended up completely DIY'ing my shimmer bronzer oils from clean, virgin or organic food-grade oils and cocoa butter!
I didn't like self tanners before I read this but now I really really don't like self tanners, at all, ever.
when you asked a doctor a couple years ago what are the healthiest tan options they would say self tanners before actual sun. fact.
Crikey, crumbs, golly gosh, and all that. I am glad I didn't ask!