With summer fast approaching, now is a great time to think about getting your summer body ready for action. With so many different products flooding the market, choosing the right skin care cream can seem tricky, getting the right fake tan can seem even trickier.
Before you even think about browsing the shelves for some fake tan, you really need to address yourself to getting your skin in tip top condition. This is the only way to minimise the risk of a fake tan disaster, which is the last thing anyone wants! Our skin takes a real bashing over winter, and not just the bits that are exposed, in fact the skin on our faces and hands is likely to be in much better condition than the skin on the rest of our bodies, purely because they are the bits that are exposed, and that we are most conscious of keeping moisturised over the cold winter months.
There are two elements to preparing your skin for fake tan that are the most important, and they are exfoliating and moisturising. Over the winter months, dead skin cells tend to build up and can leave dry, even scaly feeling skin patches almost anywhere. By exfoliating regularly, you can gently remove this build up, and allow your skin to breathe and renew properly. However, when you are exfoliating regularly, you also need to moisturise, as it can strip some of the skins natural oils, and you will find yourself going round in circles, exfoliating dry skin off only to find more. Areas such as knees, ankles and elbows need particular attention, they tend to be the driest areas as the skin is under more strain, so gets drier quicker. Exfoliate from head to toe at least once a week, and moisturise every single day. If you can moisturise your knees, ankles and elbows twice a day then do!
It takes around 4 weeks for your skin to totally renew itself, so you will need to keep this regime up for at least that amount of time to get optimum results. If you can prepare your skin for four weeks prior to applying fake tan, you are highly unlikely to get patches of strong colour due to dry skin areas. You are also much more likely to get an even colour all over, and you will also find the fake tan goes on much easier and soaks in evenly, rather that in patches. Using rich moisturising creams before you go to bed, on key areas such as elbows, ankles and knees means you can really slather the cream on without worrying about it ruining your clothes, and you will wake up feeling silky soft in the morning. Getting fake tan right is all about patience and preparation, there are some great products on the market, but they can only work at their best if they are presented with skin that is in tip top condition. Regular application of a good skin care cream can really make the difference between and OK fake tan and a great fake tan
