TAN GOT CHIC.

TAN GOT CHIC.

When did tanning get so chic? I asked myself as I picked up the new Chanel L’eau Tan.

A few years ago I would have never dreamed of happily confessing, nah – professing – that I used a fake tan. Admittedly I lived in Sydney so the need was less but still, the idea of fake tanning made me think of dirty mitts, orange elbows and a type of girl I did not see myself as. The only product I had used was my Clarins Radiance Glow booster drops which I added into my moisturiser every now and then to match my pale face to my tanned body.

However, here I am: a confessed tan lover. I haven’t quite got the hang of mitts yet so opt for gradual tans and drops and mists (yes, a tan mist exists – a few, actually). It all started when my spray tanning virginity was taken by Jules Von Hep a year after I’d come back from Australia and was craving glowing mocha-choca-latte skin so bad that I decided to give it a go. It was wonderful. It didn’t stain my clothes – I found out that technology in the ingredients had finally caught up and we can now all thank blessed DHA that yes, we can apply our clothes / sleep in white sheets immediately after and not have stains or mess up our tan. It manages to do this because it only reacts with the chemicals on our skin, not those of fabrics. The future is now and it’s got a perfect tan.

Products are also very tailored – it’s not one brown fits all. Drop products allow you to add as many drops as you see necessary to your current moisturiser (face and / or body) to add a natural glow, and there’s even a colour correcting range thanks to Isle of Paradise which uses actives to help even the appearance of skin tone at the same time. And the added bonus? No fake-tan smell, either.

When two more of my favourite skincare brands Oskia and Elemis also launched tanning ranges this summer, I knew this was the beginning of a new view on tanning. These day they’ve got skincare benefits, don’t dry the skin out, never stain and are always fully customisable to the level of tan you want. I’ve picked out a few of my favourite products for you below.

BODY

FACE

 

photos by Frances Davison