Getting the perfect tan is not as easy as most people think, especially when it involves working with a tanning bed and indoor tanning lotions.

If you’re not getting the desired results, you are probably doing something wrong. Here are some common mistakes people make when applying tanning lotions. Avoid these to get the perfect golden color you’ve always wanted.

You Look Past The Importance of Exfoliating

• Dry skin tends to absorb more tanning lotion, which is why people with dry skin often have darker and uneven patches of tan on their skin. For the best and even glow, you need to make sure that you exfoliate before you apply tanning lotion.

Start this procedure by buffing away flaky and dry skin. You can use a scrub or loofah to clear your entire body paying close attention to your ankles, elbows, and knees because these areas are the driest parts of your body.

• Just make sure you are not using any product containing oil because this will leave your skin greasy and the self-tanner will not absorb completely into the skin.

You Shave After Applying the Tanning Lotion

• Shaving your body after you have applied the indoor tanning lotion will take away the fake tan. This is the same with tweezing and waxing so be very careful and only shave, wax or tweeze before you apply the tanning lotion. 

You Apply The Lotion Immediately After Getting Out of Shower

• This is one common mistake a lot of men and women make. You need to make sure that your body is completely dried up before you can begin to apply a self-tanner to your body. A wet body means that the tanner will not absorb completely into the skin.

So give yourself some time before you apply the self-tanner. Go sit in the sun, drink a warm cup of coffee or chocolate and then apply the tanning lotion.

You Ignore Your Hands and Feet

• If you ignore your hands and feet, people will immediately figure out that you are faking a tan. So after you are done applying the lotion on the rest of your body, use a little bit of the same lotion and top up your hands and feet.

Use a cleaning cloth to wipe away extra content that gets on your nails, palms, and under your feet.

You Don’t Use Enough Lotion

• Some tanning products are very expensive, we get the fact that a lot of people are on a tight budget and often hesitate to apply the lotion as required. Here’s the thing with lotions, apply too much and your body will look fake, and apply too little and you’ll never get that tan.

You need to find the perfect balance. Normally, how much of the tanning product you apply on your body depends on the tanning product. Are you using a strong bronzer? Or is it subtle lotion for beginners? Read the manual of the product and talk to other people who have used it to find the ideal amount you need to apply.

You Are Applying the Wrong Lotion

Last but not least, it is very important to find the right tanning product according to your skin tone and type. You must learn what tanning lotions provide with their formulas and pick a product that best suits you.

At Tanning Lotion Warehouse, we have hundreds of self-tanners, each with their own list of ingredients and formula. Before you buy a product, do plenty of research, read reviews from other people and find out what works best for your skin. If you can’t do that, then take a leap of faith and try a tanning lotion sample packet.