My Pre-Tan Routine
Going on holiday? These are my tips for better tanning (and ultimate pampering relaxation!)
Since it is now summer, I thought I would share with y’all my pre-tanning routine which I do to get the best tan I can (rhyme intended)!
I do this before every holiday (abroad, may I add, I don’t trust Britain) to maximise and prolong my tanning and highlighting and not dry myself out too much. I like to do this because I’m so pale and awful at tanning that I need all the help I can get, and I also find it a nice way to relax before a holiday!
As I say, I also aim to highlight my hair on holiday, because my hair is a horrible dull mousy inbetweeny colour between blonde and brown, and I miss the bright blonde locks from my youth which have rendered me with an unwanted and unattractive natural dip dye in a yucky colour. Yes I’m annoyed.
In an effort to restore what I once had I try to highlight my hair back to blonde as often as possible in the sun, meaning I must moisturise it a lot to prevent drying. In my routine I use my favourite moisture treatment, but on holiday I use a repair shampoo and nourishing mask which are much more intensive (separate post on that later).
And yes, I could just dye my hair, but I’m too lazy for the maintenance, too poor to lose the money, and too scared I won’t like it. But the sun is free and all I have to do is lie there under it.
I may miss out a few shower steps which aren’t particularly relevant to tanning such as washing your body, but you should probably do those anyway.
1. Body Scrub
Exfoliating your skin before tanning is a sure-fire way to get a longer lasting tan. By removing all the dead skin cells with the scrub, you will go straight to tanning the live skin cells which will take longer to die and drop off. There is no point tanning the dead skin cells because they won’t last, and you will be left with live skin cells underneath which didn’t get a chance to tan. I hope that wasn’t too complicated.
Some awesome scrubs:
The Body Shop Raspberry Scrub (quite a strong scent; don’t go buying this one off the internet. Sniff it first.)
The Body Shop Brazil Nut Scrub which I can’t seem to find on the website, I hope they haven’t discontinued it
2. Moisturise
It is widely accepted that one must moisturise in order to keep a tan. I’m not sure if this is relevant to pre-tanning, but since you’ve just scrubbed you will want to moisturise so your skin doesn’t dry out (a big no-no for tanning; dry skin flakes up and falls off. Along with that gorgeous tan you worked so hard for), also we want the skin cells we have left after scrubbing to last us as long as possible to prolong that fabulous tan.
My Moisture Pointers – What moisturiser to use and why
3. Moisturise your hair
As you may be able to tell, this list is not in chronological order (I use big girl words), unless you use the Nivea in shower moisturiser or something. I washed my hair with my favourite moisturising shampi/condi (post on that later) to prep my hair for the incoming heat/sun damage it was about to endure. If you have greasy hair, you don’t have to use a moisturising shampi/condi just yet but I do recommend it if you know your hair will get heavily sun damaged.
So those are my tips on how to prep yourself for the ultimate tanning experience! Hope you enjoyed reading and that this post was helpful to you in some way.
Are you going anywhere hot soon? Comment below!
Love from,
SASHA x
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July 22, 2014 @ 12:05 am
Great post! I’m going to Italy in a few days, might try this.
July 22, 2014 @ 7:53 am
Thank you, Cristina! I’d love to hear your thoughts if you do give it a go.
SASHA <3
July 23, 2014 @ 7:36 pm
My hair is already really dry because of the sun! I need to follow suit and do a hair mask too!
Emma Louise xx
theemmalouise.blogspot.co.uk
July 23, 2014 @ 8:22 pm
Hehe, I really think hair masks are great for that, let me know if you give it a go!
Sasha <3 xxx