Ah, self tanner. There are countless kinds from countless brands and finding the absolute best one can be the kind of trial and error you don’t have time for. I used to be a heavy sunbather. Growing up in California and living in mostly warm states, the sun and I became best friends and I lived for long days of just laying out by the pool or at the beach. Last year, though, things got so busy and the idea of heading to the beach for a lazy day in the sun seemed like more of a chore than a pleasure! So, I decided to start experimenting with self tanners so I could keep some color year-round. 

For a long time, I was using St. Tropez’s Self Tan Bronzing Mousse and while I loved it, I’m always open to trying new things which is what led me to try Loving Tan. I had been seeing it everywhere, all with rave reviews so I figured it was worth testing out. I’m happy to report that the reviews are right—Loving Tan is by far the best self tanner I’ve used! It has the same sort of mousse consistency of St. Tropez without that overwhelming smell you get with most self tanners. Instead, Loving Tan’s scent is sweeter and way more palatable (Will doesn’t even notice it, and he smells everything!). I picked up the medium express color and dark regular, but there isn’t much difference between the two so I’ve found myself sticking with the dark regular! 

As for the actual application of this self tanner, I can’t stress enough how game-changing this tanning mitt (similar here) from Amazon has been! I used to apply self tanner with my bare hands (rookie mistake, I know), making cleanup a nightmare—this mitt has changed that! It rinses off immediately with just water. 

Tips for applying Loving Tan

• You’ll want to be in your birthday suit to apply the self tanner, and that includes removing any daily jewelry you wear and may forget about!
• Put a few pumps of Loving Tan into the application mitt and start to apply by rubbing in circles.
• When applying it to your elbows, knees, and hands, make sure to bend the skin so it’s nice and tight to avoid applying it to the natural folds of your skin, which will leave white streak marks!

A quick note: I do not use Loving Tan on my face. I don’t like the look of self tanner on my face, so I stick to using bronzer to get a sunkissed glow that matches my skin!