– Good morning! Here’s summer speaking! May I talk with you?

Surprised? If you haven’t managed to catch spring tan, I may offer you a few tried-and-tested recipes for homemade self-tanning products. They neither smell bad nor leave stains, yet bring out this natural delicate brownish shade to body skin.

To me, tanned skin looks really beautiful. I’m lucky enough to get sun-kissed fairly fast, but I wish the tan was more even. This is the reason why I reach for self-tanning creams to improve appearance of the tan. However, there is always a risk of something getting stained, or that the cream would be distributed unevenly or that the shade would be too orange. Fortunately, you can avoid all of these unwanted surprises by applying natural self-tanning products.

NATURAL SELF-TANNERS – ADVANTAGES

Homemade self-tanners are good at evening skin tone, indeed. Also, they can be used as a safer an alternative to exposing our body to the direct action of the sun (which is harmful and doesn’t serve everyone equally well) and to applying readymade self-tanning creams (generally filled with damaging substances). It can be said that a homemade self-tanning product is a safe option even if your skin doesn’t tolerate some substances since, after all, we can replace them with other ingredients of similar action. Also, I have to mention additional features a homemade self-tanning product has. Namely, if applied on the regular basis, it doesn’t only makes skin beautifully and naturally tanned, but also:

• slows down skin ageing processes;
• nourishes and maintains hydration;
• makes skin more supple, increases elasticity of skin and reduces visibility of wrinkles;
• evens natural skin texture;
• might minimise discolorations.

NATURAL SELF-TANNERS – DISADVANTAGES

Now, you’re probably like: ‘You’re telling me that natural self-tanning products have some drawbacks?’ In fact, there are just two minuses which, fortunately, are easy to get over with. Firstly, this effect of tanned skin obtained due to the substances available at home holds out fairly short. Hence, it’s advised to reapply the products daily. Secondly, alike any other cosmetics, even natural ones may cause allergies; of course, only if you use a substance that irritates you. However, I don’t consider this issue as an impediment since there is always an ingredient that can replace the allergy-triggering agent (for example, you can replace cocoa with coffee).

As you can see this, the profit and loss balance shows that there are more pluses than minuses, which means that giving a go to this method might appear to be beneficial to you. Nevertheless, there is one question left: How to make your own natural self-tanning product? Here are my tried-and-tested recipes that you can use.

RECIPE FOR HOMEMADE SELF-TANNERS

Natural bronzers are: cocoa, coffee and tea. However, in order to make your own self-tanning product, you need to mix them with a few extra ingredients.

1. Homemade bar self-tanner recipe

• 2 spoons of beeswax,
• 2 spoons of shea butter,
• 2 spoons of coconut oil,
• 1 spoon of cocoa,
• 1 teaspoon of nutmeg,
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon.

Melt beeswax, shea butter and coconut oil on water bath. Next, add the spices and cocoa, and stir till you notice the mixture getting even, with no lumps. Now you can pour the mixture into a small form, you can even use the ice-cube trays. Keep them for a few hours in a fridge and wait until they get solid. When ready, you can rub the body parts you want to look sun-kissed with your natural body bronzing bars. Additionally, your skin will become moisturised and definitely better nourished.

2. Homemade bronzing oil recipe

• a bottle of pure vegetable oil,
• 1 spoon of cocoa,
• 1 teaspoon of nutmeg,
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon.

Add the spices to an oil of your choice and shake vigorously until all ingredients combine precisely. Which oils are the best for composing a self-tanner? I would recommend sweet almond oil or raspberry seed oil. Basically, you can also make a good use of macadamia oil or grape seed oil. In general, the oil should be light and be absorbed by skin easily. You can coat your body skin with this kind of oil every single day – it gives this incredible feeling of moisturisation and, additionally, it defines the skin and makes it slightly darker.

3. Homemade bronzing coffee spray recipe

• 2 glasses of cooled down, strong coffee,
• 1 glass of water,
• 1 glass of almond oil.

Homemade bronzing spray is as easy to prepare as the above-mentioned bronzing oil. You need though a clean bottle with atomizer – you can buy it in any drugstore or reuse a container that once stored a cosmetic. Just pour coffee, water and oil to the bottle and shake. Unfortunately, water doesn’t combine with oil well, therefore, you need to shake the bottle before every use. In my opinion, it’s advisable to apply this homemade cosmetic right after leaving a shower/bath tube because it delivers the best outcomes if put on clean skin. When the homemade bronzing spray is on your body, distribute it evenly using circular motions.

4. Homemade tea self-tanner recipe

• 4 bags of strong, black tea,
• 1 glass of boiling water.

The easiest from the easiest! Just brew tea in boiling water and let it cool down. Then, pour the liquid to a bottle with atomizer and keep applying as described above. A huge advantage of this cosmetic is that tea has strong bronzing features but, somehow, it doesn’t leave any stains. It’s absorbed fast and doesn’t colour clothes.

5. Homemade coffee and cocoa self-tanner recipe

• 2 spoons of cocoa butter,
• 1 spoon of cocoa,
• 1 spoon of grinded coffee,
• 1 spoon of cinnamon,
• 1 teaspoon of nutmeg.

Melt cocoa butter on water bath and then combine with the remaining ingredients to obtain even mass. Of course, you can replace cocoa butter with any other cosmetic butter like coconut or shea, to name just two. Then, leave the mixture to cool down but not get solid. After that, use your food mixer to add this looked-for lightness. This kind of DIY self-tanner can be applied every day as any other bronzing balm.

And that’s all folks. Of course, there are way more recipes for homemade self-tanners but I showed you only the ones I tested myself. They are easy to prepare and really effective. Let me know whether you tried out any of the ideas presented.

Kisses!