Monday, September 7, 2009

STREAKY TAN


I loved to watch Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory growing up. The Oompa-Loompas were my absolute favorites. They were awesome with their perfect timing and song and dance, all while working in the most amazing place on earth.

I have always held a special place in my heart for the Oompa-Loompas; but ironically about 12 years ago, I saw my first Oompa-Loompa in person, and she wasn't as cute as I'd remembered them in the movie. She was actually very tall, pleasant, and resembled someone that I'd worked with the night before.

In 1997 I was working at Victoria's Secret in Westland Mall. They had just launched a self-tanning line, and we were giving some a try. My co-worker went home and came back the next day a full-on Oompa-Loompa. I was horrified for her because that orange is just not natural, unless of course you are from Loompaland, which she was not.

This is pre-beauty school. I had no suggestion on how to help her, and it took a good number of days for it to wear off. If you are ever caught with the bad self-tanner, here is what you can do:

1) The most obvious, for many reasons, is prevention


Shower and use a body scrub before applying self-tanner, and avoid moisturizers with mineral oil. Mineral oil will leave a coating on the skin, and the color won't deposit evenly.

2) Choose a brown self-tanner over an orange or yellow one...the browner the better.

If the damage has already been done, then reversing it is necessary. Cut a lemon in half or use lemon juice on a cotton ball to rub on the area where you want to remove the sunless tanner. If it is on your face, however, you can try makeup remover, alcohol-free toner, or baking soda.


If it is on your body, depending on the severity, you may want to use a sugar scrub or try soaking it off in 1 cup baking soda, 1 cup of hydrogen peroxide, a tub full of water, and mix...then sugar scrub and shower when it is all said and done. Oh, and don't forget to moisturize, moisturize, moisturize. Depending on the product and your skin, plus a little luck, it could take anywhere between 2-10 days for the tan to fade away.

3) Tan Towel makes an awesome product that doesn't leave you streaky.

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