Adventures in Self Tanning

I haven't fake baked since 1991. My aunt had a tanning bed in her house and I saw her skin turn into leather. Seriously. I reached to Bain de Soleil but those early self tanners were dark and and orange-y and not very believable. Luckily new strides are being made every day in this arena. For the past few years I have used L'Oreal Sublime Bronze for the body. I like the fact that it's tinted so I can see if I'm missing any spots and has some subtle gold sparkle in it. [Note: thumbs down on their any angle spray version of this]. I also like the fact that I'm tan after one application. It was always too dark to apply to my feet/ankles and I could never reach my back so I ended up using Neutrogena MicroMist Sunless tanning spray for those areas. I could never apply the spray evenly for the whole body, nor could I stand the smell of spraying my whole body with it (think of that brown liquid you find in an antique perfume bottle from 1948). So even though I found a winning combo to get the look right, I hated lying around waiting for it to dry in the muggy summers feeling greasy and smelling like self tanner. I decided to try the famed Jergens natural glow Daily Moisturizer. I felt like I had done so much work applying it nice and evenly (not tinted so I was scared of missing a spot) and it was barely noticeable. On the third day I grew tired of "building" my tan. I knew what I was getting into but realized I am just not a daily body moisturizing kind of gal. Recently I read 2 great reviews of the new foam version of it, Jergens natural glow Foaming Daily Moisturizer, and decided to give it a try. They claimed it did not streak, did not smell, and dried rapidly. Intriguing! It came with a sample bottle of the Healthy Complexion Daily Moisturizer (spf 20 for the face) so I tried that too. After just one (heavy!) application, two neighbors asked where I'd been that I got so tan. They couldn't believe it was fake. Then I showed them my usually bright white legs. They winced at the streaks. I loved the "barely there" smell so much I decided to try again. I figured out that I was using WAY too much product. It comes out like hair mousse but does not dissipate the way hair mousse does. A little goes a long way. It feels lotion-y on, but much lighter than the others I'd tried. Two back-to-back light applications looks quite nice. I still use the neutrogena for the feet and back. The face stuff looks great and like the foam, not much is needed for a nice glow. If you are the palest whitest person you know and the thought of self tanner scares you, I recommend the lotion version which somehow seems slightly more subtle. And remember the old rules of putting vaseline or shea butter or the like over knees, elbows, and ankles before applying any tanning product. And just say NO to real tans from the real sun. Why age your skin even more?!!