How To Self Tan Before Your Wedding Day

There are a lot of things that can cause stress when you’re planning a wedding, but achieving the perfect golden glow for your big day shouldn’t be one of them. If you’re concerned about staining your dress, turning that dreaded shade of orange or looking patchy, simply read our top tips on how to achieve the perfect tan for your wedding, and you’ll be flaunting a natural-looking bronzed glow as you walk down the aisle – we promise!

How to achieve the perfect tan for your wedding

Always do a trial run

Whether you’re a tanning expert or complete newbie, you can never road test your tan too many times before your wedding. At least a month prior to your big day, apply your chosen fake tan and practice achieving that flawless, streak-free golden glow. Pay particular attention to tricky areas like your hands, elbows, knees and ankles. This will give you a good idea of what the end result will look like.

Tan 2 to 3 days before your big day

To ensure no self tan catastrophes on your big day, apply your fake tan 2 to 3 days before your wedding. This will give your tan time to settle and develop into a gorgeous, natural-looking glow, and there’ll be no risk of any product transferring onto your dress.

Coordinate your tan with your other appointments

If you plan on flaunting a beautiful bronzed tan on your wedding day, make sure that you go dress shopping while wearing fake tan to ensure that your glow matches your gown. Remember – white clothing enhances your tan!

We would also recommend attending your hair and makeup run-through with tanned skin. This will allow your makeup artist to choose the right shades to compliment the tanned skin tone, rather than your natural one.

Top tip: As you’ll be applying your tan 2 to 3 days before your wedding, apply your fake tan 2 to 3 days before your makeup and hair rehearsal to replicate the real scenario.

How to apply fake tan for your wedding day

best fake tan for wedding

To achieve the perfect tan for your wedding, here are a few good practice rules to follow.

Moisturize regularly

The secret to a golden glow? Keep your skin hydrated in the month prior to your wedding! As any regular glow-getter will tell you, hydrated skin is the perfect canvas for fake tan.

We’d recommend our Tan Enhancing Body Moisturiser. It preps your skin by hydrating, softening and smoothing. It also helps to maintain your tan by reducing tan break up and improving fade.

Top tip: Before applying your self tanner, pay particular attention to very dry areas, like your elbows, knees and heels.

Remove body hair at least one day before tanning

If you plan to wax or shave, we’d recommend doing this the day before you tan. Your pores need to be closed for application, to prevent your tan from looking patchy.

Exfoliate the night before

To achieve an even and streak-free tan for your wedding, your skin needs to be as smooth as possible. That’s why we’d recommend exfoliating the night before applying fake tan.

Our Tan Enhancing Body Polish and Exfoliator is perfect! Specifically designed to enhance your tan, it removes dead skin cells to create a smooth, soft canvas over which to apply your self tanner. A non-patchy, flawless finish awaits!

The best fake tan for your wedding

tan for your wedding

When tanning ahead of your big day, the most important thing is to use whatever fake tan you feel comfortable wearing. Thanks to our range of self and gradual tanners, you can set the tone and find what works best for you. Here’s what we’d recommend:

Self tan for a medium golden glow and no transfer

If you want to achieve your gorgeous bronzed glow in a single one-off application, use one of our self tanners. We’d recommend our Self Tan Purity range – for 3 reasons:

It boasts a clear, lightweight, non-sticky and fast-absorbing formula that won’t transfer onto your dress.
It develops into a natural-looking medium tan in as little as 3 hours, with no need to rinse.
It’s infused with natural skincare actives and hyaluronic acid to provide up to 72 hours of hydration, and plump, regenerate and protect the skin for a longer-lasting, even-looking tan.

Choose between the mousse (which develops over 4 to 8 hours) and the gel (which only takes 3 hours to develop). Apply using an Applicator Mitt to achieve a streak-free, golden finish.

Top tip: You can also tan your face with our Self Tan Purity Bronzing Water Face Mist. Formulated with antioxidant-rich Hibiscus Extract, hydrating Hyaluronic Acid and refreshing Green Mandarin Water, it nourishes your skin and gives it a natural-looking golden glow.

Control your glow with a gradual tanning lotion

If you’re nervous about tanning ahead of your big day, why not opt for a gradual tan? A moisturizer with a hint of tan, it allows you to slowly build your color the week before your wedding.

We’d recommend our Gradual Tan Classic Everyday Body Lotion and Gradual Tan Classic Everyday Face Cream. Apply them daily until you’ve achieved your desired sunkissed bronze. Then, maintain your glow by alternating between applying regular moisturizer one day, and your gradual tan the next.

Top tip: Always wash your hands after applying gradual tan.

You’re now ready to achieve the perfect tan for your wedding! Just remember, practice your tanning routine and take the time to get it just right. Of course, our tribe of St.Tropez professionals are always on hand to assist if you’d prefer an in-salon spray tan.