So you want to know the dirt, huh? What are the self-tan secrets that no company will ever tell you?

It wasn’t until I created my own Organic Self Tanning Mousse – Nic & Co. Organic- that I truly understood the secrets of the industry.

So I’ve  uncovered the 5 self-tan secrets that no company is telling you.

1. Self-tans stop developing

That’s right! Most self-tans stop developing after approximately 8 hours. When the DHA has been left on the skin to develop for long enough, it will not develop any further. Gone are the days of wasting unnecessary time on your self-tan developing, we now know longer is not always more beneficial. Simply wait the required time and voila.

2. Toxic ingredients are not needed

It’s absolutely possible to make a dark, long lasting self-tan without synthetic chemicals BUT good quality ingredients cost more and therefore are an added cost to the brands bottom line. It’s much more expensive to buy organic or natural self-tan ingredients than to buy a synthetic alternative and at the end of the day, some brands will not compromise profits to better look after their customers. Brands are using cheaper, toxic ingredients to increase profits and their customers health could be suffering.

3. A bronze colour guide does not make your tan darker.

You know the  bronzer which allows you to see where you’re applying the tan onto your skin? The one where you can’t go out in public after you’ve applied it.

It does not assist in tan development! The colour guide is simply a dark dye that allows you to see exactly where the product is being applied which then gets washed off. It is purely a guide and does not assist in tan development.

The thing with colour guides is, they are made from synthetic chemicals which we should not be putting on our skin.

If you look at the ingredients of a non-natural fake tan (go on, go and look right now) you’ll see on the list ‘Blue 1, Red 4, Yellow 5’ or ‘CI 42090, CI 16035, CI 19140’. These are the dyes added to the tan solution to create the colour guide.

The US National Library of Medicine described these synthetic chemicals as known carcinogens yet are still in skin product and food supply¹. (wahhhht?)

4. Ingredients are listed in order of potency

The ingredients listed on a product label are ranked in order of their concentrations. The first ingredient on the list makes up the highest percentage of the formula.

Take a look right now at the self-tan you’re currently using.

Is the first ingredient ‘Aqua’? Aqua is a super fancy name for ‘water’.

Oh god honey, no! You’re paying for mostly water!

5. Ingredients aren’t ‘smart’

Ingredients aren’t ‘smart’ or ‘clever’ these are simply buzz words used to make the consumer think they have uncovered a brand new, sought after ingredient. This is rarely the case and customers are left disappointed when they don’t see the unrealistic results they were promised.

For the most part, self-tan formulas are all very similar in their ingredient lists. Without DHA (the main ingredient that makes you bronze) there is no such thing as self-tan after all.

What sets a good self-tan apart from another is the percentage of good quality, non-toxic ingredients in the formula as these will provide a nicer application and ensure the tan lasts longer than those with syntenic ingredients.

According to the Environmental Working Group, women use an average of 12 products a day, containing 168 different chemicals. 

Beauty does not have to compromise health and you really can have all the beauty products you love in an organic, natural or non-toxic form.

1 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2957945/and