I am a faux-tan fanatic. I self tan some part of my body almost everyday. As Summer is coming to a close, I won’t even go there with how weird my self-tanning routine is, but it is insane.

Over the last few weeks, I have spent a lot of time at the beach, and while I do use a sunscreen and apply it over and over, and spend most of my time under an umbrella, a real tan is peeking through. It is more golden than the olive tone I get from my self-tanners, and I want to make this color last.

I found my way to making this color last with Clarins Self Tanning Milk SPF6. I am so thrilled about the SPF element in this self-tanner. It glides onto my skin and sinks in almost immediately. I wish I had used this Self-Tanning Milk from the beginning of the season, especially on my legs. The golden glow is so natural, long-lasting and gorgeous!

Whether you have a real tan or want to extend your faux tan, give this one from Clarins a try. If you are new to self-tanning and are looking to extend your real tan, I would start out by exfoliating your skin in, moisturizing it, then about hour later apply the self-tanner. Once or twice a week should be enough to make the golden glow last and look natural, fading away on it’s own, just like a real tan.

Clarins Self Tanning Milk is available at you Clarins counter where they can give you more recommendations for self tanning products to make your tan last as well.

image credit: Clarins

In case you did not know yet, I am somewhat of a faux-tan addict. I have perfected my routine, well, at least I think I have until another great self-tanner comes along. But let’s just say that it is intense.

I was thinking of writing an entire post for you all about self-tanners, as in how and why they work. Low and behold, I read a post from one of my favorite beauty bloggers, and I could not explain it any better. Check out Kristen’s very thorough post over on Beauty Addict for all of the details.

But don’t worry, I will still probably gush about my self-tanning routine at some point. And again, I must ask - you self-tan and not sun-tan, right???

I am a huge faux-tan gal. I love my faux-tan! I should for how much time I spend on it.

I spend entirely too much time buffing, moisturizing, prepping and priming my way to the perfect faux tan. I think that the group of beauty bloggers that I spoke to with my routine must have thought I was crazy. But I have found some great products that work really well for me. And I am full of tips to make the whole self-tanning process easier.

With all of this in mind, I need to ask if it is too early for me to break out and write all about my self-tanning habits and point you to some great products. Are you self-tanning yet? Should I bring on the posts son, as it is the unofficial start of Summer next week with Memorial Day, or should I wait until the Summer gets rolling. Let me know.

If enough of you are self-tanning now, I will start to sneak in some self-tanning posts sooner, rather than later. Please let me know in the comments.

I am not sure how many of you use self-tanners. For me, it is the only way to go. Most often I love self-tanners and I do have a few favorites that I continue to use. I do continue to test and try many those, and once in a while though, I run into one that disappoints.

Olay Touch of Sun Body Lotion is the latest self-tanner to disappoint me.

Touch of Sun is made to moisturize first, tan second. It has a lower amount of DHA (self-tanning ingredient) so that the color comes on gradually.

I will say that I liked the scent, very little of the tell-tale self-tanner smell, and the moisturizing properties were nice. My legs were smooth and the lotion was easy to rub in. With that said, it took over a week to see any sort of color on my legs and what I finally saw was streaky. As I discontinued using it, my faux tan faded with a freckling effect which made it look even worse. Ugh.

I threw away the tube and just won’t try again.

I do know that different self-tanners do react differently on different people, so if you did have a good experience with Touch of Sun, please let us me know in the comments.

image credit: Olay