Best Self Tanners 2012

Health conscious? Price conscious? Curious? Whatever your reason for being here is, rest assured that modern self-tanning products have evolved into an efficient and enduring aesthetic solution. There are very few drawbacks and a startling array of positive aspects to using high-quality tanning products.

Thankfully for us, high-quality is also, in the main, pretty cheap. Every bronzer I review and suggest passes the necessary subjective tests. These include; looking authentic (little or no streaking, a natural color even on the palest of skins, the ability to build a tan gradually), not posing a health hazard for your skin and not being a flagrant rip-off.

Every single product has it's own quirks which may or may not suit you. I'll bring them up as we go along.

Speaking of quirks, one of the most daunting moments is first opening the bottle and realizing the product smells horrible. You will be hard-pressed to find a single product that does not have a sharp odor of some kind, and contextualizing smells is something so subjective that you can never really get it right in writing. In this case, product reviews seem to focus on how silky and pleasant the odor is, in some cases comparing it to a fully fledged perfume. This may not spell like success to many of you, I personally try and keep it all down to a minimum.

Nevertheless, you are looking at the number one self-tanner on Amazon in terms of positive customer feedback (feel free to check). Why? Customers tell-all:

• Functions well as a moisturizer as well.
• Smell is not fruity, but silky.
• Provides a deep natural tan on all skin types (may not be exactly what you need).
• Softens the skin nicely.
• It is quite an expensive product mark my words, but of immense quality. There are other great options for the budge conscious.

Before we get to the next contender, I wanted to add a little information regarding the benefits of self-tanning, which is generally misrepresented and scorned as a cosmetic, when it should really be praised (in my opinon). If you are not new to sunless tanning or already feel confident that you know your stuff, feel free to skip this section entirely.

• Enjoy a convincing tan without breaking your schedule and no-matter-what jumps in your way.
• Sunless tanning negates all health risks posed by UV radiation and keeps the skin in tip-top condition in the long term.
• Adios tan-lines.
• Provides a better, more uniformed tan than you think. Expect to be positively surprised.
• Provides fair-skinned people a safe and achievable tan in hours. You can catch the sun while sleeping!
• Most products are hypoallergenic, nevertheless do not apply a full body tan the first time you use a product.
• Nontoxic and Noncarcinogenic.
• Recommended by the Skin Cancer Organization, the American Academy of Dermatology, the American Cancer Society!

The most popular dark tan solution on Amazon, bar none (note it's rating was slightly lower than the DS product above, but given the amount of reviews, but still over 4 stars out of a possible 5).

Paint It Black offers all skins a chance to tan. The lotion offers a fresh vanilla fragrance which I personally do not like, but seems to be fairly popular. The highlights of this product are:

• A long lasting and effective skin moisturizer.
• No orange tint (it wanes naturally after use or repeated use).
• Unique fragrance (love it or leave it).
• Fantastic on easily tannable skin, but nordic/saxon skin-tones may find that it may look a little unnatural.
• Short to mid-term range (2-5 days).
• Works well in conjunction with normal suntanning.

All-in-all I can't say this is my favorite product (I'm very fair-skinned), but it is generally considered to be among the best available give it's price and quality and thus here it is.

I love the approach Fake & Bake takes with regards to self tanning, encapsulated by mottos such as "goof-proof application" and a very handy color guide. Novices will adore the effect, the manageable and cheap price, along with the a-z this company offers in terms of ease of use. Awesome features include:

• A temporary tan during application so you know exactly how much you're applying and where -- priceless!
• Natural tan, no orange leftovers.
• Works great for the fair-skinned shooting for golden over bronze.
• Softens the skin.
• No pale patches, no streaks, no dark spots.

I find this product to be the core of why sunless tanning is so popular. Cheap, natural and fun! While it lacks the designer-tinged packaging and scented perfume, it reliably does what it says. Obviously, while high-quality, it cannot match the previous two in terms of decoration and how it feels on the skin. But if its the ends you're looking for, this provides an excellent means.