St. Tropez Purity | Self-Tanning Drops | Self-Tan Water | St. Tropez Mitt | Body Blur | Blending Brush

One of the top pregnancy questions I get is, “What self tanner do you use while pregnant?” Y’all know, self tanner might be one of my favorite beauty products to test and try. I’m big on sunscreen and sun protection {always get a yearly skin check by your Dermatologist!} and so it’s fun to find ways to achieve a faux glow. Because I shoot weekly for the blog {or used to until quarantine 😉 } I am able to see which ones photograph well and which ones aren’t forgiving on ankles and wrists.

Then you add pregnancy into the mix, and there’s even more you’re looking into when picking up a bottle of glow. As always, I preface this by reminding you to ask your OB about any beauty products. Legally, I {or any beauty company} can’t just say something is pregnancy safe. BUT, I can always tell you what ingredients I avoid. In this pregnancy and in Maxi’s, my OB said that self tanner is fine while pregnant, but spray tans are not. {Your OB may have a different view.} So I just look for products that won’t irritate my skin with ingredients that I love. I have very sensitive skin and MANY self tanners can leave me with rashes on my arms or legs, and that’s an easy way for me to see I want to avoid it in the future. These products below don’t irritate my skin and leave me with a great glow for when I take blog photos. I’ve also attached photos next to each product to show you what the self tanner once developed looks like on me.

This may seem odd to start with a photo showing you my skin sans self tanner, but we all have different tones, so I figure it’s probably easiest for me to show you for comparison. These are early pregnancy photos, hence no self tanner. 😉 I was way too nauseous to think about bending over and blending my ankles. ha!

St. Tropez Purity

To start, let’s talk about what I use for an all-over body tan. St. Tropez is probably my most purchased self tanning brand over the years because I find it to be foolproof. In the beauty world, rumor has it that St. Tropez is what Kate Middleton uses! St. Tropez Purity is a clear water mousse that is vegan and has 100% naturally-derived ingredients. I love that it is clear, so it doesn’t get all over my sheets or clothes. You also do NOT have to rinse this off in the morning if you don’t have time. Remember, most self tanners you have to rinse after about 8 hours. That’s always the biggest sign to me about its longevity. If I’m going to just apply a “body makeup” that rinses off, I have something for that below. This product also has the least “smell” of any tanning product I’ve tried, which is great for morning sickness. I apply this with the St. Tropez Mitt and still wash my hands after use. My biggest self tanner hack is to use a dense foundation brush to really blend in your toes and fingers and ankles. This is the one I use and find it works best because of the size and the hairs don’t fall out no matter how much you blend.

Self-Tanning Drops {QVC Deal Here}

Let’s talk about how I tan the face. St. Tropez Purity can be applied to the face {just use that foundation brush I linked} but I prefer something I mix in with my daily moisturizer. You can see my pregnancy skincare routine here. The great thing about tanning drops is that you can mix them in your regular moisturizer if you aren’t a fan of traditional self tanner or your facial moisturizer. This way, you still get the benefits of our facial moisturizer and wake up with a glow. I apply one to two drops in my facial moisturizer, mix them in my hand, and then apply moisturizer as I normally would. Be SURE to cleanse your hands well after you apply, or you’ll have quite tan fingers. 😉 I used Clarins drops for years and wanted to try something new, and came upon the Isle of Paradise drops in shade “Medium” about a year and a half or so ago. You get a ton of product in one bottle, and it is considered “clean” at Sephora. Right now there is a major QVC deal going on, where you get get your tanning drops AND their Isle of Paradise Self-Tanning Butter on sale for $44. The butter is like a gradual self-tanning lotion, but thick and luxurious. You can mix the drops in for a deeper tan, or just use the regular butter alone. Apparently, this gives you a faster color than traditional gradual tanners. I ordered it because lots of my friends rave about the butter and I have the Tan-luxe gradual self-tanning lotion and I’m not a fan. It is VERY runny and not like the Isle of Paradise texture. Shop the QVC deal here. 

Self-Tan Water

Tan-Luxe is a tanning brand that doesn’t work as well for me, but THIS product is one I adore. So you’re probably wondering why I’m sharing a self-tan water if I shared my body and face self tanner. This is the LAZY GIRL SELF TANNER we all want and need. Picture this scenario I’m sure most of us have monthly: you’re sitting in your robe after your shower, it’s 10 pm, you need to self tan for an event tomorrow, but you’d rather just sit on your bed zoning out to HGTV House Hunters instead. The thought of blending is too tiring. Am I alone in this?! This is when self-tan water comes in handy. You can use it at night before bed or in the morning and in a few hours you’ve got a glow. I don’t use this like a traditional self tanner- which you can with a mitt, but it will take forever with the mist. Instead, I spray this in circular motions all over my face, chest, arms, and legs almost like you would spray a setting spray. You can use a mitt to blend, but I just spray like a setting spray, let dry, and go to bed. This doesn’t give as intense of results as a traditional mousse, but for a spray that takes 45 seconds to apply all over body, it is amazing. This is also great if you have a certain outfit that may show your chest or shoulders, but you don’t need to tan your entire body. You may also want to keep this on hand for touch ups. If an area of your tan is fading faster than others, you can just spritz this in a circular motion to extend the longevity of your spray or self tan.

Body Blur

So what about if you don’t have time to apply a self tanner? Say you fell asleep and forgot you’ve got date night or an event to go to? Or what if you applied self tanner on Sunday, and it’s Friday and it’s kind of fading, but you aren’t ready to do another application? This is where body blur comes in! Think of this as skin makeup, I know that’s kind of a strange idea, but that’s the best way to describe this. It’s like a blurring primer and bronzer for your body all in one. You can also apply sparingly to your face, as well. I actually purchased this back when I was pregnant with Maxi and hated it. I thought it was streaky and didn’t understand what it was. I had heard people claim it was a self tanner and so I didn’t understand it fully. I was also applying it with my fingers and not using it correctly. Then, when I went to Disneyland with my family last year, my sister was using this with her self-tanning mitt and I asked her what she was doing. She told me I needed to apply this out of the shower with a mitt, and she showed me how it can be great for photos or extend what your faded self tanner. I was so in love with it, I ended up borrowing her bottle and have gone through 2 or 3 ever since. I use this at least once a week. Say, I haven’t applied self-tanner in two weeks and go to put a skirt on for church and want a little color. I just apply a dime-size drop to my self-tanning mitt, apply in circles all over my legs, and I’ve got a perfect glow. I use the shade “Latte.”

From gradual butters to water sprays for a fast fix, I hope this post helps you find your next faux glow. Do you use any of these already?