by Paloma G.
Memorial Day was my unofficial start of summer! How exciting is it to finally put on flip flops? Over the holiday weekend, I fumbled through my drawers for all things pool related: bikinis, wraps, hats, and cover-ups. I also came across the NKD SKN Pre-Shower Tan. It’s a sunless tanning lotion that will take you from pasty winter shut-in to bronze goddess without stepping into the light.
This was my first time applying a self-tanner. Previously, my faux tanning experience had been limited to memories of the orange, Oompa Loompa girls in high school that were desperate for a tan no matter the color. In the back of my mind, I was afraid of peculiar orange streaking on my skin and spreading the unnatural color to every light-colored surface in my home with a swipe of my hand. Rest assured, neither of these scenarios happened!
Instructions are pretty easy. Take your normal shower; it’s very important to avoid contact with any soap or moisturizing oils on the skin you’re going to tan. Also, it’s not mentioned in the instructions, but I exfoliated with a brush to remove excess dry skin and keep blotchiness minimal. After exfoliating, I turned off the water and applied the NKD SKN Pre-Shower Tan. I think with this product more is more, so I massaged a thick glob of the solution in circular motions as directed by the instructions.
I was definitely expecting this self-tanner to smell like depilatory creams and to have that “oh no! I’ve left it on for too long” burn. There was absolutely no smell and not even a hint of a burn. After hanging out on Instagram for a solid ten minutes, I turned my shower back on and rinsed. Again, make sure you rinse off the self-tanner with only water. Pat dry and don’t apply any lotion. This was the only drawback for me as I love to smother my limbs with cream post-shower.
Don’t worry if you don’t see any color after showering. Results are not immediate, instead, it slowly appears over the course of 4-8 hours. I’d strongly recommend starting the self-tanning process three days before hitting the pool or beach. That way you can apply sunless tanner three or four times until your desired color is achieved.
NKD SKN Pre-Shower Tan is available on their website and also from retailers like Ulta for around $19.99 and saw a travel size for $8+ at CVS. Make sure you check out the application tips from NKD SKN and tag your new glow with #ShowSomeNKDSKN to be featured!