In this article here, we discussed a method of applying fake tanning products that is most popular with professional latin dancers. However, in this article, we are going to discuss the different types of fake tanning products, what makes them different, and the pros and cons of each.
Different types of fake tanning products.
There are two different types of fake tanning products. The first type is called a chemical tanning product; the second is called a topical tanning product.
Chemical Fake Tanning Products
These tanning products are called chemical because they work by creating a chemical reaction with your skin cells. This chemical reaction literally changes the color of your skin cells, thus giving you the appearance of a gorgeous, sun-kissed tan. All of these products, without exception, work via a chemical called dihydroxyacetone, or DHA.
Interestingly, DHA is a completely naturally occurring chemical. Its most obvious proponent are beets. DHA is the chemical within beets – among a friend that helps out – that turns your skin (and pee) pinkish-red. When this colorless chemical, derived from glycerin when used in these products, interacts with the amino acids in your dead skin cells, it turns your skin orangey-brown… or in Kora’s case, greenish-brown.
Whether DHA turns your skin orangey-brown or greenish-brown depends on the pH level of your skin. Kora has never done a pH test on her skin while simultaneously using DHA based products, so we can’t help you there. How we can help you is just telling you our stories. Kora has used DHA based products on and off throughout our careers. Sometimes it turns her orangey-brown, sometimes it turns her greenish-brown. The uncertainty of the outcome led Kora later to switch off of DHA based products altogether. Simeon, on the other, has always been able to achieve a beautiful orangey-brown base which is then easy to make golden brown by way of bronzing powder.
Is DHA safe?
Most evidence states that DHA is safe. There will surely be plenty of articles and studies – and readers of this article! – who will point to evidence that DHA can be dangerous. However, the reaction is with the amino acids in the more external layer of your skin. If there is a tanning spray that is dangerous, it is most likely a different ingredient in the spray that is causing the problem. Either that, or the danger points specifically to inhaling the product. DHA is meant to be applied to the skin, not inhaled. For more information, check out this article from the Skin Cancer Foundation about sunless tanning products.
The bottom line? We don’t worry about the safety of DHA products if you’re using them correctly.
Pros of Chemical Fake Tanning Products
- DHA-based products create a literal chemical reaction with your skin cells, thereby giving you a tan that does not wash off in the shower. Your skin cells have changed color. It is really you.
- You can control the amount of tan fairly easily by switching out the products that you use or the timing that you use them. For instance, most drug-store brand DHA-based products contain between 3-5% DHA, which is WAAAAAAAAY too little for a Latin competition but may be ok for your friend’s wedding this Saturday. On the other hand, Pro-Tan contains 12% DHA, and while one coat will be enough for a Standard competition, 3-5 coats will give you the perfect color for Latin.
- The tan lasts for as long as your dead skin cells remain with you. Most DHA-based products recommend exfoliating directly before tanning in order to remove dead skin cells. This is very important. As humans, we are constantly sloughing off dead skin cells. By exfoliating first, we remove that top layer of dead skin and expose the next couple of layers directly to the tanning product. Therefore, the tan is able to penetrate deeper and will last longer. The result is a gorgeous tan that will stay with you for up to two weeks after your competition has finished.
Cons of Chemical Fake Tanning Products
- DHA-based products smell bad. Because there is a chemical reaction taking place between the DHA and your dead skin cells, the tanning product emits a very recognizable smell. When we first started competing together, DHA-based products were at the peak of popularity, and the smell is unmistakable. So unmistakable, in fact, that we will forever associate the smell of competition with DHA-based tanning products. It takes some getting used to.
- You must plan ahead! DHA-based products take about 24 hours to fully react with your skin. That is, 24 hours PER COAT! So if you’re planning to having a beautiful dark tan in time for your Latin competition, you’d better plan to have your final coat of tanning fully set and cured about an hour before you start dancing. When Kora was using DHA-based products, she used to start tanning 3 days before the competition.
- It’s difficult to apply. There are two types of DHA-based products: those that include a topical color as well, and those that don’t. The products that don’t are impossible to apply evenly. You can’t see where you have applied too much or not enough. This leaves streaks and white spots even when done by the most experience of dancers! And the products that do include topical color leave behind evidence… EVERYWHERE. When Kora was using DHA-based tanning products, she had an entirely separate wardrobe of clothes, towels, even bedsheets that were reserved for tanning days so that her normal clothes didn’t get permanently stained.
- The alcohol dries out your skin. DHA is so difficult to work with because the alcohol in the product dried out your skin. And you can’t apply lotion over it because you don’t want to interfere with the chemical process. Neither do you want to create streaks in the topical color! So you just… suffer with terribly dry skin for a week. Which brings us to….
- The dreaded “tanned-skin disease”. Because DHA-based products work by creating a chemical reaction with your dead skin cells, and because the alcohol in DHA-based products dry out your skin, your dead skin sloughs off unevenly. And when your dry, dead skin sloughs off, it takes your tan with it! The most moist parts of your body tan the darkest, and the driest parts of your body slough off the fastest. This leaves you with very tan armpits and big white spots on your shoulders.
Recommended Chemical Fake Tanning Products
Pro-Tan: Very strong, 12% DHA, strong alcohol smell
JanTanna: Very strong, 13% DHA, oily feel on the skin
L’oreal Sunless Tanning Wipes: Weak but perfect for Standard competitions, 5% DHA, easy to apply
Topical Fake Tanning Products
Think of topical tanning products as makeup, or creams. These are products that are applied to your skin and give you a tanned color because they deposit a color that sits on top of your skin, as opposed to sinking into your skin. Liquid foundation is a great example of a topical product that could give you a tan if you simply bought a product that was darker than your natural color.
Pros of Topical Fake Tanning Products
- No terrible DHA smell. Without chemical reactions, no terrible smell!
- No need to plan ahead. Because the topical tanning products go on like lotion, there is no need to plan ahead more in advance than the day of. You can easily achieve a darker color with a topical tanning product in 30 minutes than you could in 5 days of tanning with a DHA-based product.
- Your skin doesn’t dry out. No alcohol in the product base means no terrible dryness. This, in turn, means no dreaded “tanned-skin disease!”
- Fairly easy to apply. We won’t say it doesn’t take practice. BUT topical tanning products are far easier to apply than DHA-based products because you get immediate feedback while you are applying it. What goes on is what you get. There is no drying time, no curing time, no setting time. You can see immediately where you are uneven, which means you are able to make adjustments in real time as you are applying it.
Cons of Topical Fake Tanning Products
- Topical means it comes off easily. Remember, topical tanning products are like liquid foundation products. It sits on top of your skin, which means it can come off. There are ways to mitigate this. However, not one competition has gone by without Kora finishing with big white spots on her ankles from her ankles rubbing together and, therefore, rubbing off the tanning. It’s also very difficult on white costumes.
- It can be difficult to apply. Because topical tanning products sit on top of your skin, it can be very difficult to apply if your skin is naturally oily or sweaty. There is a learning curve with topical products, and some experimentation will be required in order to figure out exactly how many coats you need to achieve that perfect latin tan.
Recommended Topical Fake Tanning Products
Aery Jo: Beautiful shimmery brown color, different shades to choose from (#3 is recommended), possibly discontinued
DanzTan: Similar to Aery Jo, less variation in shades, a little watery in texture
Which of these fake tanning products is right for you?
The only right answer is the answer that will get you looking great. Personally, we prefer the topical fake tanning products. In fact, we give a tutorial on how to apply topical fake tanning products in order to achieve that perfectly brown and beautiful latin tan in this article here. However, if you need the tanning for body building or would prefer to give yourself a base color, then a chemical fake tanning product is the right choice for you. There is no wrong answer as long as you look good!
Disclaimer: we do participate in the Amazon Affiliates program, and clicking on some links in the article may result in a little kick-back for us. But that’s not so bad, right? 😉
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