Ray Tamarra/Getty ImagesWe hate when we have to announce that we've lost yet another pretty starlet to the orange epidemic known as a bad spray tan.
Denise Richards should know to test a spray tan before covering herself head-to-toe with it. Now for those of us who have been victims to bad spray tans, we know there's no turning back if you're limited on time.
Notice that Denise's face is all one color—no rosy cheeks, no highlights, no shaded areas. Nada. Our girl should have applied some flattering makeup or just made the time to start over with a good sunless tanner.
Beauty Bailout: We know spray tans are much easier than hand-applying sunless tanner. But when it comes to your face, why take a chance when it could end up looking like a hot orange mess?
Sunless face tanners come in different shades and formulas so you can customize your look more than a simple spray-tan. Most importantly you can test the sunless tanner on the inside of your arm before applying it to your precious face!
We personally like to take our time when it comes to sunless tanning to minimize the risk, so we opt for a gradual sunless tanner like St. Tropez Gradual Tan Everyday Face Light/Medium. This formula is a moisturizer / sunless tanner blend so we reap the hydrating benefits and we don't have to be as precise when applying it. Keep in mind that when we say "gradual", we're talking a solid week before you're golden.
If you have as much patience as you do restraint in a Sephora, you're going to want to try a more immediate self-tanner like Kate Somerville Somerville 360 Face Self Tanning Pads, that gives a warm healthy glow within a couple hours. These individual pads have a sleeve applicator, which gives a more non-splotchy, even coverage and means you won't have to worry about brown splotches all over your hands.
Now if you're in Denise's boat and your spray tan left your face all one shade, you need to add in some natural-looking dimensions. Apply a bronzer with subtle golden shimmer like NARS Bronzing Powder in Laguna, using a large fluffy powder brush, where the sun naturally hits your face—the middle of your forehead, the tops of your cheekbones, and down the center of your nose and chin. Then, apply a rosy blush to the apples of your cheeks and cream highlighter to the tops of your cheekbones to give your face a healthy-looking glow.
If you detest the idea of a sunless tanner but you still want to look like you just came back from a day at the beach, try achieving the look through makeup. Our favorite palette is the Laura Mercier Bonne Mine, which has everything you need in one kit—bronzer, cheek color, and highlighter—and gives a natural ‘no makeup' glow. Bonus: 100% of the profits are donated to the Laura Mercier Ovarian Cancer Fund.
Denise needed to add some different colors and highlights that mimic a natural tan so our minds wouldn't have gone to scenes from Willy Wonka. Let's face it, if she had taken the time to test the spray tan in the privacy of her own home before going on national television, we would have probably been praising her beachy waves instead of her orange face!
If you're a beauty addict, Janna will be your enabler. Just an occasional user? She'll be your bad influence. Visit her blog at mybeautybinge.com and indulge!