My Verdict on Moisturizing Sunless Tanners. Can you get a radiant glow?
Apr 05 '06
The Bottom Line To my surprise one of the many "glows" on the market works.
I don’t think any type of tanning is good for you. We know by now that the sun causes us to age prematurely and perhaps to get skin cancer. We know that we must keep our skin moisturized.
I’m going to go over the main ways of tanning other than sitting in the sun and then tell you about the bronzer moisturizers that have come on the market. I bought one and would like to share my experience.
I have used a tanning bed many years ago before we went away. I wouldn’t consider it now knowing what we know about their harmful effects (cancer and risk to the immune system) as well as my high risk for skin cancer. The most popular and the ones in the gyms I go to (Although I have seen the new stand-up ones as well.) have a Plexiglas surface. I laid down on it and lights from the top of the bed (The whole thing looks like a clamshell.) and from under the bed hit my body. I had to wear goggles and bought lotion that was supposed to enhance the tan. I went several times and without question I got a tan. It is not a terribly expensive process but in the long run it might be very costly.
A fake tan became popular years ago perhaps started by Coppertone. We all walked around orange. These fake tans had us .applying chemicals on our skin to produce an effect similar in appearance to a traditional suntan. This was never very popular with me because I ended up either a strange color or striped. I do understand that some of the sunless tanning products now are much better.
Along came airbrush tanning. In airbrush tanning, the tanning solution is applied by a technician using a compressor and airbrush. Airbrush tanning solutions contain an active ingredient, DHA that reacts with the outer layer of skin, producing a bronzing effect.
The day
I bought my gown for my daughter’s wedding I commented to her that perhaps I would tan in some way. The dress has a v neck. My neck looked pale against the color of the dress. She commented that perhaps I should try the air brush method. Then suggested I try a much less expensive method using the new glow or bronzing moisturizers. She had never used one and had no idea if they worked. I was very skeptical when I went into CVS. First of all let’s fact it, of every 1 product that works 10 don’t (I have no idea of the numbers but you get my point.) I spent quite a few minutes looking at the multitude of brands and decided that since it wasn’t going to work anyway I may as well go the least expensive route. For $5.99 I bought CVS Essential Glow Daily Moisturizer. I was recently in CVS and saw one by Dove for $5.49.
This is an 8-ounce tube that comes in three skin tone color- fair, medium and dark . I got the medium skin tone tube. We are told that it “creates a healthy, summer glow all year long just by moisturizing.” We are also told that it has essential moisturizers and a skin darkening complex. They compare themselves to Jergens Natural Glow Daily Moisturizer.
I am not going to list all the ingredients but will share some. If you want a complete list I will supply it. This contains water, mineral oil, alcohol, dimethicone, petroleum, EDTA, caramel, avocado oil, methylparaben, ceteareth-20, fragrance, butylene glycol, and many more ingredients I can’t pronounce.
This is not a product I would want to use long term in spite of being told on the tube that with daily use I can have a year round healthy radiance.
I saw a color chart on the tube showing the color at starting point, after several days and after one week.
Essential Glow is not a sunscreen; it is for external use only; avoid contact with eyes, don’t apply to broken skin, keep out of reach of children; stop using it if irritation occurs and staining of clothes may occur.
I used it as directed. I use it every day by smoothing it on evenly and allowing it to dry before I get dressed. I must wash my hands after I use Essential Glow. This is a problem. If I want my hands to be “tan” then should I wash my hands? I got around this in two ways. Sometimes I just tried to wash the palms of my hands and sometimes I apply it with cotton balls. The latter works but takes much longer than just spreading it with my hands.
This is a fairly thick, white cream that rubs in easily. I found it to dry quickly and have never had staining on my clothes. The odor could be better. It is not offensive but it isn’t pleasant or heavenly.
You can’t wait to know if it works, I’m sure:
Drum roll…yes! CVS Essential Glow has made me tan. I am certainly not so tan that people are saying “Where did you go on vacation?” but I have some color to my skin. I can tell not only because I know how light my skin was but also because of how I’ve applied it. Let me explain. I have applied it to my legs with socks on. There is a fairly significant difference between the color of my skin where I applied the Essential Glow and where my socks were.
Also I apply it to my face. I haven’t put it on my ears and I can see a demarcation between where I stopped applying the Essential Glow!
On top of the fact I’m bronze and radiant (ok maybe that’s an exaggeration) I like this product because it does have a moisturizing affect. I wouldn’t buy it solely as a moisturizer because of the chemicals in it. At first I thought it was irritating the skin under my chin but that either stopped or was caused by something else because I now have no irritation at all.
I am recommending Essential Glow (or any bronzer because I imagine they all work the same). I would buy whatever is least expensive unless the ingredients in one seem to be healthier than in another. I doubt it because the darkening complex is chemically based in the products I've looked at. If you want some slight color to your skin without paying for air brushing or the even more harmful affects of tanning beds and the sun, this is a good option.
You may not care but CVS tests this product on animals – another reason it is a short term solution for me. Thanks for reading and please feel free to leave me a question or comment.
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