The Best Self Tanners of 2019 for Pale Skin

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I know it’s kind of late in the year to be talking about the best sunless tanners, but I tried a few new ones out over the summer. Anyway, it’s supposed to be 97 degrees here today (and no, I’m not writing this way in advance–it’s October!) so maybe it’s not totally crazy to be talking about the best sunless tanners, after all.

Or maybe you’re lucky and you’ll be on your way to the beach soon (take me!).

All I know is, self tanners are still on my mind because 1. I’m pale and 2. I’m finally so sick of the heat, I need to wear shorts and skirts. I’m normally a jeans or workout pants kind of girl.

The Best Sunless Tanners for Pale Skin in 2019

I am very fair-skinned. I’m also pretty all or nothing, personality-wise, so I tend to gravitate toward the darkest sunless tanners I think my pale skin can handle.

This year was a little different, though. I’ve found that my skin isn’t as DHA-resistant as it used to be. That or products have gotten a lot better over time. Maybe a little of both. And I’ve come to appreciate a lower-maintenance, lighter tan.

Fun fact: In college, I used to wear two coats of Clinique’s darkest sunless tanner and two coats of the darkest Target brand. At the same time. Putting that on and letting it dry was a process, lemme just tell ya.

My boyfriend at the time had no idea it was fake, though, and commented in awe one time about how dark I’d gotten. Lol I’m not sure how he was that oblivious since my face never matched my body and that stuff would start wearing down around day four.

I didn’t use sunless tanners much at all for a long time because I can’t sleep in them anymore and when you’re a parent, there’s no guarantee that something won’t splash on you at any given time (my kid used to love spinning around while shaking juice out of malfunctioning sippy cups everywhere, so…)

Anyway, over the past couple of years–more in 2019 than the past few years–I’ve been in pursuit of the best self tanners.

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Loving Tan 2-Hour Bronze

Loving Tan 2-Hour Bronze in Dark, because I do not like to sit around in sunless tanners anymore and sleeping in them makes me sick.

One word of caution: If your skin is very sensitive, you maaaay want to steer clear of this one or at least do a test patch first. I absolutely love the reddish-brown, realistic color of it (closest to my natural tan, the one time I had one) but it made me itch after I had washed the color guide off. I ended up not being able to reapply it as soon as it started to fade. The color was so good, I really wanted to keep it going with that tanner.

For the record, I left it on for three or four hours, not two, for a deeper color without the eight-hour commitment I’d have to give other sunless tanners to get the same shade.

It didn’t smell that bad while it was developing or after I’d had it on for a day or so. There was a little bit of a smell, but there’s really no escaping it. This one was pretty nice, all things considered.

The fading was gradual and it never went patchy. My hands and feet looked a little rough from the get-go and didn’t get much better even with scrubbing, but that was user error. I’m out of practice.

Application was super-easy, though. It went on pretty effortlessly with a mitt, dried quickly, looked pretty smooth even with the tint, and I was able to go about my day without giving too much thought to it.

The tint didn’t make a mess of anything, but I wouldn’t recommend sitting on light-colored furniture or anything. I kept an old blanket under me until I rinsed the color guide off.

If this one hadn’t made my skin itch so much, I probably would’ve gone the whole summer with it on (once I found it, at least).

Isle of Paradise Self Tanning Drops

When I bought the Isle of Paradise Self Tanning Drops in Medium, it was one of the rare occasions I did not go for the darkest shade (this one’s great on my face). The color on this turned out absolutely beautiful and natural on me, from head to toe. Probably the most natural I’ve ever used, really.

The slightly golden shade wasn’t the shade I would turn after months in the tanning bed (the Loving Tan was), but the color looked more like part of my skin, rather than like color sitting on top of my skin, if that makes sense. That’s probably one of those things you only really notice on your own body, though.

Thankfully, it did not make my body itch. That may have something to do with being able to choose the lotion base for yourself. You can choose a lotion that works well for your skin.

I think the product improved the appearance of my skin in general. To me, my skin looked more hydrated and seemed to have more of a glow. Was that the lotion I mixed it with or the sunless tanner? Probably both. I’ve seen that other reviewers mention getting a little extra glow sometimes, too, and I doubt we’re all using the same lotion.

I need to work out a better application system, though. I used it with the St. Ives Renewing Collagen & Elastin Lotion, which I loved, but the lotion made it hard to manage the glass dropper bottle. That could’ve turned into a huge disaster.

During application, I’d put 1-1.5 pumps of lotion in my hand, then take the dropper and drop six or seven drops of sunless tanner into my hand for each area, mix, apply, and repeat. It didn’t make sense to wash the lotion off my hands between each section, so my hands were quite slippery!

What I like about this one is the adjustability you have. You basically choose the undertone you want from the Isle of Paradise line-up and then apply as many drops as you’d like to your lotion to make it as light or dark as you’d like (within reason…I’m sure there’s a difference in the depth the light can reach vs. the dark).

For now, as much as I love this one for my whole body, I’ve been using it on my face more than anything. My skin is incredibly sensitive and this does make my face itch a little, but it’s not as bad as other options and doesn’t make my pores look dirty. I mix it with my regular moisturizer from TULA.

Isle of Paradise Glow Clear Color Correcting Tanning Mousse

Isle of Paradise Glow Clear, Color Correcting Tanning Mousse, another case of not going for the darkest thing possible (believe it or not, I got Light because I wanted a peachy, vibrant glow rather than an actual tan).

This is great when I’m feeling lazy about tanning and just want to take the glare off my legs. I used to dislike my fair skin, but now only my legs really bother me.

Don’t be fooled, though, you can’t just slap this on and go. My feet looked pretty dirty after this developed and I even did the exfoliation and lotioning-of-the-dry-areas-before-application trick.

This was actually darker than I expected. I got much more than a “peachy glow.” Instead, I had a gorgeous, light brown tan that didn’t veer too far golden or red. It looked pretty natural.

The depth matched what I’d get from about two days of one of the daily gradual lotions, but the color was a lot better. Plus it didn’t smell as bad or feel as greasy or sticky as those lotions do.

The application went well, about as expected from any mousse. There was a little streakiness, again because I’m out of practice, and I couldn’t see it until it was too late since this product is clear.

St. Tropez Classic Bronzing Mousse

This is an oldie, but goodie. It wasn’t new in 2019 or anything, but I don’t imagine it’ll ever get knocked off of my list of favorites. You can get these St. Tropez products (as well as several others) at SkinStore.com.

Application is a breeze (use a mitt, though). The color guide looks pretty realistic (it’d be better on skin tones a little darker than mine). It’s brown, several shades darker than the Isle of Paradise foam and a little darker than the Isle of Paradise drops in the concentration I used. Not a lot in the way of easily identifiable undertones.

I tend to get pretty even, flawless coverage from this. On me, I think the final color from the mousse is lighter than what I get from the lotion.

St. Tropez Classic Bronzing Lotion

I used to use this one all the time. It’s better for my dry skin than the mousses, but it’s also messier and a bigger pain in the butt to apply. It’s a trade-off for me. I usually go for convenience, ease of application, and quick drying times, but if I regularly had time to focus on my sunless tan for more than 10-15 minutes, I’d probably choose this one over the mousse.

The color is a solid medium brown from me. Sometimes I think it veers more golden than red; sometimes more red than golden. Either way, it mostly just looks brown.

It looks like pudding going on and I wouldn’t want to sleep in it or sit on light-colored furniture without putting an old towel or blanket down.

You can get this one at SkinStore.com, too.

Which Self Tanner Do You Need?

There are a few things to take into consideration when choosing the best self tanner for you:

Do you want a light, medium, or dark tan?
Do you want a color guide?
Do you prefer a mousse (quicker to apply, dries faster, may be more drying to your skin) or a lotion (may take longer to dry and feel tacky but is often kinder to dry skin)?
How long do you want to keep your sunless tanner on before you rinse it off?
Is your skin sensitive?
Do you want adjustable color?
Do you want something you can use for face and body (the only one I can really recommend for that are the Isle of Paradise drops) or are you okay with buying two different ones?

	Color	Formula	Pros	Cons
Loving Tan 2-Hour Bronze in Dark	Medium-brown, reddish tint (I left it on for 3-4 hours and only rinsed the color guide off, no body wash until the next day)	Tinted foam that dries quickly, so you have to work fast	Phenomenal color, could be worn out even with color guide, works quickly, can be left on longer for deeper tan, fades gradually and looks natural	Could cause itching for those with sensitive skin, may not be the best choice for faces because of sensitivity and color guide (may clog pores), expensive
Isle of Paradise Sunless Tanning Drops (Medium)	Light-medium brown with a slight golden glow	Drops, feels like a serum, designed to be mixed with the lotion of your choice	Can be mixed with any lotion you like (including facial moisturizers), lack of color guide means it’s less likely to make your face look dirty, not a strong smell, skin glows after application	Lack of color guide could lead to streaking, managing the dropper bottle and a lotion at the same time is challenging, slower to dry since it’s mixed with lotion
Isle of Paradise Glow Clear Color Correcting Tanning Mousse in Light	Light-medium brown with a peachy (not orange) tint	Mousse that quickly liquifies	Nice light and glowing color for those who just want to “take the glare off” of their pale skin, darker than you might expect from a product marked “light”, dries quickly, nice smell, clear so you can apply and go on with your day	Dries so quickly you really have to work fast, the mousse breaks down into liquid more quickly than other mousses and it makes it difficult to apply (and easier to cause streaks), if you prefer a color guide you won’t get one here
St. Tropez Classic Bronzing Mousse	Medium brown	Thick mousse	Natural brown color, applies quickly, dries quickly	Messy color guide that may transfer, may dry skin out with repeated use, doesn’t smell great, I don’t recommend it for faces
St. Tropez Classic Bronzing Lotion	Medium brown	Thick lotion	Natural brown color	Messy color guide that may transfer, one of the more moisturizing options so good for dry skin, doesn’t smell great, doesn’t dry as quickly as mousses, I don’t recommend it for faces

Mix It Up and Get the Best Sunless Tanner for the Moment

I personally enjoy all of these and like to mix it up based on the sunless tanner’s strengths, weaknesses, and what I need at the moment. I love a self tanner that dries quickly, but I also want to make sure I’m not pairing a drying, itch-inducing option with dry skin.

Similarly, if it’s a hot summer day or night, I’m not going to want something that’ll feel tacky for hours. In that case, the mousses are the way to go.

Have you tried any of these? A different one? What’s your favorite sunless tanner?

The Best Self Tanners of 2019 for Pale Skin