A natural, bronze summer glow is every woman’s goal in the summer. It’s kind of hard to get when this particular New York summer when it has been raining almost everyday so far. The only options for a sun-kissed look are a vacation that I can’t afford, cancer from a tanning bed or self tanner. Luckily I have been blessed enough to have tan skin so I wasn’t really into tested out a self tanner. So I recruited one of my…paler friends who was more than happy to use it. And the best part is that she basically did my job for me!
The subject (and former college roommate): Michele D.
The product: Vita Liberata Self Tanner
The product claim: An instant, golden bronze color that lasts up to four times longer than regular tans. The product is offered for fair, medium and dark skin tone.
Michele’s Review
Before:
“My before pictures are from Sunday June 2nd. After pictures are from Sunday June 9th. I applied the product on Monday, Tuesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I showered and exfoliated my skin with a loofa everyday, then after letting my skin completely dry I applied the product. The bottle has a pump for dispensing the product into foam.
On Monday I applied the product using my bare hands because I did not have a tanning mitt. My hands became almost black from the product, but after washing them a few times the color began to fade. The following applications I used latex gloves to apply the product. The latex gloves help give an all over even color.
As the box says this product does in fact give you an instant tan and dries completely in about 10 minutes. You need to make sure to apply the foam evenly all over your body to prevent darker spots or lighter spots. I have fair skin so missing spots or uneven application, became very noticeable.
I did not put the product on my face because I have sensitive facial skin. However I did put this product everywhere else thus creating a huge pigmentation difference between my face and the rest of my body. I applied the product to my neck which gave me a very visible tan line on my jaw line. I had to wet a washcloth and try and fade the color to look more natural.
A second person is also needed for the application process. I can’t reach my back so I needed to recruit my mom to apply it for me. I realized I also needed her to help me with the sides of my body because my arms couldn’t always reach to give an even application.
Also any rough patches of skin you may have, such as a small patch of eczema on my leg became darker than the skin around it because the dry skin soaked up extra product, thus making the eczema more noticeable. I didn’t apply the product daily because I liked how dark I became after 2 to 3 days of use. Also exfoliating everyday then not applying the product helped it fade quicker.
I told my coworkers that I was using a fake tanner in case they noticed some funny streaks on my body. They mentioned that the color looked very good and natural. And even though they couldn’t smell it I think the product does have a little of an unpleasant smell. I smelled it especially when I went to hot yoga and began to sweat. For anyone that has used a tanning bed your skin begins to smell like after you’ve used the bed. No one ever commented on there ever being a smell but its something I could personally notice.
I work in a lab and I have to wear a white lab coat every day. The product never rubbed off onto my lab coat or my clothing. Even though I avoided wearing any white bras or shirts because I was scared that if I began to sweat it would bleed onto my clothing.
After:
My verdict is I would recommend this to someone who can’t go into the sun and tan, for someone who can recruit someone to get all the places on your body you can’t reach or if you need a quick tan. Personally for me I would rather get a tan and my vitamin D the old fashion way, from the sun.” – Michele D.
