It starts because you just want a healthy glow but can end with you furiously scrubbing brown streaks. Until you find the product that really works for you - and commit to the mitt - the world of self-tanning is never easy. And these are the five signs every girl recognises as a trip to tan town gone oh so wrong...
1. You put too much on your knees. As far as you're concerned, you've been sparing on these - the danger areas. You've exfoliated, you've moisturised - surely you won't get orange knee? But as your tan develops, there they are - just a shade lighter than terracotta, stealing all the attention from your amazing summer wardrobe. I have a seriously short-sighted friend who says she can always see me coming in the summer thanks to my freaky knees.
2. There's an awkward chin line. The arms and legs can actually be relatively easy. "It's possible to get a gorgeous glow all over!" you think, triumphantly surveying your work. With courage you approach your jawline with the product and BOOM! A weird brown chin line appears. You try to smooth it into your neck, where the product goes all kinds of funky. Now you've a glowing sun kissed body (hurrah!) but a grubby-looking face and neck. Rats.
3. It gathers on the inside of your elbows and wrists. There's nothing like relaxing for a second to let the product dry and seeing lots of brown lines where the tan has gathered. Cue frantic blotting.
4. You put on a little bit more (just in case). It's so tempting when you're not using instant tanner to just go ahead and slap on a bit more. What if you wake in the morning and don't look like you've been on the beach for the past fortnight? That would be rubbish! Yet the next day you can be found desperately trying to tone down the Simon Cowell colour you've inflicted on yourself. Personally, I'm queen of just a little bit more - hence why I've been some variation of orange in all summer pictures since 2002.
5. You get white hand syndrome. Plastic gloves? Check! Tan-free palms? Check! Mime-like hands? Oh.
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