How to Get a Convincing Self-Tan at Home

We called on the pros to walk you through every step, and rounded up our go-to self-tanners that won’t leave you looking orange—swear!

In 2021, the global self-tanner market was valued at around $1 billion. By 2029, it’s expected to be almost $1.6 billion. That major increase began during the pandemic, where DIY was the only option for, well, everything. Today, getting a great self-tan at home isn’t a last resort; it’s the preferred tanning method for many people (just ask the almost one billion views the hashtag #selftanner has on TikTok).

“Our sales of tanner have gone up 300%, with people feeling like they want a lift,” James Read (who has bronzed Mariah Carey and Lady Gaga) of his eponymous line, told us back in 2020. “Everyone’s doing FaceTime and lots of Instagram videos so, things have really picked up.”

Squeezing in a self-tanning session can also save you time on the daily, delivering an evened-out complexion that won’t wash off like foundation does. “I’m seeing a trend where people aren’t necessarily using makeup and are letting their skin breathe, but still want a hit of coverage,” says Jules Von Hep, founder of Isle of Paradise and trusted tanner to Kate Moss and Sienna Miller. The safest way to get that bit of colour is by using a product with DHA (that’s short for dihydroxyacetone, an ingredient derived from sugar cane and beets) rather than trying to catch some rays. No matter the weather, you still need sunscreen every time you go outside—and even inside—to protect your skin from cancer-causing and aging rays.

Scared of a streaky fake-bake nightmare? We called on the pros to walk you through every step of the way, and rounded up our go-to self-tanners that won’t leave you looking orange—swear!