HOW TO GET THE PERFECT WEDDING DAY TAN! 

With over 17 years in the tanning industry, I am delighted to catch up with Lynsey Bennett co-founder of Irish Brand Lusso Tan to share her top tips for a flawless, long lasting, beautiful tan perfect for your wedding day! 

Most ladies will agree that their wedding day is one of the most important days of their lives – so looking their best is vital! To help all you busy brides-to-be in your quest to achieve a gorgeous glow on your big day, Lynsey offers you her top tanning tips to ensure your radiance shines through!

(Image credit Tancover via Lusso)

The Trial
Just like you would get a hair or make-up trial, it is important to test your tan before the big day. Tanning products react differently to different skin types. Having a trial whether it be with at home self-tan or a professional spray tan, will allow you to gauge the best time to tan before your wedding day (we advise 48 hours), select your preferred shade and nail your application if you’re applying at home. 

The Groom
An important part of the wedding tan trial is to compare your chosen shade to that of your groom’s skin tone. If you are tanning on the day of your wedding, you must take into consideration what your husband to be is going to look like. I would always suggest that he has a light spray tan or at home application. Now, I know he is absolutely going to freak at this suggestion but honestly it will look so much nicer and cohesive in your photographs. 

The Face
If you are going for a make-up trial, ensure you have applied your chosen tan prior to this so that your make-up artist can get an idea of your exact colourings and create a look to complement your beautiful glow. The same goes for at home. You’ll want to get plenty of practice in, so that your face perfectly blends with your body. Applying tan to the face is an important step to achieving this and our Golden Glow face & Hand Mist will be your aid. A lightweight face & hand tan infused with antioxidant Vitamins A & E to nourish skin and help combat fine lines resulting in an even skin tone and a gorgeous radiant glow.

24 Hour Before Application
Essential to any sunless tan application is a fresh canvas. You’ll want to be silky smooth in all the right places before you get your glow on and you’ll need to do this 24 hours beforehand to avoid any razor bumps, irritated skin or patching. It’s also crucial to remove all traces of your previous tan and exfoliate to ensure your chosen formula has some fresh smooth skin to adhere to. With exfoliation you are increasing the circulation of blood in your skin and removing dull and parched surface cells– the perfect prep for the sunless-tanning to come.

The Application - The Lusso Tan 3 Step Ritual
To perfect your tan it takes more than just coating yourself in a tanning lotion. Consider your make up application, would you expect a perfect look by applying foundation without a moisturiser beforehand or some blusher or bronzer afterwards? Regardless of at home or in a professional salon, for the best result your tan should start with primed skin, followed by a great natural looking tan shade and then for that final dimension add highlight, contour or shimmer to really lift the tan & make it look sensational.

Step 1 Prep
We always want our brides to get the most out of their tan and for it to be long lasting and so as skin therapists we decided to create something for the first step that would rebalance the skins PH leaving it soft and ensuring a long-lasting tan, our Perfect Primer for face and body. Whereas a moisturiser acts as a barrier on the skin, Perfect Primer creates the perfect canvas for a sunless tan.  Immediately before you tan, lightly mist over your face & body and pat gently to remove any excess. Added BONUS it plumps the skin, diminishing fine lines & wrinkles especially on the face and décolleté.

Step 2 Tan
Smooth your chosen Lusso Tan formula onto primed skin blending evenly, using a Lusso Tan Mitt for a flawless finish. Start at your ankle sweeping upwards in long, gentle strokes. Get someone else to do your back! Complete the application by using a Lusso sunless tanning brush for hands, face & feet. Be sure to avoid tell-tale signs like the sides of the hands and feet and in between fingers as the sun would not naturally hit those areas.

Step 3 Boost
Boost your results and add radiance on the morning of your wedding with our Lusso Tan Finishing Touch range. (Ensure your developing time has passed and your guide colour has been showered off) Smooth Finishing Touch Skin Perfector onto the skin in circular motions and be sure to blend well using a Lusso Tan Mitt or Sunless Tanning Brush and dust the shoulders and collar bones with finishing touch Shimmer.

Finishing Touches
I touched on Step 3 in the application guide above but when it comes to a wedding tan our Finishing Touch Skin Perfector really is a must. This instant tan with a hint of make-up has a real luminosity to it, where as a tan has a flat finish. By covering imperfections and reflecting light it really enhances skin tone and covers slight blemishes, freckles & veins. It photographs extremely well and will take years off your chest and more importantly your hands for your wedding and engagement photos. With its natural shade tint and instant results skin will appear healthy, glowing, and perfected.

Prolong The Tan
Many of our brides will continue the celebrations on past the wedding day and leading into the honey moon, so of course you’ll want to do all you can to prolong the tan. Hydration is key here, so to stop your skin from drying out make sure you drink lots of water and be consistent with your daily moisturiser. Mega hot showers can dry out your skin so watch your water temperature and some products, while soft on the skin, can be chemically dense and end up taking away some of your gorgeous glow so you’ll want to avoid those. Think exfoliants, oily bath lotions & shower products etc. Instead opt for a chemically balanced soap. Finally anyone with a good skincare routine will know that it’s hard to hold onto a sunless tan on the face (and the same with hands) so reapply with Lusso Tan Golden Glow Face & Hand Mist & sunless tanning brush to keep everything matching.

Hope this helps lovelies!  View Lynsey in action over on my Instagram!

Stacey xx