Whether it comes straight from the bottle or Aruba, we all love a tan. There’s just something about being a bronzed goddess that makes us all feel our best, but, have you ever thought about why fake tanning makes you feel good? Or about why you think it makes you look healthier? It’s all capitalism, baby. And we unknowingly buy into it every time we  go out to change our skin to a shade the multi-billion dollar beauty industry has told us is desirable this week.

‍

‍

‍

Q: How can you tell LJ wrote a blog?

A: When there’s a needless definition section ofc!

‍

We all know what fake tanning is, but I’ll define it anyway.

‍

Fake Tan:

Darkening your skin without the need for exposure to the sun.

‍

‍

For a lot of people, tanning feels pretty harmless. It’s a fun way to have that hot girl summer vibe and golden glow. But for people of colour, the tanned tones we strive for have long been a source of ridicule, discrimination, and unequal opportunity. Plus, if women with darker skin fancy topping up their tan, so many high street favourites will just turn those olive tones pure green, and the warmer tan options have some heavy red undertones. If that wasn’t enough discrimination for you, when it comes to fake tanning for plus sized girls, a lot of the time we fail to consider how difficult it can be to get a tan, either authentic or of the bottled variety. I’m not here to take all the fun out of tanning - I’m here to help you make more conscious tanning choices and get a little deep about the inescapable clutch of consumerism.

‍

‍

As well as the mocking of pale-skinned people for looking exactly like they’re supposed to, the beauty standard has had a complicated relationship with tanned skin (and that’s before I get on societal views on other ethnicities). In simple terms, white people’s perception of the suntan went being the mark of the lower classes who worked outdoors, to a signifier of the type of wealth that can afford holidays overseas. We seem to have stuck with the fashion associated with that last one, but like just about anything that human beings get their hands on, it has been taken way too far, hence the contemporary discourse surrounding Blackfishing. Have you seen videos of a guessing game of "is this a black girl or a white girl with a fake tan?". Yeah, exactly. Blackfishing should not be confused with Blackface. While Blackface is an intentional decision that aims to mock people of colour, Blackfishing can be totally unintentional and often times is an act of (admittedly misguided) admiration for darker skin tones. Pema Bakshi helps to clear that up: 

‍

‍

“Blackfishing is a relatively new concept (at least the dialogue around it is, anyway) and does not exactly mean to necessarily mock qualities of BIPOC people, but rather seeks to emulate those identifiers...the issue with Blackfishing is that it is white women who are capitalising on these traits. White women who have never had to experience the racism and daily injustices that Black women have endured.”

‍

‍

Seeing people with darker skin tones embrace their melanin has so many gorgeous, gorgeous girlies beaming with pride. Especially knowing that many of these people grew up with skin bleaching products by brands literally called Fair and Lovely on the shelves of the ethnic grocers. For the longest there was a real scepticism to fake tanning, as it is an industry that has profited from selling the idea of darker skin being beautiful and healthy whilst simultaneously excluding BiPoC skin tones via their Caucasian-centric formulas, however, with brands now expanding their ranges to include consumers with darker skin tones, the narrative is becoming increasingly inclusive – which I’m sure we are all very on board with.

‍

Really good product suggestion:

This set from Coco & Eve has green undertones, making it a great choice for a natural looking tan on all my girlies with a warmer undertone. Their marketing includes colour development guidelines for fair, medium, and darker skin tones, and although their photo reviews all look similar, I’m gonna give them the benefit of the doubt and say that C&E can’t control who’s buying up all the Ultra Dark.

‍

‍

‍

Often it's extremely intimidating and even a “small bodies only” vibe when looking into beauty services as a plus size woman. Recently, I saw a video from a girl who received fake tan in a PR package along with a mitt which split when she put it on (major cheap production vibes) and she talked about how hard it can be to spread fake tan around your body as a bigger girl. Now from my position of privilege, that was something I’d never had to consider, but the more I thought about it, the more I started seeing a lack of body inclusivity in so many areas of the tanning industry. Like, sun beds aren’t made for bigger bodies, spray tans can collect in creases and create orange tiger stripes, and those quick drying foams aren’t gonna stay spreadable for long enough to cover larger areas of skin.

‍

‍

So does that mean that fake tanning is impossible for the bigger gals? Absolutely not. More and more brands are coming out with applicators that cater to plus size baddies, but are also just the most convenient things I’ve ever seen. Absolute self tan queens Zoe Coco and Marisa Lyn on Tiktok have all the best advice on fake tanning. Marisa swears by exfoliating with a long handle dry brush, using high quality velvet mitts for a streak free finish on arms and the fronts of the legs, and a back tan applicator to get the backs of the legs and her back (obvs). Zoe recommends using gradual tanners that don’t dry down too quickly so you can get a good spread with no awkward overlap. Another piece of tanning advice from Marisa (which I will be using next time I tan) is to use a kabuki brush around your fingers and wrists - which she says is the absolute best tool for getting those tricky bits and creases.

‍

‍

If you decide to go down the boujee route and are lucky enough to live in London, Manchester or Birmingham, Blow Ltd offer professional spray tanning and a f*ck ton of other really good beauty treatments that are done in the comfort of your own home. They’re a great team of lovely beauty experts who take pride in what they do, and are plus-size inclusive, with their fancy pop up spray tan tents that have 1.6 meters of space inside. If you’re outside of those absolute gems of UK cities but still want to get your glow on, don’t hesitate to book a consultation at your local beauty salon for a spray tan. And if they can’t accommodate bigger bodies, that’s on them. It’s 2023 like, they need to get it together. Just move on to the next - you’ll find somewhere that’ll do a stellar job.

‍

‍

Say it with me: We’re not trying to end up looking like this in the year of our lord 2023. Nor are we trying to look like we’re racially ambiguous. Nor will we get pissed off at articles that point out the flaws in a multi-billion pound industry that profits from the ‘aesthetics’ of PoC whilst excluding them from their product formulations.

This article is not a personal attack on white girls who like to tan. Great work!

Now you can still tan - of course you can - but hopefully after doing some extensive reading on the lack of inclusivity in the fake tanning industry, you want to tan a little more consciously. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to look sun-kissed. We’re all victims of a beauty standard that is impossible to keep up with. Staying within your intended shade range will not only mean that your tan looks so natural that you’ll be absolutely serving the ‘fresh off a Greek beach’ radiance that we all crave, but you’ll also be making a conscious choice to enhance and your natural skin tone rather than disguising it. There’s tonnes of really good options for paler skin, with a great range of undertones that won’t turn you orange or have you ending up in one of those TikTok guessing games we talked about in the intro paragraph. Why don't you try this tanning water from Isle of Paradise?

‍

‍

‍

‍

‍

‍