My Little Experiment with Self-Tanner and Showers
Alright, so I decided to give this self-tanner thing a whirl. Winter was dragging on, and I was looking a bit pale, you know? Picked up a bottle of mousse, seemed popular enough. The big question I had, the one everyone seems to ask, was about showering. Like, does the tan keep getting darker after you rinse off? The instructions are always a bit vague, just say “rinse after X hours”.
So, here’s what I did. First, prep work. Jumped in the shower the day before, scrubbed myself down really well with one of those exfoliating mitts. Got rid of all the dry skin, especially around the knees and elbows – heard those spots grab color like crazy. Shaved my legs too. The next evening, I was ready to go.
Putting the stuff on…
I got out the mitt that came with it – definitely use a mitt, trust me. Started slapping the mousse on, leg by leg, arm by arm. Tried to be even, rubbing in circles like they say. It had a bit of a color to it, a “guide color,” so I could see where I was putting it. Still, I was pretty nervous I’d miss a spot or end up streaky. It felt a bit sticky while it was drying.
The bottle said wait about 6-8 hours before showering. Okay, fine. I put on some old, dark, loose PJs and basically just chilled out, trying not to sweat or sit weirdly. Watched some TV, scrolled on my phone. The waiting part is always tedious, isn’t it? You just feel kinda… coated.
The Shower Moment of Truth
Fast forward about 7 hours, it was time to rinse. This was the part I was most curious about. Hopped in the shower, kept the water lukewarm, not hot. The instructions usually say just rinse, no soap. So, that’s what I did. Just stood there and let the water run over me. Man, a LOT of brown color washed off down the drain! That guide color really comes off. For a second, I panicked, thinking I’d washed the whole tan away.
When I got out and gently patted myself dry (no rubbing!), I looked… well, slightly less pale than before, but not dramatically tanned. It was definitely lighter than when I had the guide color on before showering. I thought, “Huh, maybe that’s it?”
But here’s the kicker…
Over the next few hours, after that shower, I noticed the color started to deepen. It wasn’t instant, but gradually, maybe over the next 4 to 6 hours, the tan properly showed up. It got richer, more golden-brown. It was like the shower rinsed off the surface stuff, but the actual tanning agent (DHA, I think it’s called?) had already done its job reacting with my skin, and that reaction continued to develop even after the rinse.
- Soaked in the skin during the waiting time.
- Shower rinsed off the excess guide color.
- The actual tan color continued to build for hours afterwards.
So, to answer that question, “does self tan develop after shower?” – based on what happened to me, yeah, it absolutely does. The shower stops the application process and washes off the guide, but the color itself keeps coming through for a while longer. The rinsing step is just part of the process, not the end of the development. Ended up with a pretty decent, natural-looking color, actually. No major streaks, thankfully! Just gotta remember to moisturize lots in the following days to make it last.
