HOW TO SET Better boundaries

Does anyone else feel like the phrase ‘boundaries’ is trending? There’s always a new self-care / self-help focus that everyone’s talking about and all I’m hearing about lately is boundaries. Which got me thinking about my own.

To me, having boundaries means that you know when to let people/events/commitments into your life, and more importantly, when to NOT let them into your life. For the most part, I feel like I’ve conquered boundaries as an adult but there’s always room for improvement. Here are my thoughts on boundaries + what I do to respect my own:

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+ Wait to respond

Anyone who has my cell number will tell you that I’m bad at texting, but I disagree. If I think about it from a boundaries perspective, I’m good at text boundaries.

Yes, it might mean I’m not always quick to respond but that’s because I’m choosey about when and how I respond. Everyone thinks they deserve a response (or need to give one) within a matter of minutes these days and IMO, that’s not realistic or healthy. Sometimes I get texts but I’m focused on school, work, emails, writing a blog post, or am with the family, so I won’t respond. Sometimes I get texts but I’m scrolling TikTok or Amazon and having my time, and I won’t respond right away. Sometimes texts I get are unnecessary or don’t necessarily need a response, so I don’t respond…ever. Which is OKAY!

This doesn’t mean I don’t care about the person texting me or what they’re saying, it means I have boundaries. I like to reply to text messages when I want to when I have the time, and when I’m not trying to be present with my family. 99.9% of the time, a text can wait until you’re at peace to respond. If it’s an emergency, they’ll call.

Try waiting to respond, whether it’s a text or email or whatever until you’re in the right mindset to respond. Or if you can’t help yourself, turn on Airplane mode so that you’re not tempted. This not only helps your peace of mind but sets up boundaries around when / how you respond. It also trains people to know that they can’t expect an immediate response from you (which I think is healthy!).

+ Get comfortable with saying ‘no’

Saying ‘yes’ out of habit or guilt is probably the number one reason why boundaries are broken. I fall for this, especially with the guilt part, but I’m usually able to say ‘no’ without feeling bad about it. Especially if I break down the honest reason behind why I need to say no. For example, ‘I’d love to attend but I need to be there for my mom, my aunt is having another episode or my mom just needs it, so I can’t make it. Hope the event is a success!’ Or, ‘This sounds like a great opportunity. I’m unfortunately feeling overwhelmed with my commitments right now so I’ll have to pass, but I’d love to stay in touch.’

 + Learn your boundaires

If you have no clue whether you have boundaries or not, learn about them. Lauryn from The Skinny Confidential podcast had a sought-after boundaries relationship expert on her show a while back so I’m linking that episode here. The expert happened to be Licensed Therapist Nedra Glover Tawwab, MSW, LCSW, author of bestsellers Drama Free and Set Boundaries Find Peace. She has practiced relationship therapy for 15 years and is the founder and owner of the group therapy practice, Kaleidoscope Counseling.

Nedra has appeared as an expert on Red Table TalkThe Breakfast ClubGood Morning America, and CBS Morning Show to name a few. Her work has been highlighted in The New York Times, The Guardian, and Vice, and has appeared on numerous podcasts, including The School of Greatness, We Can Do Hard Things, and Ten Percent Happier. Tawwab runs a popular Instagram account where she shares practices, tools, and reflections for mental health and relationships.

Lauryn from The Skinny Confidential and the boundary licensed expert walks you through difficult boundary conversations, how to deal with setting your boundaries, etc.

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Here are more boundary tips with valuable talking points:

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+ Voice them

I’m not great at voicing my feelings but I will speak up if I feel like my boundaries are being violated. This year, I felt like I was getting requests from family, friends, my partner, and from work. It was all too much. It felt overwhelming and like everywhere I turned, work was waiting and people constantly calling my name for everything. I spoke up and set some specific boundaries around work (like ‘no, I can not come on a Saturday my time off to help set up another classroom graduation) ( oh, it is mandatory for all teachers well that was never said when hiring me and I am just now finding out about it, so NO). And it was as easy as that. If someone had the same request, you better believe I’d respect their boundaries.

I’m sure we all have blurred boundaries with work, especially since most jobs don’t end when you ‘leave the office’. I suggest setting up boundaries so that your team/boss / whoever knows when and how to reach you (within reason, of course). Certain people I work with even put their availability in their email signature so it’s a clear reminder of their boundaries. You can also set offline notifications on most communication platforms like Slack or whatever, so utilize those.

Some boundaries are more sensitive than others. For example, in-laws or your parents stopping by unannounced 5x a week or a bitchy boss who thinks she owns your life. These cases will probably require you to write out the WHY behind your request for a boundary…and things might be awkward. But in the end, most of these convos are never as bad as we assume them to be. Be assertive and kind, and if they don’t understand, that’s on them.

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+ Get alone time

As someone in their mid 20’s who works full time, goes to school full time, and is a caretaker to family members, I have zero physical boundaries in my life, which I LOVE at times, and it’s also overwhelming AF. There are days when I don’t shower, go to the bathroom, or sit alone for even 5 minutes. Add in having a partner who has all these needs and trauma. So I will feel touched out physically. When I feel like this, I know I need alone time ASAP, so I try to work it into the following day. There’s something about being alone and no one needing you physically or emotionally for even 30 minutes that can seriously help.

+ Trust your gut

I’m huge on following my intuition or gut in all situations, and it can help with boundaries. Whether you’re questioning if you’re the one overstepping on someone’s boundaries OR if someone is overstepping yours, your gut usually knows what’s up.

Do you have set boundaries in your life?

A Super Honest and Detailed Review of the Oura Ring

What’s good enough for Jennifer Aniston is good enough for us. So when word broke out that she’s obsessed with the health-tracking device Oura Ring, let’s just say we were pretty much sold right then and there. But being the wellness diehards that we are, we had to put the gadget to the test ourselves (it’s practically our wellness editor’s job to weed out the fads from the legit trends, after all). Sure, it makes a solid fashion statement, but does it deliver on all its health metric promises? Could such a small piece of jewelry disguised as wearable technology accurately measure our sleep patterns, predict our menstrual cycles, and monitor our physical activity? Read on for our honest review of the Oura Ring and whether it lives up to the hype. 

OURA

Oura Ring Gen3

available in 5 colors

What Is the Oura Ring, and How Does It Work?

From Apple Watches to Fitbits and Whoops to Oura Rings, it seems there’s a tracker for every need and type of health-curious individual out there. So what makes the Oura Ring stand out? For starters, it’s not worn around your wrists like most health-monitoring devices. Rather, it’s a ring that weighs in at just 0.1 pounds and comes in sizes 6-13 and five colors: silver, black, matte black, gold, and rose gold.

In a nutshell: it’s a fitness tracker haha but what we love about it is it tracks SO MUCH more than ‘fitness’. It tracks your overall health and wellness, sleep, workouts, stress, HR, body temperature, cycles, and more.

When you order an Oura ring, Oura will ship you a ring sizing kit so you can pick the exact size you want and decide which finger to wear it on.

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Advertised as inspiring “awareness of the intimate connection between mind and body,” it tracks sleep, activity, recovery, and your cycle in real-time by measuring from the palm side of your finger (where the pulse signal is strong) and provides three daily scores: sleep, readiness, and activity. According to Oura Ring’s website, “Your scores tell you how your body feels and what your body needs, every second of every day.” In other words, the Oura Ring takes the guesswork out of when it’s time to push yourself when you need rest and recovery, and when you might be getting sick by taking into consideration 20 different body signals—think temperature, heart rate, heart rate variability, and sleep—using infrared light, body temperature, and 3D accelerometer sensors

Oura’s Infrared Photoplethysmography (PPG) sensor sends light through LEDs into the skin and captures how much light is reflected from your arteries to determine your heart’s activity, including resting heart rateheart rate variability (AKA the constant variation in time between your heartbeats), and respiration. Heart rate variability can indicate whether you’re in a relaxed or stressed state, and when combined with body temperature, can be used to gather information about sleep. By monitoring your nighttime skin temperature, the Oura Ring takes note of your body temperature, which provides insights into the inner workings of the body, such as how well your body is recovering, if you’re coming down with an illness, or if hormones are hard at work. So that’s the science, but does it work in practice?

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Our Editors’ Honest Reviews:

As mentioned above, the Oura ring tracks so much more than your steps or your fitness. Probably our favorite feature about it is tracking your sleep, analyzing your sleep data, giving you sleep insights, and more. Oura ring uses elements like the amount of sleep you got, your resting heart rate, your body temperature, deep sleep, etc to calculate your sleep score. One AMAZING example we got from this: one night we had a margarita or two before going to bed that night. the next day we had a low sleep score and the Oura app told us “Something caused your heart rate and body temperature to stay elevated last night, so you didn’t get great sleep. Try taking it easy today since you didn’t fully recover overnight.” WILD to see actual data on how alcohol affects our sleep!

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It also analyzes your sleep data and gives you sleep insights. So after analyzing our sleep, my oura ring app advised us that our bedtime is between 8:45-9:45 pm. The nights we go to bed in that window are the nights we’ve gotten amazing sleep!

The Oura ring uses data from your sleep the night before to also calculate a “readiness” score for you. Your readiness score is based on how you slept, the level of activity you did the day before, your resting heart rate, and a few other things. So sometimes our Oura app will tell us our readiness score is at an all-time high because we slept great and had a rest day the day before. Other times it will say ‘You were active yesterday and it looks like your body could use some recovery time today’. We don’t need an app to tell us those things but it is cool to see how our daily activity and sleep can affect our “readiness” for the day!

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You can’t necessarily ‘start a workout’ on the Oura ring like you can on the Apple watch, but you can manually add in a workout and it will factor that into your daily activity goal! Or if we are going for a walk or a run, it automatically picks that up and at the end of the workout it will say “workout detected” and we can confirm it or cancel it. But, it won’t automatically pick up like yoga or a peloton ride. You would just manually put in “cycling”, the length of time, and the intensity (light, moderate, hard) and then it calculates the caloric burn based on that (and we have found it to be very accurate).

The Oura ring can also help track your cycles and predict ovulation! If you are going through IVF then your doctor probably regulating all of that. But, for the ones who aren’t in that boat, the Oura ring will automatically do that for you since you wear the ring overnight, and help track your cycles + predict ovulation for you!

The Oura ring also has guided meditations in the app which we LOVE. What’s cool about it is if you do one of the guided meditations in the app…your ring will track how meditating affects your body. It tracks if your heart rate and body temperature are lowered which in turn helps to lower your stress and boost your readiness score.

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The ring also detects naps! So if we lay down for an hour nap after church, when I wake up and check our app it will say ‘nap detected’ and you can confirm or cancel. When you confirm, the nap will boost your readiness score for the day!

Unlike the Apple watch which just has 3 rings you need to close every day lol the Oura ring has a ‘rest mode’. It can detect when you are tired or stressed by reading the changes in your key body signals associated with stress. It then automatically adjusts your daily goals to put your rest and recovery first instead of keeping the same ‘move goal’ you have every single day.

We are sure there are tons of other features the Oura ring has that we haven’t ventured into yet haha but the ones we shared above are some of our favorites and why we love the ring.

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Why We wanted the Oura Ring:

Last summer while on a hot girl walk with our best gal pal, we noticed a new, chunky gold ring sitting prettily on her middle finger. Naturally, because we are nosy and easily influenced, we waited a mere 45 seconds before asking where she got it. When we discovered it was a wellness tracker our jaw was on the floor. Before impulsively hitting Add to Cart, we did research, weighed the pros and cons, and finally got one for ourselves almost a whole year later.

Our initial attraction to the Oura Ring was the aesthetic. We loved the idea of being able to have consistent tracking, no matter the outfit, and that it didn’t look like an unsightly tracker at all. After learning more about Oura’s insights (particularly, how it tracked your sleep), we knew that was an untapped area of data that I wanted to improve, and that sold us in the end.

How it compares to other tracking we’ve tried:

We’ve had the Oura Ring for almost two weeks and we’ve been using both the Oura Ring and the Apple Watch simultaneously so that we could get a grasp on how they directly compared. While we prefer the Oura Ring by a decent amount, we will note that the biggest adjustment that we had when switching over was having to open the Oura Ring app instead of relying on a screen from the device itself. As far as actual analytics go, Oura Ring gives you so much more health data than the Apple Watch. We are talking about sleep insights, activity data, and temperature tracking (which is huge if you track your cycle). It pulls so much more data than just calories, steps, and heart rate, plus, it’s easy on the eyes which makes us much more likely to use it.

Our experience:

Before we picked out our Oura Ring size, we used their free ring sizing kit which we highly recommend since you’ll be wearing it nearly all day and it’s not adjustable. They note that it works best on your pointer finger, though we have seen some users wear them on their middle or ring fingers as well. The app was super easy to navigate and after a few minutes of exploring the intro resources on the app and a quick 90-minute charge for the week, we had a great handle on how it worked to take it for a spin.

What we liked:

To us, the biggest selling point of the Oura Ring is the fact that your numbered goals adjust every day depending on how much your body is recovered. So many times with the Apple Watch we would be discouraged that to feel the validation of closing our rings, we would have to hit the same goals every day despite a horrible night of sleep, feeling like trash while on our period, or being incredibly sore after a hard workout the day before. The Oura Ring adjusts your activity goal each day based on your other analytics and we’ve found that this has allowed us to work with our body, rather than against it.

The sleep data that the Oura Ring pulls has also been a game-changer for us. Every morning, we click on the app to see our sleep score. If it’s low, we skip the gym for the morning and use the extra time to snooze or we’ll schedule a nap for later. If it’s optimal, we will make the most of the morning and the activity plans for the day. The Oura Ring sleep score is based on your total sleep, time in bed, sleep efficiency (percentage of time spent awake vs. asleep in bed), your resting heart rate, and how long you were in different sleep stages—truly things we never thought about before using this wellness tracker.

We could talk about the pros of the Oura Ring all day: the user-friendly app, the ability to sync with the Natural Cycles app, how long the battery lasts in comparison to how long you have to charge it, the overall look and feel of it, and more. If we could go back and do it all over again, we 100 percent would. After two weeks of using it, we know we’ve just barely scratched the surface of all it can do like using tags to track how we felt, note what we ate/drank, monitor symptoms we experienced on certain dates, keep a record of our emotions, track when we have sex, etc.

What we didn’t like:

The reality is that no tracking device is perfect and while we love the Oura Ring, there are some things we wish we could change about it. The first is that, atop the lofty price, you do have to pay monthly for the app (after the free trial, it’s $5.99 per month). While you can take advantage of some functions without the app, to get the most out of your ring, you’ll want the subscription.

We’ve heard mixed reviews about Oura’s activity tracking and here’s our two cents on it: it’s a little clunky compared to the Apple Watch. Overall, it captures the correct amount of calories burned (compared to the numbers we see on our Apple Watch), but figuring out how to track our workouts isn’t as easy to figure out and seems to be done retroactively as opposed to in the moment. Once again, could be user error but as a pretty average person, we would assume others may have trouble here as well.

Another note: Having our Oura Ring and Apple Watch both connected to our iPhone’s Bluetooth annihilates my phone battery. On an average day, we sit at 59 percent by 10 a.m. so we pray to the tech gods hoping this will get better without us having to part ways with our Apple Watch.

Final verdict:

Knowing we had 30 days to return what we consider to be a large investment, we were still reviewing the Oura Ring super critically and it still passed all of the tests. This tracker is more intuitive than trackers we have used in the past and has motivated our wellness journey without making us obsess over it. We love how inconspicuous it is and how much it helped us to take accountability for our health beyond our activity tracking. And for those reasons and more, we are an Oura Ring stan.

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We’d recommend this ring to all wellness and fitness enthusiasts and pros looking to get more shut-eye, track their stress levels, predict their periods, and be more informed about their bodies plus it is waterproof so no need to take it off.

Editor’s note: While the Oura Ring is a great tool to use, always call your doctor or healthcare provider if you’re experiencing health concerns. The Oura Ring is a great supplemental device to use for everyday monitoring, but it shouldn’t replace visits to the doctor, nor can it diagnose illnesses.

 We think we covered about everything we know so far but comment below if there’s anything else you want to know! Thanks for reading!

6 Next-Level Rainbow Makeup Looks to Try for Pride Month

Pride month is officially here! Whether you’re celebrating on top of a parade float, at a party with friends, or keeping festivities low-key this year, you might as well do so while wearing the rainbow, whether in the form of a vibrant graphic eyeliner look or a bold, multicolored blend of shadows. Ahead, we’ve rounded up six rainbow makeup looks we love that will help you celebrate and show your pride this June.

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Rainbow Makeup Looks for Pride

Don’t Burst My Bubble

A mix of neon and pastel hues paired with painted-on bubbles lets you put your bubbly personality front and center — literally. To complete this look, you’ll need an eyeshadow palette packed with every color of the rainbow. One of our favorites is the NYX Professional Ultimate Shadow Palette in I Know That’s Bright.

Star Power

Creator @kolbijmakeup pairs a daring rainbow eye with graphic eyeliner in a bold star shape, plus multidimensional glitter as highlighter. To get the edges of your liner as dramatic and sharp as possible, we suggest reaching for the NYX Professional Makeup Vivid Matte Liquid Eyeliner in White.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CsRd27UpQQe/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Neon Graphics

Rainbow makeup doesn’t have to be all, well, puppies and rainbows. Give your look an edge with boldly colored liquid liner in graphic shapes, as @deemakeupart showcases here. Get a similar look using the ultra-fine tips and bright colors of the Urban Decay 24/7 Inks Liquid Eyeliners

Rainbow Nights

While you may not spot a rainbow in the night sky IRL, there’s no denying how gorgeous it looks paired with a crescent moon and stars on your lids. Creator @slightlyunblended used stencils from Definition Beauty to get her moon shape just right. 

Rainbow Floating Liner

Floating liner guarantees all eyes on you, especially if it’s done in a rainbow color palette. Keep the attention on your eyes by pairing the liner with flushed cheeks and glossy nude lip. 

Blended and Bright Graphic Eye

In this tutorial, @udstevek shows us how to masterfully blend every Urban Decay 24/7 Eye Pencil of the rainbow to create a festive eye look. We love that he chose shades with various finishes — from matte to glittery — for a dimensional result.

This Product Is the Secret to Achieving a Glowing, Bronzed Look for Dark Skin

As someone with a deep, sometimes uneven complexion, I’ve tried and often failed to discover products that leave me glowing inside out. Without a doubt, as we head into summer, self-tanners will be promoted as the must-have product for glowing, gorgeous skin whether you have a plane ticket to a sun-soaked destination or not. Unfortunately, those with darker skin tones are often left out of the conversations around tanning, as much of it is associated with the idea of deepening one’s natural skin. But what about tanning products and practices that brighten and illuminate those with naturally deep skin tones

Let’s start with a fact: Tanning is for everyone. For individuals with darker complexions who desire a noticeably more even and vibrant skin tone, self-tanners are a must-have product year-round. “For those with a deep skin tone, using a self-tanner enables them to eliminate dull skin and achieve a healthy, hydrated glow,” says celebrity spray-tan artist Isabel Alysa, founder of Dolce Glow. Most recently, Alysa has been making headlines as the spray-tan artist behind Sofia Richie’s ultra-chic wedding look. Her brand, Dolce Glow, offers accessible self-tanning products for all skin tones, ethnicities, and body types.

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Of course, the secret to creating and maintaining that glowing, natural-looking finish depends on how you practice. When using a self-tanner, preparation, and follow-through lead to a perfect result. “Skin preparation is the key to a great tan and even coverage,” Alysa explains. “Make sure to exfoliate your skin before applying self-tanner. This will help create a nice base to apply your tanner evenly over your body.” Another one of her biggest tips following the initial application of the self-tanner is to properly moisturize the dry areas of your skin such as your elbows and your knees. The more moisturized your skin is, the longer your tan will remain.

Like any beauty product, ingredients play a huge role in the finished look. The next time you browse the shelves of a drugstore or beauty supply store in hopes of discovering your new go-to self-tanning product, take a quick look at what makes up the formula. DHA, for example, is a very dehydrating ingredient that is popular among self-tanners, as it is necessary for the skin to tan. “You want to make sure you pair it with aloe vera, jojoba seed oil, vitamin E, and sodium hyaluronate,” says Alysa. Now that you know the biggest tips and tricks behind achieving your self-tan, why not shop a few of our favorites? Keep scrolling to discover more self-tanners that have caught our eye.

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The Best Self-Tanners for Melanated Skin

DOLCE GLOW Self-Tanning Mist

When asked what her favorite self-tanning products are, Alysa highlighted Dolce Glow’s Luce Clear Self-Tanning Mist and the Dolce Self-Tanning Mist for a darker, bronzed glow. Providing optimal 360º results, the easy-to-use sunless tanning mist evenly illuminates the skin.

Customer review: “This product makes me feel so flawless. I love how it gives me the right amount of coverage. It’s so easy to use and just a great product, actually the best product out there and I’ve used many. So do yourself a favor and make this purchase you won’t regret it!”

FENTY BEAUTY Body Sauce Body Luminizing Tint

Leave it to Rihanna to develop a subtle, illuminating body cream offering long-lasting blendable and buildable coverage. Its smooth-glide texture blends into the skin, accentuating your natural skin tone while adding a slight, wearable sparkling finish.

Customer review: “This is amazing! It gives such a beautiful glow and tint to the skin and doesn’t feel heavy or sticky at all. I am [shade] 385 in Fenty but I chose this shade to add a nice summer glow to my skin tone. This spreads very easily on the skin and has a nice subtle scent. It is truly transfer-resistant and long-wearing. I look forward to wearing this during the summertime!”

JERGENS Natural Glow Self Tanner Lotion

I’ve been a fan of this self-tanner lotion since I learned just how bronzed and healthy my skin could look with a product that enhances my natural shade. Nearly 2 years later, I still flock to this product whenever I’m looking to even out my tone, want a warm glow, or need natural-looking shimmer as a finishing touch to any look.

Customer review: “I love this lotion! It really works! I usually have pasty, dry legs, especially in the winter, and recently developed those small red dots (strawberry legs) and this lotion fixed all my problems! If you spread, it on evenly and let it dry completely before applying again it works great. I saw results after my third application. Will be ordering more and [using as] my daily lotion.”

L’ORÉAL Sublime Bronze Tinted Self-Tanning Lotion

This product has soared to the top of TikTok’s heavily populated #BlackGirlsTan hashtag as one of the go-to self-tanners that work miracles for deep skin tones. It’s not streaky, has no strong fragrance, and lasts for up to a week. For the best results, smooth the product evenly over the skin and remember to moisturize.

Customer review: “I have used a few different products, and this is by far the best. The color isn’t orange like other products I have used in the past and the dark color allows for even application without streaks. I didn’t expect to like it so much because it is much less expensive than other ones, but I love it!”

BONDI SANDS Aero Self Tanning Foam

When it comes to fast-drying tanning foam, Bondi Sands’ Aero Self-Tanning Foam is, by far, one of my favorites and, evidently, a favorite of many other dark-skinned people looking to add a little glow to their skin tone. Available in four natural-looking shades, the formula quickly absorbs into the skin for a long-lasting, sun-kissed finish.

Customer review: “I love this. It’s very buildable so if you just want a nice glow, apply it more sparingly. Go heavier with application if you want to be darker. I highly recommend getting a tanning mitt to avoid streaky hands. The mousse is lightweight and goes on smooth. I have not tried it on my face, so I cannot comment on that. Put lotion on dry spots like elbows, knees, and ankles and the palms of your hands before applying.”

ST. TROPEZ Self Tan Luxe Whipped Crème Mousse

Glow inside out with this cream-based self-tanning mouse by St. Tropez. Enriched with cutting-edge tan technology and skin-loving ingredients like niacinamide, vitamin E, and echinacea, this self-tanner ensures you’ll achieve an even, natural-looking glow.

Customer review: “First time trying St. Tropez Self-Tan Luxe Whipped Crème Mousse: it is beginner friendly; application is very easy and smoothly. Really like that is lightweight and had a subtle but nice scent. Left the skin feeling soft & hydrated; in my experience it didn’t feel sticky at all. And the final result is a very natural glowy tan look (not orange or patchy). Overall, a great experience and product to incorporate into your routine if you, like me, want the summer tan look avoiding sun exposure.”

VITA LIBERATA Body Blur

Available in five gorgeous shades, Vita Liberata’s Body Blur offers its wearer a bronzed, smooth base for photo-finish skin. Instantly concealing and blurring uneven tones, textures, and dullness, this product also features light-reflecting technology for long-lasting radiance. Pro tip: When applying to the face or décolletage, blend out the product with a makeup brush.

Customer review: “I absolutely love this product! It makes my skin look smooth and glowy when applied. It is perfect for any occasion, and you will feel like a golden goddess while wearing it. While it doesn’t completely blur all imperfections on the skin, it still gives you a nice finish that will last for a few hours without having a lot of transferring.”

St. Tropez Self Tan Express Bronzing Mousse

Whether you’re new to the self-tanning game or are a self-professed veteran, this bronzing mousse has remained a favorite among users of all skin tones. Promising to tan the skin in one to three hours, it uses a no-fuss formula and advanced color technology that deepens in tone the longer it sits on the skin. My favorite part? It’s non-streaking and transfer-proof.

Customer review: “I’ve used this mousse for over 2 decades. It is the gold standard of self-tanning.  I’ve tried others along the way but always return to this one. It lasts for over a week if you exfoliate and moisturize. It’s a pretty hue to the skin and doesn’t look orange or some other odd color.  Best self-tanner out there. Purchase one.” 

BALI BODY Gradual Face Tan Hydrating Cream

The best way to describe this product is sunshine in a pot. This ultra-hydrating daily face moisturizer is infused with self-tan to nourish the skin while also gradually building a subtle, sun-kissed tan. It’s suitable for all skin types and tones, so you can count on this cream to add the perfect amount of warm color to the skin.

Customer review: “Obsessed! I never have any luck with face self-tanners, they always make me break out in a rash or pimples. I’m so incredibly happy to say this one does not. In fact, I find it makes my skin super glowy and smooth looking.”

JERGENS Natural Glow Instant Sun Sunless Tanning Mousse

I’ve saved another personal favorite for last. This product has been making the rounds on social media as a must-have product for anyone with a deep skin tone craving an even, illuminating tan. Jergens’s Natural Glow Instant Sun Sunless Tanning Mousse makes it possible with a streak-free and transfer-proof formula that offers an even and precise glow.

Customer review: “I’m usually not as big of a fan of the sunless tanning mouse but had fell in love with this product! It’s very light on your skin and leaves a nice glow, giving you that perfect sun-kissed look! It also has no smell, which is just amazing, unlike other brands I’ve tried. Applying it is very easy and it dries in only 60 seconds.”

TAN-LUXE The Face Illuminating Self-Tan Drops

Self-tan drops like these from Tan-Luxe are a smart way to create a natural-looking tan over time without losing your glow. Ideal for all skin types and tones, this tanning concentrate can be added to your moisturizer, serum, or face oil to combat uneven texture and tone.

Customer review: “Illuminating Tan Drops are a great option for those, like myself, looking for a customizable self-tanning solution. You can add anywhere from one to 12 drops to any of your moisturizers, depending on how deep you want your tan to be, to create a natural-looking and most importantly streak-free tan. Four to six drops give me a nice ‘base tan.’ To maintain the tan and enhance the glow, I also add one drop to my daytime moisturizer.”

BEAUTY BY EARTH Self Tanner Mousse

Beauty by Earth’s effective and easy-to-use self-tanner mousse is fast-absorbing and delivers a deep, natural bronze color to the skin in just a few hours. Multiple applications will deepen the tone, lending a sun-kissed and healthy-looking glow. For streak-free and even results, consider applying the product with a mitt.

Customer review: “I’ve been self-tanning for years now but wanted to try and find something more natural, so I found this after searching. I expected since it’s more natural it wouldn’t last or would barely make a difference for some reason. It actually gave me the perfect tan. I didn’t feel gross with it on, it actually smells nice! And I got in a hot tub the next day and the color didn’t really fade much at all! It hasn’t gotten splotchy either.”

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Tips + Self Tanner Glow

@tomarthomas

i tested out a gradual self tanner for a week so you don’t have to #selftanner #selftanroutine

♬ Special – SZA
@kiaranlanier

first time self tanning girlie! the @sttropeztan formula smells amazing, and I can’t wait to see how it develops on my skin #ad #glowwithconfidence #blackgirltanning

♬ original sound – kiaranlanier
@stacythiru

Replying to @urihtycats hear me out

♬ Lo-Fi analog beat – Gloveity
@namiimanx

I plan on looking like a fat, juicy rotisserie chicken all summer longggg✨🤎🫡

♬ original sound – Nami Iman