My Favorite Drugstore Self-Tanners

Ahhh, summer is truly, truly upon us. I just had this really long walk outside tonight, and I couldn’t help but notice how beautiful the city looked. We walked by all these gorgeous walk ups, the streets were just dimly lit by streetlights, flower bed arrangements adorned the sidewalks, the breeze in the air was warm and swoon-worthy. First real summer night of the season. Doesn’t get much better 🙂

Now that we are swinging into the sunniest of months, I will be without a doubt lathered with sunscreen (add on a big hat too and it’s the best guaranteed way to prevent sun damage and keep your skin looking young and fresh over the next twenty years!); but I personally just love the way my outfits look paired with a little color, so I’m all about that fake tan life!

Every time we hit early June, I head to the store to pick up some self-tanners to get my glow going for the season. It can be kinda a pain to apply, but it usually only takes a couple sessions before you can get some good color that lasts a decent amount of time. I am always on the hunt for the best self tanner, and as I have been really enjoying these two budget friendly drugstore products, I thought I would do a little review and break down exactly what I like and don’t like about each of them. I’ve tried a ton, and these are definitely my favorite drugstore self-tanners!

Right now I have been using a combination of two products I picked up at Walgreens— The L’Oreal

Sublime Bronze Self-Tanning Towelettes (retails $11.99) and the St. Moriz Instant Self-Tanning Mousse ($12.99). I like them both for different reasons but have been loving the tan I’ve gotten from using them both!

L’Oreal Sublime Bronze Self-Tanning Towelettes

First off, what I really like about these is they don’t feel sticky at all on your skin after you put them on. There have been a few times I had an event in the evening and would use the wipes during the day and go about my normal schedule trying to get in a little extra color. I didn’t feel uncomfortable or like I was giving off that giveaway fake tan scent.

I’m not sure what you’re supposed to do, but I kinda think two wipes to tan your whole body might be the best move. Just so you can make sure you got enough color to go around. I’ve overall had great success with these wipes not being streaky or missing spots, but the other day I had a feeling the towels were getting a bit dry when I did my entire body, and I did in fact have some patchiness. So, just make sure everything gets a good coating. That said, the color is really, really nice, not orange at all. If anything, it is more on the subtle, glowy side, so you can get some great buildable coverage with this product. I’ve been using the Medium shade for reference.

These wipes are absolutely awesome for travel— You just open a packet and throw away the wipe once your done, and you can start to see the color develop within a couple hours. The smell isn’t super intense, and I have yet to see these wipes stain my bedsheets. These will definitely be coming with me to the cottage in a couple weeks!

St. Moriz Instant Self-Tanning Mousse

So, this product is a mousse, which is my absolute fave way to self tan. I think you get the richest, most natural color, it actually lasts, and it’s easiest to apply because you can see where it’s going on. I use a tanning mitt with this product, pump a little mousse into it at a time, and then in circular motions, go all over my body. This stuff comes on super dark, which makes it easy to keep track of where you’ve already put it on, or any spots you missed. A downside is definitely how crazy sticky it makes you feel! This is definitely one to put on right before bed; make sure you wear dark comfy clothes you can throw in the wash the next morning.

I find with one application of this (I also wear the Medium shade), I get a really solid base tan that’ll last me maybe 4 days. The more times I put it on, the darker the color gets and the longer it stays. I also have noticed that the next day when I shower, my skin feels crazy soft. I’ve used other similar products from brands like Tanceuticals and St. Tropez, and honestly I can’t find much of a difference besides the price is waaay cheaper.

Overall, I find the L’Oreal wipes to be a little less fussy and easier to put on; they are perfect if I’m on the go or even just need a little instant color on my legs for the day ahead. The St. Moriz mousse takes longer to put on, makes you feel sticky in gross, but you wake up soooo so golden and feeling summery as can be!