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My Self Tan Plan
Reina goes on a self tanner testing spree.
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to this Commentary!
By Reina Gonzales
It’s everywhere. From Jennifer Aniston to George Hamilton. Smooth, golden,
radiant skin. On television, at the beach, in the magazines: millions of flawless
tans. But I am not so lucky.
My hypochondria prevents me from spending longer than two minutes in direct
sunlight. I’m convinced that a Jennifer Lopez tan is not worth dying of
skin cancer. But I’m on a mission. No matter how many zebra stripes, how
harsh the exfoliation, or how reminiscent of a radioactive apricot, I am determined
to find the perfect self tanner.
There are hundreds of self-tanning products on the market. The latest is airbrush
tanning, which involves a specialist painting your body while you stand virtually
naked. It costs anywhere from $40 to $150 dollars per session. That’s
way too rich for my blood. I’m a college student, so I have a budget of
about 20 bucks. I wonder if anyone in the cosmetics aisles of a major department
store would notice if I stripped down to a bikini in the store and tried on
their best self-tanner. We try on clothing, so why not tanner? The aisles are
filled with ritzy new products like Estee Lauder’s new sunless towelettes.
Apparently these are designed for first-time tanners like me. The towelettes
are like baby wipes in little square packages and cost a mere $27.50. The tricky
part is that you are instructed to unfold them gradually, as you sweep them
over your skin. Talk about complicated multi-tasking.
While I can’t give you a personal review of the most upscale tanners until
I get a better paying summer job, I’m happy to report that I did test
the more affordable products at my local drug store. I started with Neutrogena’s
Instant Bronze, a popular tanner that promises a streak-free natural tan. The
bronzer allows you to see the tan right away, unlike most tanners that make
you wait at least a couple of hours to see results. The price was right at under
ten dollars. But I ended up with a much too dark, blotchy, smelly tan.
Next, I tried Banana Boat’s Sunless Tanning Crème in Soft Medium.
This one surprised me. It did give me a somewhat natural looking tan without
streaks. The downside was that it had a slightly orange hue and only darkened
my skin a few shades. The upside was that it only cost $5.99! If I layered it
on for a few days I could probably achieve the shade I really wanted. The last
product I tried was Paradise Gold Sunless Streakless Crème. Also $5.99,
this tanner was messy, took too long to dry, but left me with a very natural
looking tan.
Clearly, you don’t have to spend a hundred dollars and have someone paint
your body with goop to get a decent looking tan. And while confidence can’t
be bottled and sold, my self-tanning adventure did give me the self-esteem to
finally wear shorts. I may not look quite like Jennifer Aniston or George Hamilton,
but I didn’t really want to look like George Hamilton anyway. In Berkeley,
I’m Reina Gonzales for Marketplace.
Host Back Announce: Reina Gonzales comes to us from Youth Radio.
©2003 Youth Radio, Berkeley, California, USA
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