How to Camouflage a Farmer’s Tan

Dear all-knowing Amalah,
I promise that this is not another SPF question. It just requires some SPF talk.
For several years, I lived up north. The summers were short, hot, humid, and hazy. I used Neutrogena’s Dry-Touch Sunblock (SPF 55) every morning and found it to be plenty to protect my skin all day long.
This summer is my first further south where the summers are long, equally hot, dry, and exceedingly sunny. I’m outside a little bit more, waiting for public transit to get my son to daycare then walking a bit in the mornings and more public transit in the afternoons. I started out the summer by using the Neutrogena again (this time, SPF 70), but have had two particular issues. The first is that I actually managed to burn (not too badly, but definitely a burn), even with the super-high SPF. The other is that the Neutrogena is too dry; I actually broke out from using it. So now I’m experimenting with new sunscreens, trying to find the right brand for my sensitive skin, and reapplying before I head out in the afternoon.
My problem: I’m tanning, even when I wear sunscreen. It took getting that burn to realize this. So now I have a lovely farmer’s tan. It’s the worst on my arms, though there’s also a noticeable change in color at my sock-line.
I am going to a friend’s wedding in about a month. Both of the dresses I’m considering wearing are sleeveless. How can I even up the color on my arms while still respecting the sun’s damaging rays?
Thanks,
I don’t live in the dell, I just look like I do
The best — nay, the only — way to safely even out a farmer’s tan is obviously with a self-tanner, and the best — again, honestly, the only — self-tanners I will use and recommend are the gradual moisturizing kind.
If you were to go with a zero-to-baked full-on self-tanner on your upper arms and ankles, I can guarantee you an orange-y, mismatched patchwork effect (with bonus streaks on your ankles and feet — two of the toughest areas to self-tan.). But these moisturizing self-tanners are much easier to control and fine-tune, and just about every drugstore moisturizer brand offers one in a variety of skin tones.
You say you have a month. The only drawback to the gradual tanners is that they are just that. Gradual. It takes about a week of regular once-daily use to achieve the full color potential — don’t apply more than once a day until you’re sure you’re using the correct shade for your skin, since it takes about 24 hours to see results from the previous day’s application.
Personally, I use (deep breath) . (Short and catchy, that’s how I like MY product names.) I’m actually pale as all get out, but I’ve found you need to go up a shade or two in some of these to get any noticeable color. (I also used , but as I think I mentioned in a previous Smackdown, I only got results with the “dark” version and saw next to no color with the “fair to medium.”) Neutrogena, Jergens, L’Oreal — you have a ton of other choices and they all work pretty much the same. (Although I believe Neutrogena is the only brand that combines . ) If you’ve got a strong brand loyalty to one or the other, go with it. In the end, it’s all just fingerpainting lotion on as needed to attempt an even tan. Just READ LABELS CAREFULLY to make sure you are buying the gradual, moisturizing kind and NOT just a self-tanner, since most of these brands do offer both.
For places where you aren’t tan at all, just smear it on generously according to the package directions. For the “line” where this skin meets your farmer’s tan and rough areas like your ankles, mix in some additional (regular) moisturizer to dilute the tanning ingredients and prevent streaks and help with blending. I would start NOW just to get a sense of how many days you’ll need to apply and to make sure you’ve found the proper shade. Once you’ve got the color you want, maintenance varies from person to person. I drop down to every other day for a few days, then go back to applying it every day for a couple days after that.
Continue to wear your sunscreen religiously in the meantime, since the only thing that would look worse than a not-quite-perfect sunless-tan-meets-farmer’s-tan would be a shoulder-burn-meets-farmer’s-tan.
If, on the day of the wedding, you’re unhappy with the color and need to darken up in a hurry, apply a matte bronzer over your chest and neck and shoulders with a large loose powder brush. (MATTE is an important feature here, since any glittery bits in the bronzer will look like tweenybopper body glitter in photos. CARGO makes a good one.) Use the bronzer for your face as well. I’ve never used any of the gradual tanners there and would honestly rather not, since I worry they’d be too much (and it’s not like you can just wash them off if you screw up and leave a big streak across your chin) and/or make me break out. I have been tempted by the Neutrogena just-for-faces version I linked to earlier, but honestly, bronzer is soooo much easier. Keep the self-tanner on your body and take a shortcut for your face.