Cocoa and Lotion Self Tanner

"Homemade tanning lotion: lasts for 3 days.. It fades a little after every shower/bath. What to do:- 1-Get some cocoa powder-2tbsp. 2-any moisturiser you have 3-an empty bottle 4-cotton buds, or anything that can help you apply the cream 5-mix it all together you should end up with a brown mix. Don't worry, it won't be that dark on your skin. Good for super light girls!"

--- Edited Feb 2016 - at the request of the original owner of the image that is shared misleadingly on Pinterest, I have removed the image. She was concerned people would think her blog, or the image, was "false" The original image depicted a set of legs, showing a before and after with the after being noticeably tanner than the first image. It originally was posted on her blog, and was talking about a type of tanning cream she had used, to help accelerate the tan one gets from the natural sun. Somehow it of course found it's way to being shared on Pinterest, with a completely wrong and misleading idea that it was fake tanner, done with the above recipe, which is what this blog post of mine is addressing ---

A fan requested this one, and since it's the hey day of summer I know quite a few of you are probably wondering.. can you give yourself a great real looking tan with products from your kitchen? This is another classic example of a bad pin. Not only does it go with the "take something from your kitchen and smear it on you" idea, but after a quick search that isn't what the image is showing. 

and it's her before and after photos of using a tanning cream. Not a sunless tanning cream, but the kind you put on before you go sunbathing to give yourself a deeper tan. 

But, in the name of science, I decided to go ahead and test this out myself. I learned my lesson after the Brown Sugar Straightener post I did, and took photos to share with you all. I followed the instructions, mixing up some unsweetened cocoa powder and lotion and set to putting it on my legs. 

My legs : Before

The first thing I noticed was that it felt really gross and it was making me think I was smearing chocolate pudding on my leg. I took about a quarter size amount and started working it into my left leg. No amount of rubbing however, was getting it to rub in. So with my other leg I took just a dab, mixed it with some more lotion, and set about trying to rub that in. My right leg looked less dark, but no less streaky and dirty looking. I kept rubbing and rubbing both legs but finally gave up and took a photo. 

My legs : After

At this point I'm sure my neighbors are wondering why I'm laying in my yard with dirty legs taking photos of them, so I headed back inside to shower it off. On the way to the bathroom however my dog took a great interest in my legs, which is also another factor making this a bad idea -- if you have a dog, they might try to lick it off your legs, which is a really bad idea.

And for those wondering: it doesn't stain your skin like the pin suggests. It came right off in the shower with just your basic soap and bath poof. My legs are back to their typical color after just one shower.

So all in all, bad idea. It's not true, it's the old switcharoo -- the image is real, of a woman with a tan from a commercial product, not of chocolate and lotion. I know there are a lot of these ideas on pinterest that use coffee and tea, and I will be testing those out in the following weeks as well, so stay posted!