5 Best Self-Tanners For Your Legs 2025
Nothing completes a summer look more than long, tanned, and toned legs.
Self-tanning your legs will give you a beautiful summer glow. A good application can leave them looking toned and sculpted.
How do you apply self-tanner to your legs for a golden glow and a sculpted look? This guide shows you how to get your legs looking summer-ready and in shape.
One of the essential components of sculpted, bronzed legs is a good self-tanner.
Are some self-tanners better than others for legs?
Your legs include your feet, which are tricky to self-tan without getting streaks or an orange look. With a gradual self-tanner, you can layer the self-tanner in areas that complement where the sunlight naturally hits your body.
Find out how to tan your legs perfectly, which products to use, and how to maintain a self-tan on your legs all year round.
How to Prepare Your Legs for Self-Tanner
You need to prepare them for the application to achieve a flawless-looking tan on your legs.
Legs that have been badly prepared, or not prepared at all, will end up with a streaky and blotchy tan.
Here is how to prepare your legs for your self-tanning application.
Shave or wax
Shave or wax your legs 24 hours before application. Any hairs left on the skin will prevent the self-tanning product from being applied evenly, leaving streaky areas and darker skin patches.
You must wait at least 24 hours for your skin to recover and heal completely. Small micro-cuts can cause the tan not to set correctly.
It’s also essential not to shave or wax immediately after you apply self-tanner.
This can cause you to remove the outer layer of your skin, along with some of the tan! To learn more, check out my full guide on self-tanning and shaving.
Exfoliate
Exfoliating properly before a self-tanning application is so important. Drier areas, such as knees and heels, hold more dead skin; removing this dead skin by exfoliating will allow for an even and smooth tan.
Remember that DHA only reacts with the outer layer of your skin to develop the tan.
Excess dead skin cells can cause the tan to not look even and natural. Check out this guide to learn more.
Moisturize
Moisturized skin holds a self-tan much longer than dry skin. A moisturizer will even out the drier areas of the leg – allowing the self-tanner to be applied evenly.
Keeping your legs hydrated is also essential to ensuring that your tan lasts longer and fades evenly. Take a look at this guide to learn how to do this properly.
There is no point in applying a self-tanner to unprepared legs.
Get your legs smooth and moisturized a day before application; otherwise, you will end up with a streaky orange tan that will be difficult to get rid of.
The Best Way to Apply Self-Tanner to Your Legs
Applying self-tanner to the legs only requires a different method than applying it to the whole body.
The goal is to apply the self-tanning lotion evenly to the legs, giving them the summer glow that you desire.
Use a quality tanning mitt
Use a quality tanning mitt to help the self-tanner be applied evenly and smoothly. It will also prevent your hands from tanning a dark orange.
If you don’t have a mitt, check out this guide on making your own DIY self-tanning mitt.
Start from the top
Start from the top of your legs and work your way down. This allows you to blend the self-tanner towards the bottom of your legs.
Starting at your feet might see you end up with dark feet that don’t match the rest of your legs.
Work in a circular motion to even out the product, avoiding any streaks developing from working horizontally or vertically.
Distribute evenly
When it comes to tanning your feet, pay a little more attention to the application. Work from the front of your ankle in long swiping, circular motions.
Don’t apply too much lotion to the sides of your feet or in between your toes.
The sun doesn’t really reach these areas, so they are naturally lighter than the rest of the feet—tanning them too much will make your feet look weird.
Focus on the areas where the sun reaches the most, and blend these areas for a natural-looking tan.
Consider a gradual self-tanner
Use a gradual tanning self-tanner. It allows you to decide how dark you would like to develop your tan, giving you the power to stop when you have reached your desirable tan.
5 Best Self-Tanners For Your Legs
Like with anything, some self-tanning products are better than the rest.
When it comes to self-tanning your legs, you want a good, easy-to-apply self-tanning lotion or mousse that leaves you with an even-looking, glowing tan.
I really take my time whenever I recommend products. I use my personal experience with the products, research, reading of customer reviews, and so much more when I make these lists.
I always factor in:
- Quality of Tan
- Price
- Customer Reviews
- Ingredients
- … and so much more.
For this post, I made sure these products work extremely well for your legs to produce the best, most natural tan possible.
Alright, let’s get started.
Here are the top 5 self-tanning lotions to use on your legs.
| Rank | Self Tanner | Best |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | St. Tropez Self Tanner | Self tanner for legs |
| 2. | Beauty By Earth Organic Self Tanner | Organic self tanner |
| 3. | SunLabs Overnight Self-Tanning Lotion | Overnight self tanner |
| 4. | Sally Hansen Gradual Tanning Lotion | Gradual self tanner |
| 5. | Jergens Natural Glow Wet Skin Moisturizer | Wet skin self tanner |
1. St. Tropez Self Tanner
I absolutely love all of St. Tropez’s self-tanning products, but their classic lotion self-tanner stands out when it comes to tanning legs.
This is because the lotion formula allows you to apply daily if desired, which makes it a perfect choice for gradually building up your color.
While it is not technically a gradual self-tanner, you can effectively use it as such. The application time is 3 hours, but you can leave it on for up to 8 hours before showering.
The ability to control how deep your tan is should be high on your list of priorities, and in my opinion, there is simply nothing better than St. Tropez Self Tanner.
2. Beauty By Earth Organic Self Tanner
Beauty by Earth is one of the most gentle brands on the market.
Their tanning lotion is chemical-free, which makes it nourishing and kind to the skin.
It is both vegan and made with all-natural ingredients.
This is a great kit to buy because it comes with an exfoliating mitt that really helps when applying self-tanning lotion to the legs.
The lotion has been formulated to leave the skin with a bronze, glowing tan. The tan can be built up gradually by applying the self-tanner in layers over time.
The kit also includes a waterproof zippered pouch, allowing easy and mess-free storage and travel.
The Beauty by Earth self-tanning lotion can be used by all skin types – oily, dry, dark, or fair.
You can control the color you want. The tanning cream also includes an organic lotion base that helps keep the skin moisturized and nourished throughout the self-tanning process.
Not only is this my absolute favorite self-tanner for my whole body right now, but it also works extremely well for your legs! I’d encourage you to give it a try.
3. SunLabs Overnight Self-Tanning Lotion
The SunLabs Overnight Self-Tanning lotion has been formulated with a natural blend of ingredients.
It not only gives you a flawless tan but also revitalizes and nourishes the skin, enhancing the appearance of the tan.
It is also completely paraben-free.
With regular use, you can develop a gradually darker tan, which allows you to stop when you have reached your desired color.
Then, you can maintain the tan by regular application.
Used on the legs, it will spread evenly and smoothly, giving a toned and bronzed look that enhances the look of your legs.
The pump-action bottle is straightforward to use when self-tanning, and with a tanning mitt, it allows for an even and glowing tan.
It develops overnight, allowing a rich, darker tone with a good amount of development time, making it look more natural.
4. Sally Hansen Gradual Tanning Lotion
Sally Hansen is a trusted name in the beauty industry, and the Airbrush Gradual Tanning Lotions are one of the best out there.
It is a lightweight and water-resistant formula that allows you to develop a light or darker tone.
The waterproof formulation is perfect for the legs and will enable you to wallow in the sea without worrying about your tan running off.
It gives great coverage over freckles and veins, covering varicose veins on the legs.
It is a quick-tanning solution that will leave you with a bronze, summer tan.
I’ve used this stuff on my whole body, and it worked fantastic.
I don’t love it quite as much as Beauty By Earth, but it is still a great self-tanner for your legs.
5. Jergens Natural Glow Wet Skin Moisturizer
This self-tanner is an in-shower self-tanner.
This means it can be applied during the shower.
There is no need to rinse off the self-tanner; it simply develops quickly on your skin and dries.
There is no residual staining on towels or clothing.
It has a delightfully fresh scent that does not contain any of the self-tanner smell found in other products.
As it is an in-shower self-tanner, it can easily be applied to the legs.
Gradually develop your color throughout the week, letting you choose the tan you want.
It is an easy-to-use product that comes in different shades, giving you the option of the tan you wish to achieve.
Related Questions
Can leg self-tanners be used on the rest of the body?
There aren’t necessarily self-tanners created solely for the legs; there are just products that allow for smooth and even application.
This means self-tanners on the legs can be used on the rest of the body.
It is a good idea to get a different self-tanner for the face. A lighter self-tanner should be used on the face, so you don’t have a darker facial tone.
A good facial self-tanner will have great moisturizing properties to keep the face looking healthy and nourished.
Are organic self-tanners better to use?
Many self-tanners on the market contain harsh chemicals that can dry out and damage the skin.
For this reason, it could be considered better to use organic and natural self-tanners, as they generally contain nourishing and gentle ingredients for the skin.
Many organic self-tanners also contain moisturizers such as oils or butter that continue to hydrate the skin after application.
How do you self-tan your legs?
It is better to work from the top down when self-tanning your legs alone, but you need to do the opposite when self-tanning your whole body.
Working from the bottom up will mean that you won’t have any wet product on your stomach that might blemish when you bend over to do your legs; this might cause darker spots.
By working from the bottom up, you won’t have to bend over with wet products on your stomach.
Can I use a spray self-tanner on my legs?
Self-tanner spray can be used on the legs, but it is not as effective on the feet and ankles.
It can be sprayed on the feet, but it would be more challenging to apply between the toes and on the sides of the feet.
A tanning mitt can be used, but a lotion or foam would be much easier to apply.
The Best Self-Tanners for Legs
Give yourself the gift of toned and highlighted legs without having to spend your time at the gym.
A good and well-nourished self-tanner application on your legs will leave you looking like a summer queen in your summer dresses or hot pants.
I hope you enjoyed this article. If you did, please consider sharing it!
Your friend,
Kate
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