How to formulate natural self-tanning lotion (and how not to!)

Although you may find online recipes telling you to use coffee, tea or cocoa powder to make natural self-tanning lotions, we’re here to tell you there is a much better and more professional way! 

The good news is that the ingredients used in the self-tanning products you’ll find in stores are both natural and available to home formulators. 

Read on to discover why you should not use coffee, tea or cocoa powder (!) and what to use instead.

Firstly let’s explain the difference between instant tan and gradual tanning products.

Formulating natural instant tan products

Instant tan products rely on colorants to give an instant bronzed color to the skin. 

In DIY recipes you’ll find people recommending things like coffee, tea or cocoa powder as instant colorants but these are likely to look patchy or streaky, are difficult to preserve and will certainly not achieve a professional result.

For a more professional yet still natural instant tan, cosmetic ingredient suppliers sell naturally brown ingredients such as caramel extracts. These are designed to be used in cosmetics so will be better incorporated into the tanning products, and will achieve a more even and natural-looking color on the skin. 

Instant tans are only temporary and the color is lost as soon as the product is washed off.

Some instant tanning products like our Coconut And Caramel Instant Tanning Lotion contain BOTH an instant tanning colorant and self-tanning agents that develop a long-lasting, streak-free, bronzed appearance that isn’t washed off. 

Formulating natural self-tanning products

Genuine self-tanning products are different to instant tan. They have a longer-lasting effect and do not wash off straight away. 

If you’d like to formulate a professional quality self-tanning lotion then you need to get to know two important ingredients called Dihydroxyacetone (DHA) and Erythrulose. These are natural or nature-identical ingredients that are permitted in COSMOS-approved products.

Dihydroxyacetone (DHA) and Erythrulose are genuine self-tanning agents. They cause a reaction within the skin that creates brown melanoidins that mimic the appearance of sun-tanned skin. The tan develops over several hours and lasts several days. 

The color created by self-tan is not removed by washing, though it will fade as surface skin cells are lost naturally through the desquamation process (in which the upper layers of dead skin cells are shed), which leads to loss of the melanoidins and consequent fading of the tanned appearance.

Most self-tan products are sold as delivering a ‘buildable’ color, meaning you can use the product frequently to create a more intense color or to ‘top-up’ the fading appearance of the tan. For the tanned appearance to remain, the products must be reused every two to five days.

Combining Dihydroxyacetone (DHA) and Erythrulose for the best result

You can choose between Dihydroxyacetone (DHA) and Erythrulose as the tanning agent in your self-tan, but in most cases, combining DHA and erythrulose is the best solution to create an impactful, non-streaky, long-lasting color in the most cost-effective way.

These high-performance ingredients provide a gradual and buildable tan that isn’t washed off, but rather fades over time during the natural desquamation process. 

Getting the proper ratio of Dihydroxyacetone (DHA) and Erythrulose is important to achieve the optimal result. We’d tried and tested the idea ratios and share all our tips and tricks with you in our Formulating Self-Tanning Products class. Enrollment is open for a limited time, or for members of our Natural Cosmetic Formulation Club, you’ll also find this class inside the Club portal.

DHA can be difficult to stabilize, so in the class we share the dos and don’ts of formulating with it, plus five formulation examples, covering everything from self-tanning lotions to drops, mousses and mists.

Formulate more than just self-tanning lotion

When you formulate your own self-tanning products, you can go beyond self-tanning lotions and create a range of exciting formats. 

We’ll teach you how to formulate all of these types of products, plus give you ready-to-use formulations for each in our Formulating Self-Tanning Products class.

Gradual tanning lotion 

A nourishing body lotion which gradually tans the skin to provide a subtle but buildable bronzed glow.

Instant tanning lotion

A skin softening lotion with a colorant to give an instant bronzed appearance. Some instant tanning lotions contain both an instant tanning colorant and self-tanning agents that develop a long-lasting, streak-free, bronzed appearance that isn’t washed off. 

Facial tanning mist

A hydrating water-based mist that is easy to apply by spraying onto the skin. This product contains lower levels of tanning agents than the others, as this is for facial use. The facial area tends to tan more easily and requires lower levels of tanning agent.

Tanning drops

Designed to be mixed into your favorite moisturizer to give it a gradual tanning effect. Tanning drops give the consumer control over the intensity of the tan effect. The amount of tanning drops used can be adjusted to create a unique product tailored to your specific needs.

Tanning mousse

Tanning mousse is dispensed using a foaming pump component and applied using a tanning mitt. It’s a light foam that spreads easily to evenly distribute the tanning agent and which dries quickly upon application.

Start formulating self-tanning products today! 

Receive five, professionally created and ready-to-use formulations for Gradual Tanning Lotion, Instant Tanning Lotion, Facial Tanning Mist, Tanning Drops and Tanning Mousse plus guidelines on how to create your own self-tan formulations. 

With each formulation, we will provide a benchmark product, product development questions, detailed formulas, instructions, product specifications, and usage directions. 

You’ll receive a beautiful PDF textbook to download and you can watch us make the Coconut and Caramel Instant Tanning Lotion in our detailed step-by-step video demonstration.

Follow our formulations and then create your own!

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