"Painting" my spots with self tanner

Hi everyone! I have recently decided to experiment with self tanner on my Vitiligo. I'm guessing this would only work for people who have light to medium skin tones. I bought a gradual self tanner. It's Coppertone's Gradual Tan (I bought this one after doing a ton of research on which would be the least orangey). I put a little lotion on the back of my hands and then I use my stiff Dermablend brush and paint the spots with the lotion. It takes a few hours to see a difference, but it does "dye" my skin. Right now I am working on getting my spots the same color of my skin. I really have to be careful of my knuckles but I saw a video on Youtube that showed how to probably put self tanner on hands and that helped a lot. It isn't perfect, but it's been giving me a lot more self confidence and it's so much cheaper then buying Dermablend. Have any of you tried self tanner on your spots. Thanks friends!

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  • Actually on my Face self tanner did miracles but my hands it won't stick to at all it's weird :-/
  • I just remembered one more lotion that I've used, and that was Neutrogena "bulid a tan." I remember liking that one b/c while I did need several applications, it was easier to avoid getting a dark ring around my spots where the sunless tanner has darkened the pigmented skin as well as the vit spots. Meaning that I could sort of color in a little smaller of a circle the second application since the other edge had a little color already, avoiding that dark ring.  Not sure if that makes any sense! :)  Anyway, when I used that I had way fewer spots and taking the time to cover them wasn't an time issue. Now, I'd have to set aside a large part of my day for "painting!" :)

    Brandy

  • Thank you for posting this!  I have tried Dermablend and can't get any of their colors to match my skin...plus it's been rubbing on to stuff.  I'll have to give a try with some of the brands you guys mentioned above.

  • I have been using a self-tanner and it works rather well to somewhat even out the difference between my 'pink' spots and the rest of my 'olive-brownish' skin. I think it is a good solution if you approach it with the understanding that it is not going to truly solve the problem...

  • Years ago, when I cared somewhat what others thought, and i guess maybe so for my own satifaction... I too used sunless tanner :) I never actually painted my spots, but I put it all over and it definatley made my Vitiligo less noticeable, But it was still there.  After I guess about 2 summers of doing this (I did it in the summer because my normal skin was tanning so darkly and the contrast between the tanned skin/vitligo skin was extremely significant) it got frustrasting, the up keep became very repetitive and annoying to me :/ jus like these damn ointments/creams and light treatments.  I am beginning to realize (for myself) that accepting my vitiligo and living with it is the way to go.  Everyone is different and should do whatever makes them feel comfortable in their own skin

    Best Wishes

    Niki

  • Hi Amanda,

    I've only tried a few, but I found the best color to come from Neutrogena micromist. It's not perfect, but it's the only one that isn't too orangey for my fair/medium complexion. What I generally do is spray some in the cap and use a q-tip to apply it to my spots. Then I wait a while and spray a light mist over the whole area to even it out a little. I've had bad luck with lotions (at least on my legs) bc the lotion settles in the pores, darkens, and then looks like hair stubble - yikes! Good luck and please let us know if you find a winner or have application tips.

    Brandy
  • Never tried self tanner but I'm using some stuff called Chromelin, which 
    Seems to have a similar active ingredient. It takes about 4 to 6 hours for
    the skin to pigment but it really does knock the white down some. It's
    pretty expensive at around $18 for a small (like 1 oz) bottle, but a little 
    goes a long way so maybe it's a decent value. 
    • I used that chromelin in the past and I thought it was pretty crappy and a rip off. I used to used Dyoderm and that was excellent and much better price but can not find it anymore

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