Winter is melting away, and so are the excuses for your peakish skin tone. Spring is basically here, and if you don’t live in Southern California, or don’t fake and bake, then you need some help. Some serious help that comes in a tube.

An always fun brand is Benefit Cosmetics, where you can find their light tinted facial lotion cleverly called, “Talk to the Tan.” It’s a nice way to give your face a little glow without all the mess of full-on fake tanners (and it washes off easily). It’s a nice way to ease into summer, buying you some time to get out in the sun. Benefit also offer a few bronze façade tricks like their face powder, “Hoola,” which is a soft bronze matte powder that gives your complexion a healthy, natural looking tan.

A little more intense way to achieve a tropical glow is, “Tan Airbrush In A Can,” which is basically what it says it is. It’s a more intense than a lotion, but it gets the job done if you’re willing. It’s a tinted mist with a 360 degree nozzle, which lets you reach those weird angles like the middle of your back. The tint is a dark golden tan that has no shimmer and it does mandate some effort to even it out, but the result is worth the work. It dries quickly and has a mild odor; it even looks good before the real tan develops underneath it a few hours later.

If you want something more than a tinted facial cream and less effort than tan in a can, then check out Lancome’s Flash Bronzer Glow ‘N Wear (my personal favorite). It’s a tinted gel available in both shimmer and matte (and the shimmer is nowhere near as obnoxious as the disco days). The scent is a little strong on the floral front right out of the bottle, but it fades into a pleasant scent once applied. The nicest part about it is that it’s virtually transfer free (which means it sticks to your skin and nothing else). It dries in less than 5 minutes and in a few hours, the tan underneath the tint is gorgeous, and no orange.

If you don’t feel competent to do it yourself, the check out “Fantasy Tan” at ShanaTan.com, where you can get a profession airbrush tan that looks like you just spent a day on the beach. I know I don’t have the time, and Lord knows I sure can’t afford the the wrinkles.

So don’t stay pasty any longer. The sun is out, which means tanks tops and dresses are coming back with a vengeance. You wouldn’t want to be caught off guard during a heat wave.

***Picture by: Plan 59***