The hack
It’s summer, so that means it’s fake tan season, but can you make your own ultra-cheap tanning product using instant coffee?
The test
The cost of tanning products can add up, so this is more of a frugal hack. Ingredients-wise, it is also delightfully pain-free. Take a mixing bowl, tip in two tablespoons of ground or instant coffee (I used the latter) and add body lotion until the coffee dissolves to a dark caramel shade. Using your hands or a tanning mitt – which will prevent any staining on your palms – you simply rub this caramel cream on to your (ideally exfoliated) skin and leave it to dry.
You don’t need to be a fortune teller to know that this experiment is going to take time – and will end messily – so on one leg I used something that I know definitely works (Isle Of Paradise Disco Tan) to act as my control, and on the other I applied my coffee concoction.
The verdict
Both limbs turned a similar shade of deep bronze that lifted my deep skin tone, but the coffee formula dissolved and ran as soon as I was caught in a rain shower – and then managed to transfer itself on to the cream skirt of a pal when I sat next to her.
If you’re reading this, my friend, feel free to send your dry-cleaning bill to the Guardian. Unsurprisingly, coffee tanning is a hard “no” for me.
