Are you like me? Are you so white compared to the Italians around you that you might be considered clear? Do people point and laugh at you on the beach and ask you if you are ill? Have you been compared to a certain white cheese? Are you concerned about the damaging rays of the Roman sun and are forced to choose between cancer and public ridicule? Well my light skinned friends, I have FINALLY found the solution:
It actually works, doesn’t look fake and has a smell that doesn’t make me nauseous. The best part? It’s only 12 euro!
I’ve been using it for 3 days have already received many compliments for finally going to the beach!
So what’s your tanning secret?
Tags: Randomissimo
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Ha ha ha, you should do a commercial for the product! Now I’m intrigued to try it. Does it feel sticky on skin at all?
I’m really happy to find it. I have HATED the smell of every other sunless tan product I have tried in the past. My skin only felt sticky while it was drying, so maybe ten or so minutes. Def worth the money thus far. Just make sure you use your hands to blend it in. It says you don’t need to, but I had to in order not to streak-jessica
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How about tanning salon? I always tan naturally and I love to be dark in summer.
Yeah I used to tan but now it is so dangerous, even at a tanning salon. Fake and bake is the only safe way to do it. I also can’t be in the sun/or in a tanning bed because of the accutane.-jessica
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Can I get that here??? I’ve been out in the sun since there was sun to be out in (So has the entire city, did you hear about our winter? Horrendous. Everyone, even the people who don’t normally go play outside, has been clamoring for the parks, lakes, Centennial Trail, and the river. It was like city-wide cabin fever. Speaking of the trail… remember the time we tried to ride our bikes to Idaho? ….Whoa. Tangent.) and my skin still has no color. Sigh.
Ali
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My friend from Belgium was just telling me today that all the italians point and laugh at her as she is so very white! I will tell her about this.
I however am lucky in the tanning stakes
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Woah, I have a ton of catching up to do but I think I got the majority of what’s going on - I should send you something, give me your address and I’ll mail you something dorky I made with markers. Then you’ll feel better immediately.
Am off to buy this because even though I’m destitute, I want to be more tan but loathe getting more freckles. Ergo… voila! Fake and bake, it is. Mwah, you’re lovely.
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I just had an Argentine ask me, in the dead of winter (okay, well, the end of fall but it’s really cold!) why I was so pale! I was hoping it would stop when summer was over, but noooo…. so I had to explain why I don’t use a tanning booth in the winter, etc… sheesh.
I’ll have to seek out a self tanner. Or go to one of the spas nearby and have them do a fake tan for me. Gets everybody off my back and keeps me out of danger from melanoma.
I wish we could get Sephora down here
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P.S. We may not have a Sephora, but we DID get a Starbucks!
I thought I’d be mad at Starbucks but instead it felt good to drool over blueberry muffins (they cost 16 pesos so I couldn’t get one, but I did have a dulce de leche latte… 
)
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I have never tried that b/c normally the spray on tans look so awful! Thanks for the tip.
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Right…I forgot you are on accutane, then don’t tan! How’s that product doing for you? Are you peeling a lot?
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This is too funny! I was only admiring a friends brazillian tanned legs last night thinking ‘WOW’ and guess what it was - yep this product, I am off to order immediatement!
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Thank you! Great tip, and believe me, I know what you mean about the “looks” from the Italians. I run, and I use sun-block, obviously I am still white… They do not get my natural shine!
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yes…..why do most fake tanners smell so God awful?
when we were in Positano in late April my husband said he’d always spot me so easily on the crowded beaches because of my Peaches and Creme complexion
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Yes! this is what I need! Last week (when the sun was actually out) at the spiaggia, all the zia’s sun tanning on the beach commented on my overly-white body. I had to remind them that New York doesn’t allow you to sun-tan year round, and that some of us are unfortunately born with out the lovely olive skin tone.
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Yeah, I had to finally give up my relationship with the tanning salon/actual sun. I am now the proud owner of an endless supply of Aveeno Continuous Radiance lotion in Fair.
I say “Fair” because I think I used the Medium Skin Tones lotions for a long time and always blamed the bad color on the manufacturer rather than my own inability to own my pale ass skin.
My pale ass skin and this Fair lotion are BFF now. Good color, no streaks, no stinkiness and it’s cheap.
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On the topic (sort of!) of skin care, I had to say I have been breaking out a bit too recently (which is unusual for me because my skin is pretty dry) and I think I figured out the problem: it’s the hard Roman water. It’s also totally screwing up my hair. So apparently what happens is the calcium in the water actually blocks pores and follicles. Ick!! I don’t know what the solution is but today I’m experimenting with a vinegar rinse for my hair. Thanks for the tips on self-tanner! I am way too slack to use it . . . I always buy some, and then after a few times forget to keep putting it on. I’m all about the pale, baby; Kate Winslet is my fashion idol. :-))
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Oooh! thanks for the tip! Is it a self tanner, or just a spray on color? I am butt white and feeling fat (too much time on the computer following this election process!) and have a vaca in Cote d’Azur coming up! eeeeeeeek!
I need a case of this stuff.
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Elsie on 06 Jun 2008 at 1:11 pm15 -
Me too! The water here is reeking HAVOC on my skin. I am 42 and have the worst breakouts I have ever had in my life. UGH! I figured it was the water as well. Also, I noticed a difference in my teeth and har.
The solution I use for my hair is Johnsons Baby shampoo a couple times a week.
I am still trying to figure out what to do with my poor face. :O(
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Hi
Just wanted to start off with saying that I’ve been reading your blog for some time now and I absolutely love reading it!
I myself am about to make the move to Rome and it’s nice to read your views on it!
I totally understand the tanning problem.. every time I’m in Italy they call me that cheese starting with M - word all the time..
Keep up the blogging !
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Hi
I hope your feeling better. I love this post, how is it that the Italians seem to get tan (naturally) when there isn’t any sun? I’ll look out for this product. My secret is Johnson’s Holiday Skin in fair, as Finnyknits says if you’re fair in real life it looks far better and doesn’t streak. Luckily we don’t live near the coast so I don’t have to expose my mozzarella to much, only pool side and that’s bad enough.
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Don’t even get me into Sephora, that place is wicked bad (for my wallet!). On the other hand 12€ for a great tan is waaaay cheaper than flying back to Hawaii for some sun. Maybe I should send my husband in there for me; atleast there are pretty girls to look at! lol
p.s. About the dogs, today they are being punished for uprooting one of my potted plants. No watermelon for you two!!
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@ amanda@A Tuscan View:
I think in the winter a lot of Italians get tan the old-fashioned way . . . at tanning salons! I swear there are more of them here in Rome than there are Mystic Tan places in California (which is saying a lot)!
@sarainitaly:
I found out we* hadn’t changed the cylinder in the water-softening thing for . . . several months. Once that was done my poor face started to clear up literally overnight. My hair is looking better too. Side note that if you have a tendency to low thyroid apparently the minerals in the water can make it harder for your body to absorb the iodine it needs. The lowered metabolism exacerbates skin problems because it means your skin cells don’t turn over as quickly.
*by “we” I mean “my husband” :-))
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We don’t have a soft water filter… hmmm might have to check into that!
Maybe I have a low thyroid, and slow metabolism too! that could be a good excuse for my butt. hahaha
Thanks for the tips!
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I am going to be in Rome for the month of July. I have red hair and can’t live without my pro airbrush tan! Unfortunately my fake tan lasts about 3 days, especially when it’s hot. I know they have tons of tanning salons in Rome but what about airbrush tanning like Mystic and Versaspa or spas where they airbrush you? Thanks!
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@sarainitaly
I recently picked up some fucus (seaweed) capsules in France which are iodine-rich and I think have done good things for me. I’m sure I could track them down here too.
@Amy
I have never seen Mystic tan here. Possibly, however, in an area like Trastevere (where there are tons of American students from John Cabot) there might be one. I will post here if I see one on my wanderings.
@Jessica
I hope you are okay and feeling better!
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@Amy
I’m happy to eat my words . . . ! You can get Mystic Tan in Rome at Megasolarium. Looks like three locations, too . . . and one near me. I might have to do it. Anyway, Google it to find the one nearest where you’ll be, get street maps, etc. Auguri!
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are there tanning booths in italy?
Hi Christina, Like I wrote to Sue above, there are tanning salons all over. They are call solariums here.-jessica
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i would also like to know if there are many tanning salons in Rome, and if so where????
grazie
Yes there are hundreds. Just google “roma solarium”.-jessica
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Lisa Reply:
December 2nd, 2008 at 2:47 am
Hi Jessica,
Do you mind to name some of the tanning studio/booth in Rome, Italy? Google showed the results in non-English web page, which i dont understand. Thank you so much.
-Lisa
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Hi Jessica,
I, too, am a natural-born mozzarella! (Despite family members who tan easily. I simply didn’t get those genes.)
When Italians tell me I need to go to the beach, I say, “What are you waiting for? TAKE me to one!!!”
I’ve never used a spray tan, but I may take your recommendation sometime this summer just to shock everyone! ~Tui
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That certain white cheese has been my name for years within my family here!! Happy to hear that I am not the only one…
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