Here’s how to make your own DIY fake tan

When it comes to being tanned, we all have our own methods of trying to alter our skin colour.

Whether it be through bottled fake tan, sunning ourselves on holidays or (God forbid) sunbeds, these days you can get a tan within minutes. As many people may find themselves without fake tan or money to book a holiday, there's only one way to get a bronzed glow before that special event or occasion coming up and that's through the magical experience that is DIY. While DIY fake tanning sounds a bit strange, our good friends at Cosmopolitan have cracked the way to look super tanned while on the cheap. HOORAY!

via GIPHY

According to Lucy AitkenRead, getting a tanned glow for cheap is way easier than we thought. Redheaded Lucy was dying her hair with copper coloured henna and forgot to wear gloves. As she waited for the henna to set in her hair, she noticed her hands turn a slightly brown hue, much like fake tanning products she had used before. She spent some time thinking about how she could make fake tan using the henna and made a recipe including ingredients such as

• 3 tablespoons of organic copper henna powder

• 6 tablespoons of coconut oil

• 6 teabags left to soak in half a mug of hot water

Pour boiling water over the teabags and henna powder and leave until cool. To mix it, pour the melted coconut oil into the bowl and blend it all together. To apply the mixture, you can use plastic gloves and simply rub it in to your skin. Wait 15 minutes to sink in before washing off, and the tanned, bronzed effect will stay for the whole day (provided you don't run into rain of course). If you want the colour to stay longer, waiting an hour with the DIY tan on is advised. Et VOILA! By the next morning, the colour will fade somewhat but the best part of this tanning hack is that your sheets won't be dirty or orange after the henna mixture. EXCELLENT. Do you have a tanning tip or hack? If you have something you'd like to share with us, get us on Twitter here, on Facebook here or you can drop a line to [email protected].