You’ve surely heard of tanning drops—but what about its lighter-weight, translucent counterpart? The best tanning water provides a natural bronze when misted or brushed on. Think of it as a face mist or toner that leaves behind a subtle sun-kiss, with no UV rays necessary.
Miami-based board-certified physician associate Paula Brezavscek knows more than a thing or two about a natural-looking tan. “Unlike tanning drops, which are highly concentrated and typically mixed into your moisturizer, tanning waters are pre-diluted and ready to mist straight onto skin,” Brezavscek tells Vogue.
Vogue’s Favorite Tanning Waters
I have, historically, never been someone who self tans—not mousses, not drops, nor lotions. My olive tone complexion tans easily and rarely burns. Even just strolling outside during the summer can leave me with awkward tan lines from whatever clothes I’m wearing that day. Blame it on a religious daily skin-care routine, but what occurs then is a fairer face, but a toastier torso and arms. With that in mind, even I, a longtime self-tan skeptic, was convinced to dabble in tanning waters as a simple solution to making sure my face wouldn’t look paler than the rest of my body once the color started to fade. My experimentation started a year ago, when I first began working on this story.
According to Bethany Menzel, co-founder and creative director of Saltyface, transparent tanning products that develop gradually are the way to go for an everyday glow that’s easy to maintain. “This will make your tan routine feel maintainable and avoid transfer onto your clothing and sheets,” Menzel previously told Vogue.
I purchased my own bottle of Salty Face thanks to it’s non-comedogenic formula, and found a reliable summer favorite. But I’ve tested more along the way too, out of genuine curiosity and some boots on the ground journalism. Below are six of best tanning waters, according to myself, a few fellow bronzing buffs, estheticians, and derms.
In This Story
- What Is a Tanning Water?
- How to Choose the Tanning Water for You
- How Long Does It Take for Tanning Waters to Work?
- How Often to Use Tanning Water
- Best Practices for Tanning Water Application
- Meet the Experts
Best Hydrating Mist: Tan-Luxe The Water Hydrating Self Tan
Tan-Luxe
The Express Water
- Why We Love It: Tan-Luxe’s tanning water formula is enriched with vitamins B, C, and E, along with raspberry seed oil and aloe vera, providing deep hydration while delivering a natural tan. “It’s packed with vitamin E and raspberry seed oil to nourish while it tans,” Brezavscek says of this skincare-meets-bronzer option. Board-certified dermatologist Brendan Camp cosigns it too, adding that the ingredients list boasts deeply hydrating benefits—plus it’s paraben- and sulfate-free.
- Key Ingredients: DHA, vitamin B, vitamin C, vitamin E, raspberry seed oil, aloe vera
- Shades: 1
- How to Use: Generously mist the tanning water directly onto skin for a hydrated, healthy glow. The fine mist ensures a mess-free application and zero transfer onto clothes and sheets. The brand recommends using it over or under a finished makeup look for hydration and added bronze.
Best Color-Correcting: Isle of Paradise Self-Tanning Water
Isle of Paradise
Self-Tanning Water
- Why We Love It: “Isle of Paradise is a cult favorite. I particularly love the color-correcting undertones of this tanning water and the tropical scent that makes it feel like vacation in a bottle,” Brezavscek says. Speaking of the color-correcting actives, users can customize their tan to counteract skin concerns—just pick based on the bottle color. There’s no need to rinse—it’s a clear, fast-drying formula that develops over four to six hours.
- Key Ingredients: Glycerin, hydrogenated castor oil, aloe extract grapefruit peel oil, coconut oil, Peppermint oil, avocado oil
- Shades: 3 (green to neutralize redness, peach to brighten dull skin, and violet to balance yellow undertones)
- How to Use: To get the most even and natural-looking tan, start by exfoliating your skin at least 24 hours before application. Apply a light layer of moisturizer to your face to prevent product buildup. Shake the bottle and mist the tanning water liberally over your skin, holding it about six inches away. Use a kabuki brush to blend the product evenly. Simply avoid water or sweating while the tan develops.
Best with Caffeine: Dolce Glow Hydrating Face Mist Self-Tan
Dolce Glow
Tanning Face Mist
- Why We Love It: Dolce Glow’s face mist keeps skincare-grade ingredients top of mind. Sugarcane extract naturally contains glycolic acid to help turn over skin cells, while caffeine helps to reduce puffiness. Meanwhile, a blend of macadamia oil, hyaluronic acid, and botanical extracts imparts hydration. What’s more, this formula is known to be Miley Cyrus’s signature base layer for glow (not to mention, beauty editor-at-large Arden Fanning Andrews and fashion and style writer Christian Allaire tested and loved the tanning mouse).
- Key Ingredients: DHA, sugar cane extract, cranberry extract, green tea leaf extract, macadamia oil, squalane, sodium hyaluronate, caffeine
- Shades: 1
- How to Use: Dolce Glow recommends applying to a clean, dry face with eyes closed. Mist four to five pumps evenly over face, neck, and décolletage. Tan development occurs within six to eight hours.
Best Acne-Safe: Self Glow by James Read Tanning Mist
Self Glow by James Read
Tanning Mist
- Why We Love It: While we can’t all have the pleasure of Read’s expert spray tanning skills every week, his brand, Self Glow, gives a close second, combining all his expertise in one bottle. Infused with 87% rosewater, fermented rose petals, and triple-active hyaluronic acid, the formula hydrates and plumps the skin while you sunless tan. The addition of fermented aloe vera soothes and enhances absorption, making it perfect for sensitive skin—and yes, the formula is free from any potential pore-clogging ingredients.
- Editor’s Experience: “I got my first-ever (and only) spray tan with expert James Read during my Met Gala prep. He eased my fake tan phobia with his featherlight touch that gave me the same bronze I’d get from a day in the sun. With that in mind, I had no hesitation that any products would be high quality, too. The tanning mist also manages to impart a natural, non-orange bronze. Plus, the formula is totally non-comedogenic, so I don’t fear a breakout after I use it.” —C.C.
- Key Ingredients: Rosewater, sodium hyaluronate, DHA, rose extract, aloe leaf juice, glycerin, vitamin C
- Shades: 1
- How to Use: Hold the bottle about six inches away from your face. Ensure your skin is clean, and product-free. Close your eyes and mist the left and right sides of your face. Finish off by misting the front and back of your neck.
Best for Sensitive-Skin: Saltyface Tanning Water
- Why We Love It: “Clean, minimal, and incredibly natural-looking, it’s the glow you get after a weekend at the beach—subtle but sculpted,” Brezavscek says. Sugar beet reacts with the amino acids in the top layer of the skin to create a natural glow. Meanwhile, cucumber, marshmallow root, and calendula flower work together to create soothing hydration, thanks to their anti-inflammatory ingredients. Best of all, the formula isn’t packed with comedogenic, oil-based ingredients.
- Editor’s Experience: “Aside from a fear that tanning products will break me out, I also dread the idea of looking orange. Since I have a more neutral undertone, even my natural tan skews more neutral and toasty than warm. I tried Saltyface thanks to its sensitive-skin-friendly formula—though since it’s heavy on natural extracts, I avoid it when I’m dealing with an active breakout. Best of all, the sun-kissed skin it imparts actually matches my body. I find that it also fades gradually rather than patchy.” —C.C.
- Key Ingredients: Organic sugar beet, cucumber, marshmallow root, calendula flower
- Shades: 2
- How to Use: Saltyface offers two application options: Using a mist topper and the brand’s application brush, spritz twice on the brush’s bristles and buff evenly across your face, blending into your neck and chest. To apply with your hands, dispense two dropper fulls, rub the palms of your hands together, and then evenly rub into your face and neck—just don’t forget to wash your hands when you’re done.
Best for Body: Cyklar Self Tanning Milky Essence
Cyklar
Self Tanning Milky Essence
- Why We Love It: Not quite a tanning water, but since it’s an essence, let’s bend the rules a little. Gone are the days of messy foams without any skin-care benefits—if a milky toner were a self-tanner, it would be Cyklar’s latest launch. The streak-free formula blends easily into skin, while hydrating with a potent blend of ceramides, allantoin, squalane, and papaya oil. The UV-free bronzing comes into play with a blend of DHA and DHB—sugar-derived tanning agents.
- Editor’s Experience: “You get it by now, I’m not a self-tanner enthusiast—I am, though, a Cyklar enthusiast. Seriously, their body care products are worth every bit of hype and a mainstay in my shower routine. So I was willing to try the new tanning milky essence. First and foremost, it’s not sticky or uncomfortable like most self-tanners—and that’s because it’s essentially a hydrating body care product that imparts a subtle bronze tint. That’s another element I appreciate—the subtlety. A sun-free bronze shouldn’t actually look fake.” —C.C.
- Key Ingredients: Ceramides, allantoin, squalane, papaya oil, DHA, DHB
- Shades: 2
- How to Use: According to Cyklar, dispense directly onto clean skin and massage with your hands—and make sure to thoroughly wash your hands after. The tan takes between four to eight hours to develop.
Everything You Need to Know
“Tanning water is different from foams and mousses—the clear product is typically spayed onto skin in a fine mist to deliver a subtle bronzing effect,” Dr. Camp explains. It’s also able to be applied directly onto skin, whereas “tanning drops are a concentrated formula that need to be diluted with a moisturizer prior to application for a customizable tan.” It works like this: “The self-tan ingredient [found in many products], DHA (dihydroxyacetone), reacts with our skin, giving the illusion that we’ve been away,” explains celebrity tanning expert and founder of Isle of Paradise, Jules Von Hep.
How to Choose the Tanning Water for You
When it comes to choosing the best self tanner for you, “the rule I always use is light for light skin tones, medium shades for medium skin tones—think someone who naturally tans in the sun, with an olive skin tone—and dark shades for deeper skin tones,” says Dolce Glow founder Isabel Alysa, a celebrity spray tan artist whose clients include Miley Cyrus, Jennifer Lopez, and Kim Kardashian. “Following those guidelines will ensure a brown, natural-looking self tan, and reduce the chance of orange hues.”
How Long Does It Take for Tanning Waters to Work?
“Most tanning waters are designed to develop over six to eight hours, and many are actually no-rinse formulas, meaning you can just apply and go on about your day (or sleep) while your glow gradually builds,” Brezavscek says, noting that, if your product does require rinsing, it’s key to avoid water, sweating, or applying skin care within that window.
How Often to Use Tanning Water
Because of skin-care routines, makeup, and regular SPF application, our faces tend to be a bit lighter than the rest of of our bodies. “Self tanner on the face fades the quickest, as we tend to wash the face the most, and the skin there is very thin,” Alysa says, adding that a tanning water spray is amazing for face touch-ups. Depending on the product guidelines, experts say you can reapply tanning water every few days or weekly to maintain your glow.
Best Practices for Tanning Water Application
Unlike their cream counterparts, tanning water mists require no tools for application.
“Sprays are the easiest of all self-tanners,” Alysa previously told Vogue. “Apply the spray in a circular motion at a distance—no blending needed.”
In order to ensure complete coverage, Dr. Camp advises completely saturating the skin to avoid uneven or streaky results. “There’s no guide color with the use of clear tanning water to help indicate where the product has already been used,” he explains.
When it comes to tanning waters in liquid or water-to-foam formulas, you’ll have to get out your kabuki brush or tanning mitt to ensure mess-free application. “When using liquids [and clear foams], always use a mitt and take your time blending,” Alysa says—though she doesn’t recommend applying liquid to the hands and feet, noting that a spray works best in those areas after they’ve been properly moisturized.
When we test and review a product, we take a holistic approach to deliver well-rounded product recommendations. First, we lean on Vogue’s vast network of experts—from board-certified dermatologists to celebrity makeup artists—to gain professional acumen on the industry’s standout products, ones these specialists would actually use on their clients. We pair their expertise with our editorial best practices to curate the thoughtful edits you read on our site. To do this, we paired our own personal tests of each formula with regard to shade ranges, texture, color payoff, ease of application, ingredients, finish, and wear time. Read more about our testing methodology here.
- Isabel Alysa, the founder and CEO of Dolce Glow, is a celebrity spray tan artist whose clients include Miley Cyrus, Jennifer Lopez, and Kim Kardashian.
- Paula Brezavscek, PA-C, is a Miami-based board-certified physician associate and founder of Azala Skin Clinic.
- Brendan Camp, MD, is a double-board-certified dermatologist and dermatopathologist who sees patients in New York and Long Island.
- Jules Von Hep is a celebrity tanning expert and the founder of Isle of Paradise.
- Bethany Menzel is the cofounder and creative director of Saltyface, a brand of plant-based self-tanning products.
Others We Tried
b.tan
Gimme The Glow Down
If you haven’t heard of B.tan, you’re missing out—over 47,000 four-star Amazon reviews have given it glowing (sorry, had to!) feedback. Suitable for face or body, the formula is infused with soothing, botanically derived ingredients, such as rose water and jojoba seed oil.
Nuda
Cloudmist Face Tan Water
When spritzed into your favorite moisturizer, this mist can double as a tanning drop alternative. “Canadian-made and super gentle, great for sensitive or breakout-prone skin. It gives that ‘I woke up like this’ radiance,” Brezavscek says. Translation? Mist and mix, away!
Sally Hansen
Airbrush Legs Tanning Water
Sally Hansen Airbrush Legs Tanning Water is the ultimate shortcut to flawlessly bronzed legs. This lightweight, colorless mist delivers a natural-looking tan that develops in just four to six hours, leaving your skin with a luminous, sun-kissed glow.
St. Tropez
Self Tan Purity Bronzing Water Face Mist
St. Tropez’s tanning water offers a rinse-free application that, according to Brezavscek, is ultra-refreshing and smells nothing like a self-tanner. “It’s perfect to spritz over makeup or as a morning pick-me-up for added bronzed glow,” she adds.
SOL by Jergens
Deep Water Self Tanner Mousse
For a solid drugstore formula, look to Jergens’s lightweight, water-based mousse—infused with coconut water and passionfruit that yields a refreshing tropical scent and a natural-looking tan. Its dye-free formula ensures a streak-free application.
Tanologist
Self Tan Water
Designed for both face and body, this clear, ultra-fine mist makes achieving your ideal glow practically effortless. The formula is featherlight—so it feels like nothing on your skin—but it’s quietly hard at work, hydrating with aloe vera and vitamin E, while your tan develops.
