Tanning prep: What natural solutions exist?

The term ‘tanning prep' refers to all the skincare routines, techniques and cosmetic products used before summer to improve the skin’s appearance and give it a more radiant, even or visually tanned look.

Historically these products might have been called 'tanning oils' or 'tan accelerators' and were associated with preparing the skin to develop a deeper tone when exposed to the sun. This term now more broadly covers routines designed to enhance the complexion, improve skin quality and promote a healthy glow without sun damage, thanks to specifically-formulated skincare products.

In practice, a pre-tanning routine generally consists of a combination of moisturising, smoothing, antioxidant or tinted skincare products, chosen to help the skin appear more supple, more radiant and visibly more even-toned as the warmer months approach. These routines aim to improve the skin’s appearance and comfort throughout the season, regardless of sun exposure.

What types of active ingredients are found in tanning prep products?

Tanning prep products generally combine various cosmetic active ingredients designed to improve the skin’s appearance before summer and visually enhance the complexion. These include:

• Moisturising ingredients: such as hyaluronic acid or glycerine, to maintain good skin hydration

• Nourishing and lipid-replenishing active ingredients: such as certain plant oils or butters, to soften and smooth the skin

• Gentle exfoliating active ingredients: such as AHAs, to remove dead skin cells and smooth the skin’s texture

• Antioxidants: such as vitamin E, vitamin C or certain plant extracts, to help protect the skin from oxidative stress caused by external aggressors

• Active ingredients for a healthy glow or gradual self-tanners: to achieve a more radiant or slightly golden complexion, without exposure to the sun

Their main benefit is to help restore suppler, smoother and more radiant skin, promoting a visibly more even and luminous complexion in the run-up to summer.

Good to know: A tanning prep product is primarily designed to enhance the skin’s appearance and improve the complexion, while a tan accelerator is more focused on intensifying the appearance of a natural tan. In any case, these products do not protect the skin from UV rays and are never a substitute for suitable sun protection. 

These two terms are often confused, even though they do not refer to exactly the same thing.

Tanning prep products

A ‘tanning prep routine’ refers, first and foremost, to a skincare regimen used in the run-up to summer to improve the skin’s overall appearance and enhance the complexion. Its aim is to help the skin look more supple, smoother and more even-toned, through the use of moisturisers, gentle exfoliants, antioxidants and radiance-boosting products. These are products designed to directly speed up tanning, but rather a set of skincare prep steps aimed at enhancing the skin’s appearance before the summer season.

Tan accelerators

A ‘tan accelerator’, on the other hand, refers to a product marketed as capable of intensifying, revealing or enhancing the appearance of a natural tan. It is generally used as part of a routine aimed at achieving a more pronounced ‘tanned skin’ effect.

In practice, this category encompasses a variety of products: some rely on active ingredients that give a healthy glow, others on satiny or enhancing textures, whilst still others are based on self-tanning active ingredients or are marketed as tanning ‘activators’.

In practice, their effect often relies more on the visual appearance of the complexion than on a clearly demonstrated effect on actual melanin production.

Which one should you choose?

It all depends on your goal. A tanning prep product or routine is more appropriate if you want to improve your skin’s condition and achieve a more radiant complexion before summer, while a tanning accelerator or healthy-glow product is designed to visually enhance the skin’s tanned appearance.

In any case, it’s essential not to confuse either of them with sun protection: none of these products is designed to protect the skin from UV rays.

When chosen carefully, tanning prep products can help improve the skin’s appearance before summer. Their benefit is primarily cosmetic, with the aim of enhancing the complexion and supporting the skin throughout the summer season.

• Softer, more comfortable skin: well-hydrated skin often appears softer, more supple and more radiant, whilst feeling more comfortable day-to-day during periods of heat, wind or frequent swimming

• A more even skin texture: using gentle exfoliating or smoothing skincare products helps to gradually remove dead skin cells from the surface, for skin that is visibly clearer, smoother and more even

• A more even complexion: preparing the skin in advance helps to visually revitalise the complexion’s radiance and minimise a dull or uneven appearance, for a more harmonious look and a healthy glow

• A more even tan: whether natural or achieved using a healthy-glow sunless product, a tanned complexion often looks more even on skin that is well-cared-for, moisturised and regularly exfoliated

• Less-visible imperfections: skin that is more supple, smoother and better cared for tends to look more even, which can visually minimise certain rough patches, blemishes or uneven skin tone

• Better sun protection habits: establishing a routine before summer also makes it easier to adopt the right habits, such as moisturising the skin more thoroughly, avoiding sudden exposure to the sun and never neglecting sun protection. Sun protection is the only thing that can truly limit sunburn and the appearance of new UV-related pigmentation spots.

To prepare your skin for summer, the best approach is to opt for a simple, gradual routine. The idea isn’t to use lots of different products, but to adopt a few targeted steps to restore your skin’s suppleness, hydration and radiance. This routine is in no way intended to encourage tanning or sun exposure.

Step 1: Smooth and brighten the skin with the Concentrated Healthy Glow and Tanning Serum

Concentrated Radiance and Tanning Serum – Carrot & Inositol

This serum is the ideal first step in a tanning preparation routine. From the very first application, the skin is enhanced with an immediate healthy glow, and day after day, a tan develops without sun exposure. Its formula combines melanin-boosting active ingredients with moisturising and antioxidant ingredients to improve the complexion’s radiance and its naturally golden appearance, whilst providing a gradual healthy glow. It works to enhance the complexion’s radiance, give the skin a sun-kissed appearance and improve skin comfort. It is therefore a particularly useful treatment before summer to visually prepare the skin for the summer season or to complement an existing tan.

Apply in the morning and/or evening to the face, neck and décolletage. It can be used on its own on combination to oily skin, or combined with a day or night cream on normal to dry skin.

Discover the Concentrated Healthy Glow and Tanning Serum – Carrot & Inositol

Contraindications: Do not use with a serum or anti-dark spot cream; do not use a peel or exfoliator

Good to know: This serum is not a self-tanner and does not contain any SPF. If you are going to be in the sun, applying suitable sun protection remains essential.

Step 2: Brighten and protect the skin with Vitamin C & Astaxanthin Cream

Vitamin C & Astaxanthin Cream

Before summer, this cream can form part of a tanning preparation routine if your skin looks dull, tired or lacks radiance. Its formula combines Vitamin C, Astaxanthin and Maté extract – three active ingredients known to help restore the complexion’s radiance and protect the skin from oxidative stress caused by factors such as UV rays, pollution or smoking. This treatment focuses primarily on radiance, a fresh complexion and a visibly brighter appearance of the skin. It can therefore be a useful addition to a ‘sun-prep’ routine when the aim is to achieve a brighter, more even and visibly fresher complexion before using a healthy-glow product.

To use, apply this cream on its own or after your usual serum, in the morning and/or evening, all over the face and neck.

Discover the Vitamin C & Astaxanthin Cream

Step 3: Work from within with the Solar Complex

Solar Complex – 30 capsules

To prepare your skin for summer, it may also be worth taking a holistic approach with the Sun Complex. It fits naturally into a ‘tanning preparation’ routine, particularly when you want to support your skin ahead of the summer season. Its formula combines several active ingredients such as carotenoids (Lutein, Zeaxanthin, Lycopene), prized for their skin-brightening and antioxidant effects, vitamin E, selenium, copper and evening primrose oil. The presence of copper, which contributes to normal skin pigmentation, is particularly beneficial in a routine designed to prepare the skin for tanning. Used alongside your skincare products, it effectively complements your pre-summer preparation routine. However, it is important to remember that a dietary supplement is never a substitute for suitable sun protection.

Take 1 capsule a day, to be swallowed with a glass of water.

Discover the Sun Complex – 30 capsules

Precautions: Not a substitute for a varied and balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle. Do not exceed the recommended daily intake. For adults only. Not recommended for pregnant or breastfeeding women. Not recommended in cases of biliary obstruction or other disorders of biliary function. Does not protect against sunburn. Does not replace the use of sun protection. Keep out of reach of young children.

That little extra step: Achieve a gradual, natural tan with Self-Tanning Drops

Self-tanning drops

If you’re looking to enhance your routine, self-tanning drops can be an attractive option for achieving a gradually deeper tan without increasing your exposure to the sun. They allow you to easily adjust the intensity of the result depending on the effect you’re after, whilst maintaining a natural and buildable finish. They’re useful for giving your complexion a more radiant, golden and even appearance before summer, or simply for gradually prolonging a healthy glow.

To use them, mix them into your daily skincare routine, following the dosage instructions specified on the advice sheet. Then apply the mixture evenly to clean skin on the face, neck and/or body, blending carefully at the edges. Wash your hands after application.

Discover the self-tanning drops

Beyond skincare products, certain simple steps can help keep your skin more supple, radiant and comfortable during the summer months.

1. Moisturise your skin every day: well-moisturised skin often looks more supple, comfortable and radiant, which helps to visibly improve its appearance

2. Exfoliate gently: a gentle scrub or a well-tolerated exfoliating treatment helps to smooth the skin’s texture and remove dead skin cells without weakening the skin barrier

3. Gradually adapt your routine to the season: as the warmer months approach, incorporating more moisturising, antioxidant or radiance-boosting products can help support your skin’s needs

4. Limit prolonged exposure: even in summer, it is still best to avoid excessive exposure, especially during the hottest hours of the day, in order to protect the skin from the harmful effects of UV rays

5. Avoid exposure during the hours when the sun is at its strongest: between late morning and mid-afternoon, UV rays are particularly strong

6. Opt for physical protection: a hat, sunglasses, covering clothing and seeking shade remain essential habits for limiting sun exposure

7. Support your skin from the inside: drinking enough water every day helps to support your skin during periods of heat, sunshine, swimming or wind

8. Be mindful of photosensitising products: certain skincare products, active ingredients or essential oils are photosensitising, meaning that they can make the skin more reactive to the sun, which is why it’s important to always check their compatibility with sun exposure

9. Avoid UV tanning beds: artificial UV rays expose the skin to real damage and are not a recommended method of tanning prep

10. Never neglect sun protection: preparing your skin for tanning is no substitute for using suitable sun protection, applied in sufficient quantities and reapplied regularly

11. Don’t forget your after-sun care: after sun exposure, skin that has been properly soothed and moisturised using an after-sun product often retains its supple, comfortable and radiant appearance more easily.

Certain precautions remain essential when using skincare products or supplements as part of a tanning routine, during summer or year round. The aim of this advice is to enhance the skin’s appearance, without any connection to seeking sun exposure. We do not aim to encourage tanning or UV exposure. No tanning product can replace UV protection measures: limit prolonged exposure, avoid peak sunlight hours and use suitable sun protection when exposure is unavoidable. Before incorporating a skincare product or dietary supplement into your routine, check its compatibility with sun exposure, particularly if it contains photosensitising active ingredients. If in doubt, seek advice from a healthcare professional. Finally, keep an eye on your skin’s reaction and stop using any product if you experience redness, a stinging sensation or unusual discomfort.

Don’t forget to prepare your skin for the sun through your diet, too! Fruit and vegetables rich in carotenoids, such as carrots, apricots and sweet potatoes, help promote a naturally tanned complexion. Foods rich in vitamins C and E, such as citrus fruits, almonds and spinach, support the skin by protecting it thanks to their antioxidant properties.