Try These TikTok-Approved Self-Tanner Beauty Tricks

From faking freckles to contouring, we break down four self-tanner hacks and how to achieve them.

Through helpful hacks and clever tips, TikTok is endlessly inspiring us to use beauty products in unorthodox ways while educating us about how to do so in the process. Our latest fixation? Maximizing our self-tanner use with a couple of genius beauty hacks.

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We already love self-tanners for their bronzing capabilities, but we can get more use out of self-tanners than you might think. On TikTok, the #selftan hashtag has amassed more than one billion views across an infinite amount of videos — many of which include self-tanner tricks you didn’t even know you needed to try. From faking freckles to facial contouring, turns out self-tanners are indeed a multi-use product. Below, we unpack four self-tanner beauty tricks from TikTok and how to test drive them at home.

Chisel your cheeks

Who knew self-tanner could be a secret contour weapon? Content creators on TikTok are using this bronzing trick to sculpt cheekbones and achieve a natural-looking facial contour. To get the look, you’ll want to apply a pump of your self-tanner to a tanning mitt that’ll act as a makeup palette and allow you to have more control over how much product you use. Then, using a makeup sponge, begin applying self-tanner to your cheeks, forehead, nose, and jawline as you would typically apply your bronzer or contour products. “My best advice would be to blend it out as much as you would blend out your contour because it’s going to be on our face, right? It’s going to be staying there for a few days,” says TikToker Abby Baffoe in a viral video sharing her self-tanner contour routine. Once the product has been evenly blended to your liking, allow it to sit for a few hours before you wash your face and reveal your new contour. You’ll be looking snatched for days.

Fake your freckles

If you love adding faux freckles to your makeup routine, a self-tanner can make it easier to achieve a more natural, semi-permanent freckled look. Depending on your desired end result, there are several techniques that you may want to test out. For all-over-the-face freckles, you can add your fake tanning product of choice to a spray bottle and do a couple of spritzes as you would with a setting spray — but don’t get too carried away. Once set and dry, dab your face with a towel to unveil a natural-looking layer of faux freckles. For a more localized look — say, a smattering of freckles over the nose — you’ll find that everyday beauty tools like tweezers, spoolies and toothbrushes can be used to flick or dab your self-tanner across the desired area and atop your makeup (or on a bare face if you’re going makeup-free). No matter your preference, each of these methods will give an abstract finish that looks much more authentic than hand drawing each freckle.

Line your lips

From overlining to using plumping glosses, there always seems to be a new way to hack our lips into looking larger and fuller. Well, here’s another one — lip contouring with self-tanner. This temporary trick allows you to define your lipline while leaving behind a naturally lined look with no filler needed. Using a small makeup brush, you’ll want to dip into your fake tan and trace the outline of your lips as you would with a lip liner pencil. (Hot tip: Extending the line ever so slightly beneath your lip will give an even more contoured effect.) After the tan has settled, your lips will be left with a darker outline, which will give the illusion of a fuller, naturally contoured pout.

Tint your brows

Love a bold brow? Allow a self-tanner brow tint job to be your next TikTok-inspired beauty venture. In one video on the app with over nine million views, TikTok user @tiktokteenagers documents her process while trying this hack — and in the second part of her video, she reveals successfully tinted brows that appear thicker and more thoroughly filled out. To recreate the look, grab a self-tanner in a shade that is most similar to your natural brow colour. Then, use an angled makeup brush to fill in your brows, emphasizing any areas that look particularly sparse. After you’ve cleaned up the edges with a Q-tip, use a spoolie to evenly disperse the product throughout the brow. After one hour, you may want to wipe away some of the product around the perimeter of your brow to avoid any harsh lines that may dry down too dark. Finally, after an additional two hours, wipe your brows with micellar water and observe your freshly tinted new look.