The Very Best Facial Tanners

Format: Lotion | Price point: $4 per ounce

If you’ve read my guide to self-tanners, you’ll know I’ve crowned Tan-Luxe’s illuminating drops as my favorite facial tanner before. That’s because, firstly, it’s a wonderful self-tanner. It develops gradually (as the name suggests), so the results aren’t too shocking or dramatic. Instead, over time, it gives a subtle, natural-looking glow. That makes it a great pick for beginners, agrees our resident beauty columnist Rio Viera-Newton: “Whether you’re new to self-tanning or are just seeking the most natural-looking tan possible, this is perfect,” she says.

But what really crowns it as my favorite facial tanner is how kind it is to the skin. “It’s basically skin care with tanner in it,” says Sabrina Johnson, a spray-tan stylist based in Los Angeles. The tanner contains moisturizing ingredients like raspberry-seed oil, vitamin E, and aloe vera and has an oil-cream consistency that doesn’t dry out the skin. So not only will skin look healthy, it will feel nourished, too. I’d recommend reapplication every two to three days to keep your glow topped up.

Format: Drops | Price: $40 per ounce

Yes, these drops are pricey. But it’s worth noting that with drops, you use far less product than you would with a lotion, as drops are mixed in with a lotion that you already own before they’re applied to your face. And despite the price, they were recommended to me by three tanning experts, as well as Paris Hilton. “I’ve always loved tanning,” says Hilton. “I’ve found with Tan-Luxe, all of the products give me this beautiful golden tan.”

After Hilton’s endorsement, I decided to try them for myself. The drops are a particularly oily consistency, and in the bottle, they’re a very strong shade of blood orange. This didn’t put me off, though, as you have to mix them in with your moisturizer anyway, so by the time the consistency is ready, it’s not so alarming. I used between three and four drops, and the next morning, my face had such a distinct healthy glow I knew that all the praise I’d heard about the drops were earned. Some drops have a borderline orange tinge that looks quite obviously faux, but these drops have a real natural finish (and blended in well with my fresh layer of dark Bondi Sands — which I never apply to my face).

Both Hilton and I are naturally fairer-skinned, but Joelle Dyson, an actor and singer who has a darker skin tone, also told me that they’re her go-to. “Having the flexibility to customize the finish is so useful, and it always fades evenly,” she says. Not only are the drops customizable, they’re also forgiving. “I get a bit slapdash with it, but it still looks beautiful,” Dyson says. “As long as you wash your hands immediately after applying, there is no staining, so you don’t need a mitt or any tools.”

After trying them myself, the drops have earned their place both here and in our Beauty 100.

Format: Mousse | Price: $4 per ounce

It is worth noting that all of the self-tanners in my self-tanners piece are suitable for use on the face — including Bondi Sands, which I ranked my favorite self-tanner of them all. You might want to consider a targeted facial tanner if your skin is on the sensitive, acne-prone, or drier side, but if you know that a regular self-tanner works with your skin, this is the one that I’d recommend. The mousse is fast to dry but doesn’t dry out the skin itself. It also doesn’t have that off-putting fake-tan smell that you’ll find among so many mousses. As it fades, it does so uniformly, so you won’t be left with any patchy bits on your cheeks or forehead, and the glow it leaves is sun-kissed, and not at all artificial looking. The brand also has a shade range to suit any skin tone. “Its products tend to be really dark, so they work for dark skin,” says Johnson, who notes that the brand’s self-tanner colors have a green or neutral undertone, which helps with looking natural on many shades of skin.