Self-Tanning Meets Skincare With This Innovative New Product From Tan-Luxe

E!: The Illuminating Self-tanning Drops and the The Gradual Illuminating Gradual Tan Lotion have such a devoted following, especially with celebs and influencers. How does that feel to get so much love?
ME: Any time anyone loves our products, celebrity or not- I'm always thrilled. It means the world to me when people connect with our values and all the hard work we've put into our brand! It's the most rewarding part of what I do- our Tan-Luxe community is absolutely everything!

E!: Tell us about the products on the horizon for Tan-Luxe. 
ME: With skinnovation at the core of everything we do, we are excited to launch our ground-breaking, expert formulated self-tan hero…The Crème.

The Crème is our latest, revolutionary hybrid product: an advanced hydration self-tan daily moisturizer that is barrier repairing and cellular rejuvenation all with the added benefits of a radiant, lasting glow.

I wanted to create a highly potent and efficacious, daily moisturizer that supercharges your skin but also competes with the best moisturizers on the market. So we benchmarked against the best, most expensive moisturizers that you already know and love and added a lasting, sun-kissed glow. Plus, we kept the price under $50! It's the DREAM and I can't wait for everyone to try it. This is a total game changer not just in sunless but for the world of skincare.

E!: A lot of people don't really know how self-tanning products actually work, can you explain? 
ME: Back when I was first creating the brand, it took us 5 years in the lab to get the formula just right. That's because my criteria was so strict. We created our own molecule called Triple Tan Technology that reacts with your natural skin tone to deliver a believable, fully customizable glow. This utilizes only the highest quality DHA (tanning actives), derived from rapeseed oil grown in the South of France. The DHA produces a maillard reaction on the surface of the skin, which leads to the overall browning effect (i.e. gorgeous tan). We include this high-quality DHA in all of our products, which means they deliver a flawless, natural tan every time.

E!: What do you think makes Tan-Luxe different from other tanning brands?
ME: I think of Tan-Luxe as a tech house that services the beauty industry. Something I really thought about when I was first developing the brand was that if you can customize the shade of your makeup, then why not your tan? You know, you can shop on your favorite retailers and choose from so many different shades of foundation when you're doing your makeup- but this wasn't something that had yet been explored in the tanning world. I really wanted to take the way self-tan is researched, formulated, and developed and completely revolutionize this for the consumer. So that's really where our tailor-made ethos sets us apart from the rest of the industry.

We've also never believed in color guides, also known as the dark stain used in most traditional self-tanning products. These synthetic dyes have been shown to break down tanning actives and cause streaking, uneven fading, clogged pores and skin dehydration. Since launch, we've formulated without guide colors as a brand, meaning no stained sheets or clothing for you- alongside skin-loving benefits! Researching and bringing these concepts of Transparent & Tailor-Made Tanning to market has totally revolutionized the industry, and many brands have followed suit in creating products like ours.

E!: There has been such an evolution in tanning- from people sunbathing outdoors, to indoor tanning beds, to orange spray tans, to spray tans and home products finally work well and cater to a wide variety of needs. What do you think is the next stage in the evolution of at-home tanning and spray tanning?
ME: ​​I feel the customization combined with a skincare-led approach that we take is very much the future of the category. There was such a huge opportunity in tanning, because there had been no innovation. Products were still being formulated with a one-size-fits all approach - drying dyes, that left skin streaky and smelly. I knew I wanted to disrupt the category and offer solutions to people's tanning problems.  I always thought that people could customize their makeup, so why not their tan? I felt it was time for that to change.

It was my goal to infuse skincare-grade formulations and ingredients into tanning, and so far, this has been extremely successful. Not only do our formulas provide radiant, glowing skin, the ingredients help to deeply hydrate, regenerate, restore skin because it's skincare first with the added benefit of glow.

I think the key for us going forward is to continue disrupting and challenging the perception of what's possible for a tanning brand - innovation is the key and the sky's the limit! We source, formulate, and develop absolutely everything in house, which is practically unheard of in the world of tanning. This approach allows us to cut out the middle-man and ensure we're not only super reactive- but also bringing premium ingredients at competitive prices for the consumer.

E!:What was your first self-tanning experience like and how did those early experiences play into what you wanted to do with Tan-Luxe?
Personally, all of my early tanning experiences have kind of blended into one, and it wasn't super positive. Although I loved the glow, I hated the smell, the dryness, and of course the notorious streaking that I, and many others, associate with most self-tanning products of the past.

You know, my husband and I own a hair salon, and right from the start- this became SUCH an amazing way of immersing myself into the world of beauty. After over a year of talking to people at our salon, we came to realize that there was a huge gap within the tanning industry. The industry was very one size fits all, and people were looking for something more approachable and customizable – basically, something that didn't exist. So that's when I came up with the idea to create Tan-Luxe, which is a fully customizable, skincare-led approach to self-tanning that works with your individual skin tone to create a natural glow. We've been glowing ever since!