Tanning is an obsession for all avid followers. The perfect, sun-kissed glow is the standard of what’s beautiful and sexy, and that healthy, fresh-out-of-vacation look is what people are striving for. That’s why millions of people are doing all they can to replicate the look without going to the beach and basking in the sun.

This is why the idea of sunless tanning is a billion-dollar hit. All over the country we see hundreds of tanning salons, and in the market, self-tanning products are shooting right off the shelves. Fake tan it might be, but people are spending thousands of dollars for these products. Tan skin makes you look younger and more active, plus the dark blemishes you might have around your face and body is ‘camouflaged’ as the skin tone is evened out.

Several products in the market have put out great self-tanning lotions, creams, spray-ons, etc. Most of these ‘fake tanning’ products are truly effective in their promise to darken the skin temporarily to re-create the gone-to-the-beach look. The problem is that there are always instances inexperienced or first-time users of these products make a mess out of it. We’ve heard too many tales of tanning gone wrong that a person ends up with their skin in horrible orange hue instead of the perfect golden glow.

You know you’ve gone wrong when somehow you turn orange in the process of doing self-tanning or if you have orange pigmentation on your palms, your feet, or around your nails. Bad tans also include uneven color on the darker spots on your neck, elbow area, knees and a lot more.

The reason behind this is that you might just be using a low-end self-tanning product which contains color pigments and other bad ingredients for the skin, so make sure that you get only the quality brands recommended by most tanning experts, like Solerra Self-Tanners. When new to self-tanning, a high-end brand is an investment.

Another reason might be is you are applying a tad too much of the cream. Sunless tanning lotions more often that not come with instructions to gradually apply the cream to get the color you want. There are a lot of tanning veterans and experts alike often use the 1-tablespoon rule for those new to these tanning products. The more you carelessly slather on the incorrect amount, the more intense it’s going to get and you’re left with a bad orangey hue. It’s really, really important you avoid this at all cost, not unless you want to get stuck hiding from people from the bad tanning job you did. It’s hard to get rid of the orange color, as it only fades away in 3 days to a week.

To get the perfect sun-kissed glow, only use high quality self-tanners like Solerra. One of the products regarded by tanning addicts, because it is healthy for the skin because it contains the FDA-approved ingredients like Dihydroxyacetone (DHA) and it provides the most even tanning results. Some tanner creams are so runny that it doesn’t set properly on the skin or some have a rather cracked finish. Solerra is moisturizing without the greasy feel and the best thing about it is that it dries faster for less waiting time.

Self-tanning products are a great alternative to basking in the sun and running the risk of too much exposure to UV rays. Why not try your hand at self-tanning today? Get that instant bronzed glow in a bottle!

Recent trends have put sugar on the chopping block and it’s not looking good. We’ve all been reared to stay away from sugar, but we keep coming back for it anyway because it’s an important ingredient to the food that we eat. Over the years, we’ve learned how sugar affects the body in several negative ways; these include obesity and decay of tooth enamel, as well as more severe illnesses like diabetes and premature aging. In the US alone, we consume around 150 – 200 pounds of sugar each year. From milkshakes to doughnuts, cakes, candies, soda, and even to the most basic items like bread, milk, and the like, sugar seems out to get all of us.

Sugar Alternatives
There are many “sugar alternatives” in the market today, and most are produced with a lower calorie count than sugar. As a substitute, they do provide almost the same function as a normal sugar. The only downside is that these sugar alternatives remain “artificial”. These sugar alternatives simply aren’t the wholesome sweeteners that the health-conscious people are looking for, as these products are highly-processed and contain aspartame and are high in fructose content.

There’s one alternative that health buffs have been buzzing about recently. Finally, a natural alternative to sugar AND those artificial substitutes has been named. “Stevia” is an herb that is native to South and Central America, and most of the related literature point specifically to both Brazil and Paraguay. There are even those that reveal Japan is also using this herb for their food preparation. Though this is a recent discovery in our shores, it has been used as a sweetening agent for a long time, especially for the people where the herb originates.

Low-Carb, Low-Sugar, No Calories!
Stevia is an extremely sweet substance and it boast being 300 times sweeter than sugar itself. It’s no wonder that the natives refer it as “sweet-leaf” or “sugar-leaf”! Because of its quality, Stevia is rising in popularity, and is being propelled even more into fame spearheaded by companies and groups who want a low-carb, low-sugar, no-calorie sugar substitute for their health products.

Research has shown benefits of using Stevia instead of sugar or other artificial sweeteners in the market. It may just be the solution to anti-obesity, blood glucose problems, and most of all is heaven-sent to people on a calorie and carbohydrate controlled diet. There are also recent studies that display result on how using stevia can help people who have Type 2 Diabetes.

What’s In It
This truly natural and healthy sugar substitute owes its extreme sweetness to its stevioside molecular composition where you can find both glucose and steviol, along with rebaudioside compounds. The natural taste of stevia has a different flavor to normal sugar, or artifical sweeteners for that matter. It’s “almost-sugary” because though it’s sweeter than sugar, there’s a slight aftertaste which you may have to acquire to truly appreciate. In other countries, stevia extracts are currently being used to sweeten food: used in sweet soy sauce, diet Coke or Coke Zero-Sugar, Vitamin Water, as well as other products. Morning cups of coffees are being made using stevia as sweetners, or used to sweeten a particular low-calorie snack.

It is not hard to incorporate stevia, especially knowing its natural, healthy benefits compared to using other sweeteners. Stevia might be the very thing that will help us stop denying ourselves of our sweet-food cravings soon!