WomanReview

Best Self Tanners

Looking for our ranked winner? See our ranked picks. Want the raw numbers? Self Tanners: statistics & price report.

Shop Best Self Tanners by brand

All Best Self Tanners

Showing 106 of 106

About Best Self Tanners

Self tanners cover more ground than most people expect, from beach bag tanning oils meant to work alongside sun exposure to gradual sunless lotions built entirely around DHA, plus dedicated indoor tanning bed accelerators and body oils meant to stretch a tan a few extra weeks. We looked at real listings from brands like Australian Gold, Hawaiian Tropic, Onyx, Banana Boat, COCOSOLIS and Coco and Eve, comparing price, star rating, review counts and how many people are still buying each one every month. Prices across this list run from under $6 to nearly $78, though most everyday oils and lotions land between $12 and $30. Formulas vary just as much as price, some rely on accelerators that work with your own melanin, others add DHA based bronzers for instant color, and a few skip sun exposure entirely as sunless self tanners meant for daily use. A handful of the outdoor oils carry a light SPF, usually SPF 4 to 20, which is worth noting since that is well below the broad spectrum SPF of 15 or higher generally recommended for real sun protection. Below we break this list down by type, so you can match the formula to how and where you actually plan to tan. Every product mentioned has real reviews behind it, not marketing copy.

How we curated this list

We built this list from actual product data, not brand claims. That means real prices, real star ratings, real review counts and real ingredient and benefit callouts pulled from each listing, cross checked so we are not repeating a manufacturer's promise as fact. A lotion with nearly 15,000 reviews and a 4.6 star average, like Australian Gold's Dark Tanning Accelerator, earns a spot here because shoppers keep buying and rebuying it, not because of a slogan on the bottle. We also paid attention to what each formula is free of, oxybenzone, octinoxate, parabens or alcohol, since that often matters as much as the tan itself, along with whether a product is meant for outdoor sun, a tanning bed, or a sunless routine that skips both.