In the continuing battle with my pale, freckled self and the detailed vein map of New Jersey highways on my legs, I’ve tried about every self-tanner on the market.  Here’s my latest findings with a big SURPRISE at the very end!  L’Oreal Sublime Bronze Medium Glow and Jergens Daily products are the best supermarket brands for gradual self -tanning and Clarins Cream is rated by many dry-babies as the best department store brand.  I have tried both the Mystic Tan (booth spray) and a tan hand-sprayed by an operator (humiliating, I gotta say, having someone look at you that closely in a bathing suit).  Fake Bake and St Tropez are two good salon or beauty supply store products. But there are two problems with all this stuff – 1) it gets “mottled” when wet, in a pool or at the beach and 2) the tanning ingredient is attracted to all your freckles and age spots and makes them darker.  What to do?  I ordered CoverMark leg makeup online to just cover up the whole mess, but the stuff had a reddish hue and looked like, well, makeup, duh.  It does cover everything, even scars and tattoos, and it is waterproof.  You have to scrub it off with a shower puff.  And I have a nice new scar on my shin from tripping on a concrete step in Seattle!  I tried the Neutrogena Sheer Body Tint foam in medium and that had the dreaded orangey look and was not waterproof at all.  A totally new type of self tanner is Diana B. 60 Second Instant Miracle Tan – you get wet in the shower, massage in this foam, leave it on for a couple of minutes, and rinse it off.   At Sephora, they sell a Lorac TANtalizer Mousse and it looked nice but had shiny ingredients that highlighted  every skin crack, like a shiny lipstick does to your lips. 
Good tan prep is helpful with all these products – exfoliate with a non-oily exfoliant like Apricot Scrub; shield nails, knees, elbows and hairline with some moisturizer; and stand around folding some laundry in the nude for a half hour to let it dry.  Some say they put some moisture over the tanner after an hour and that seals it.
But here’s the SURPRISE product I found that covers everything and stays on in the water -Sally Hansen Airbrush Legs!  After a shower and moisturizer, put your foundation on your face and “spray and spread” this stuff on your legs, arms, décolleté and have someone do your back, any part that shows!  It’s great for that dreaded bathing suit appearance or that evening in a strapless dress and it’s not self tanner, it’s more like makeup in a spray.  It covers spots and doesn’t cling to them.  Pat (don’t rub) or air dry when you get out of the pool.  It will transfer enough to be seen on white pants, so don’t cross your airbrushed ankle on your white capris.  (Yeah, I did that.)  I wore the spray at my daughter’s wedding and it did transfer onto the gown after hours of sweating and dancing but dry cleaning took it right out.  You won’t find it with the tanning products or skin lotions, it’s over with the other Sally Hansen products in the nail care section, usually just below them.  Hmm…maybe I could combine the CoverMark stuff with Sally’s and git some long tall coverage…back to the bathroom laboratory!