Stretch Your Beauty Dollar

Get a Tan from a Can

An airbrushed finish is no longer limited to top salons. Get a perfect glow at home with these steps:

1. Aerosol self-tanners offer a flawless application -- if you have the right touch. Practice by making small circular motions on a sheet of paper. "If it's too wet on the paper, you're too close," says Fiona Locke, educator for St. Tropez tan products. The secret: Stay 6 inches away.

2. The active ingredient in tanners, DHA, is soaked up by dry patches of skin. This leads to too-dark spots. Buff your entire body first with a loofah and apply lotion to dry, thick-skinned areas (ankles, knees, elbows, knuckles).

3. Using the technique you perfected on paper, apply tanner to skin. Spray cans with 360-degree technology (like Mystic Tan Build Sunless Tanning Spray, $38, sephora.com, left) let you spray upside down -- great for your back.

See a pro if...

You plan on baring a lot of skin; spray-tan artists use airbrush machines that rarely make mistakes.