Pantyhose Or Fake Bake?

I found myself in a pickle earlier this week needing to select an outfit for a wedding I attended last night. I wanted to wear this supercute, sexy romper with black strappy heels but my arms and legs are anemic looking. NOT sexy.
   (OOPS! It's sideways, but you get the idea)

I do not sun myself, l always wear sunscreen in the garden, so although my arms and legs are not quite lily white, sections of them are close to it. Had the skirt been below the knee, I would have not concerned myself with this, but that adorable romper is sleevelss and above the knee. That equates to a lot of skin with varying shades of a farmer tan.

Panyhose? Hell. No. I mean seriously, does anyone wear panythose anymore?

I've used self tanning creams in the past, but no matter what brand and/or method I've used, I always, always streak and end up with that distinct fake-bake look. A friend of mine suggested that I try a professional spray tan. So that's what I did.

I went to Sun Tan City and here's what happened. I walked out minus $58 in my pocket but with legs that looked like I'd been on the French Riviera. I looked good, and I actually smelled better than I expected I would. I am not a fan of the scent of synethic tanning products. One big draw back of this session was that I was told not to shower for 24 hours afterwards and I had to be at this wedding in 4 hours, so I although I looked fabulous, I felt gross in a I-need-a-shower kind of way. I covered it all up with Calvin Klein's Intuition and a smokey eye / nude lip combo. But still. Yuk.

(Ugh, sideways again. Sorry)

Here's how it went down: I signed their FDA required waiver and then I was required to purchase two creams [this sort of annoyed me] and listen to a lengthy sales pitch about why I needed them. One cream I was told is a "pre-tan enhancing cream" which is a clear gel and I think does nothing more than remove residual oils and products off of the skin to maximize the result of their spray-on product, the second cream is a "post-tan extender cream" which I believe is simply a self tanner cream. These were 6 oz. tubes of cream which I will never use again. I assume the profit margin on the creams is huge and that's why something more customer friendly and cost efficient like 1 oz. creams, which is all that was needed for the session, was not not offered to me.

I was then taken into the room with the spray tan booth, which was pretty Star Wars looking. I was shown a video on how the booth worked and then left alone to undress. I stepped inside the booth and was promtped by a recording inside the booth on where to place my feet and which button to push, when. It was over in about 5 minutes.
(What's up with the sideways photos today?)

Here's what my legs looked like this morning, post fake bake, up against the tan leather couch. I forgot to photo myself last night.

Conclusion: I needed to spray tan the day before the event so I'd be able to shower the day of the event. A professional fake bake is a good alternative to panyhose for sure, and I would do it again for a special event. But the tan is going to be gone in 3 - 5 days despite my extender cream, and the cost and hassle are not worth it to me to continue with the weekly fake bake sessions that are required to maintain this color.