How to Keep Your Summer Glow Through Fall

The final days of warm weather are here: Cutoffs will soon be replaced by culottes, sun hats will be swapped for beanies, and lightweight serums are headed to the back of the medicine cabinets to make way for fall’s richer formulas. But the impending shorter days don’t have to mean the end of just-back-from-vacation, lit-from-within skin. So, with Labor Day on the horizon, we asked James Read, the London-based faux-tanning expert, for advice on keeping that sun-kissed glow just a little while longer.

“I love the James Read Tan Accelerator to prolong my tan,” says Read, who recommends applying the melanin-stimulating cream immediately following sun exposure or a spray tan to help enhance and preserve the color. If a desired glow starts fading faster than expected, he says replicating it is as simple as applying a wash-off self-tanner like St. Tropez Tanning Essentials One Night Only: “Leave on for thirty minutes to set the base [color] and wash off,” he recommends. An even simpler daily ritual will ensure that color doesn’t budge for months: “Mix a teaspoon of gradual self-tanner with your regular moisturizer,” he says, while recommending Sisley Paris Confort Extrême Body Cream, and apply to skin with a mitt for a flawless finish. His ultimate tip for an endless summer? “Less is more.”