It happens to everyone, including us. The bigger the panic, the worse the impulse — don’t scrub it off with a Brillo pad, don’t reapply over the top, don’t cancel your day. The fix you need depends on which of three things you’re actually looking at: streaks, patches, or orange.
- Step 1
Diagnose first — don’t guess
Look at the result in natural light. Long thin lines = streaks. Round darker spots especially on knees, elbows or ankles = patches. Bright orange palms or fingers = a hand-wash failure. Whole-body wrong shade = remove and restart.
- Step 2
Fix streaks with a damp exfoliating mitt
Wet a fresh mitt. Buff the streak gently in the direction of the stroke (not across it). The cosmetic guide colour evens out in under sixty seconds. Reapply a thin even layer over the buffed zone with a clean mitt and a quarter of the original product.
- Step 3
Fix patches by feathering the edges
Moisturise the patch and the half-inch around it with an oil-free lotion. Use a clean dry mitt to feather the patch edges in circular motions for thirty seconds. The hard line softens into a gradient.
- Step 4
Fix orange palms in sixty seconds
Make a paste: a teaspoon of sugar, half a squeeze of lemon, a drop of olive or coconut oil. Scrub the palms in circular motions for sixty seconds. Rinse. The orange lifts. Repeat once if needed.
- Step 5
Whole-body? Use a tan eraser
For a full reset, apply Australian Glow Tan Eraser for five to ten minutes, then exfoliate in the shower with a wet mitt. The tan comes off without harming the skin barrier — and you can reapply the same day if you want.
Real results · from the library
Real Australian Glow studio results. Unretouched, dated, with shade + develop time.
frequently asked.
Uneven application is the cause. Either too much product in one stroke, or skin that was still slightly damp from the shower. Use a mitt, work in long strokes, and always wait ten minutes after showering before applying.
Next in the Glow Guide
How To Apply Self Tanner (Without Streaks, Patches Or Orange Palms)
Everything everyone gets wrong about self tan is here, in the first hour. The product isn’t the problem. The technique is.
Which Australian Glow Shade Is Right For Me? An Honest Comparison
Light, Medium, Dark or Ultra Dark — with develop time, finish, fade and real before-and-afters across skin tones.
How To Prep Your Skin Before Self Tanning (The 72-Hour Plan)
Exfoliate, shave, moisturise — but when? The 72-hour prep beauty editors use before a self tan that lasts.
