The body has always been a canvas—and melanin, a masterpiece. Not in the way galleries hold paintings behind velvet ropes, but in the way a woman, bare-shouldered and sun-kissed, walks into a room and does not apologize for taking up space. Melanin is not just pigment. It is memory, it is resistance, it is grace poured into skin. And now, a curious phenomenon dances across the timelines and TikTok feeds of a beauty world slowly remembering us: self-tanner—for Black and brown women.
Yes, amber on bronze. Glow on glow.
An aesthetic once reserved for pale skin seeking the illusion of sun is being reimagined—not borrowed, but claimed.
The same skin once called “too dark” is now courted by formulas promising an even deeper glow.
The irony is rich. The cultural politics, even richer.
And so we must ask: What does it mean when melanin reaches for more melanin?
Amber Obsession: Aesthetic or Affirmation?
For many Black women, this trend is not about erasure. It is about texture, enhancement, and yes—indulgence. The formulas speak of Zanzibar afternoons and sun-drunk evenings in Saint-Louis. Think golden hour stretched out across the collarbone. Think skin so warm it hums.
This is not mimicry. This is not an echo of whiteness.
This is curation.
This is the Black woman’s decision to glow even louder.
And in a world that once demanded our invisibility, to choose radiance is a quiet form of resistance.
Why We Glow: The Real Reasons Behind the Amber Rush
Hyperpigmentation Meets Highlighting
The skin remembers everything. Every scar, every sun-soaked hour, every pimple that came with stress or adolescence. For some, self-tanner is a balm. A way to even the stories told across the body. To soften them—not erase them.
Social Media and the Politics of the Perfect Light
The algorithm is a mirror, and sometimes a prison. We scroll, we filter, we perform light. In this new aesthetic economy, glow is currency. For darker-skinned women, self-tanner becomes a strategy—a means to command the light, rather than be edited out of it.
Ritual, Sensuality, and Soft Luxury
The act of applying tanner is not merely cosmetic. It is tactile. Slow. A choreography of the self. In a world that denies Black women softness, this is softness we grant ourselves. Every stroke of amber is an ode to the body, not just as form, but as temple.
The Influence of Influencers
Black beauty influencers have become more than tastemakers—they are cultural architects. When Jackie Aina glides on body shimmer, or when West African aesthetes showcase honeyed skin on sandy shores, they are not just selling product. They are selling the possibility of visibility—on our terms.
But Let’s Be Honest: The Glow Comes With Shadows
To speak of glow without naming colorism is to write poetry without punctuation. The echoes of colonial beauty ideals do not disappear with a bronzing mousse. They linger. They ask uncomfortable questions.
Is this enhancement—or is it the haunting voice of history telling us lighter is lovelier?
Chimamanda once wrote, “Racism should never have happened and so you don’t get a cookie for reducing it.” In the same spirit, we do not applaud the beauty industry for finally noticing us. We interrogate the lens through which it looks.
Still, there is power in the remix. There is protest in pleasure.
And perhaps both critiques and celebrations can exist in the same breath.
Golden Hour Essentials: Our Top 5 Tanning Oil Picks
BRUNEL Golden Hour Glow Body Oil
Step into your golden hour, anytime. The BRUNEL Golden Hour Glow Body Oil is a luxurious, lightweight elixir infused with radiance-boosting botanicals and nourishing oils that leave your skin glowing, never greasy. With a soft, sunlit shimmer and a warm, sensual scent, it captures the magic of dusk on your skin. Perfect for daily wear or special occasions, this oil wraps you in moisture and golden light from head to toe.
Supergoop! Glow Oil SPF 50 Dry Body Oil Sunscreen
Skincare meets sun care in this ultra-hydrating, high-protection formula. Supergoop!’s Glow Oil SPF 50 is a dry-touch body oil that delivers broad-spectrum UV defense while leaving behind a dewy, luminous sheen. Lightweight and fast-absorbing, it’s enriched with nourishing ingredients like meadowfoam and grapeseed oil to deeply hydrate and protect all skin tones — giving you that lit-from-within glow with every application.
Golden Hour Ethereal Glow – Shimmering Body Oil
Channel the ethereal energy of golden hour with this radiant, skin-illuminating body oil. Formulated with light-reflecting minerals and silky plant-based oils, Golden Hour Ethereal Glow envelops your body in a warm, soft-focus shimmer. It hydrates, highlights, and enhances your natural beauty — perfect for sun-kissed summer days or moonlit nights out.
Saltair Sunscreen Body Oil Broad Spectrum SPF 50
A glow you can trust. Saltair’s Sunscreen Body Oil SPF 50 offers powerful sun protection with a silky, non-greasy finish that nourishes and softens skin. Infused with skin-loving ingredients like squalane and vitamin E, this fast-absorbing formula delivers hydration and radiance in every drop. Beach-ready, everyday-approved — your skin’s new sun-safe obsession.
Sol de Janeiro Rio Radiance Spf 50 Body Oil
Vacation in a bottle. The Sol de Janeiro Rio Radiance SPF 50 Body Oil wraps your skin in sun-soaked moisture and the iconic scent of Cheirosa 87 — a delicious blend of solar tuberose and leite de coco. With UVA/UVB protection, a luscious glow, and a touch of shimmer, this antioxidant-rich oil is your passport to smooth, radiant, sun-kissed skin.
A Final Glow-Up Thought
Self-tanner on melanin-rich skin isn’t a trend.
It is a conversation.
It is theory dressed in silk robes. It is praxis that smells of coconut and amber. It is every Black woman who once whispered to the mirror, “I am enough”—and now says it out loud, bathed in light.
So this International Skincare Day, we ask:
When you bronze a bronze goddess, is it vanity—or is it visual poetry?
Is it excess—or the opulence we were once denied?
Does it dim us—or finally let us burn, bright and unyielding, beneath our own sun?
Let the answers shimmer. Let the glow speak.
We are not trying to shine. We already do.
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