A TikTok user named Celeste (@celesteriemersma) has a confession about her high school days. During her freshman year, she became obsessed with keeping herself tan. She applied self-tanner three times every Sunday, slept with a layer on her skin, and used a makeup brush to get the product into the crevices of her hands. She was so committed that she was literally tan blind.
She told the Daily Dot that she was making “get ready with me” videos at the time, doing her hair and makeup on camera while talking about her day or giving a tutorial on her look. Her hands were always in full view of the camera, showing tan stuck in the wrinkles of her fingers and underneath her nails. She believed she had done a seamless job, but the tan was obvious.
Now she can laugh about it. In the moment, she had no idea what it actually looked like.
Celeste’s Tan Routine
Celeste’s routine was intense. She would set aside time every Sunday to apply the self-tanner, then sleep with a layer on her skin when she was supposed to wash it off. She used a makeup brush to fully tan her hands, getting the product into the crevices.
She described herself as “tan blind,” unable to see how cringey her tan looked. She encouraged other people to share their experiences in the comments, and they did not disappoint.
Comment Section Cringe
The replies were full of stories from people who had their own terrible self-tan eras. One user wrote, “LOL everyone had a terrible self-tan era during middle school.” Another shared that she struggled to keep her hands tanned because she has eczema on her hands and the tan would stick in there, marinating for 24 hours.
Someone chimed in with a photo of their own patchy tan, saying they put tanning drops in their lotion and ended up looking like they had vitiligo. Another wrote, “Dude I had fake tan blindness last year too it just looks orange.”
Grateful Parents
Not everyone had a tan phase. Some people were glad their parents never let them fake tan. One commenter wrote, “I’m so grateful my mom never let me use fake tan omg.” Another asked, “Where were your parents and why weren’t they desperately intervening in a panic?”
Others shared how they had mastered the art of fake tanning and no longer made themselves look as cakey as Celeste did. She did not share whether she still uses self-tanning products.
The Numbers
- Video posted by TikTok user @celesteriemersma
- Has garnered more than 77,000 likes and 150 comments
- Celeste applied self-tanner three times every Sunday during her freshman year
- She slept with a layer on her skin when she was supposed to wash it off
Tan vs. No Tan
| Detail | Celeste’s Freshman-Year Tan | People Who Never Tanned |
|---|---|---|
| Application frequency | Three times every Sunday | None |
| Hand technique | Makeup brush into crevices | N/A |
| Parental involvement | None mentioned | Parents prevented it |
| Result | Cakey, obvious fake tan | Natural skin |
What We Make of It
Celeste was so focused on the tan that she could not see how bad it actually looked.
Source material: “Woman Looks Back on Her Freshman Year Self-Tan Obsession Years Later: “I Was Tan Blind” and Had No Idea How Bad It Actually Looked,” The Daily Dot.
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