Writer Ayanna Redwood-Crawford long wished there were a way to give her cocoa-brown skin a more bronzy, even tone without risking a sunburn. Although she'd obviously heard of self-tanner, she had never considered it because self-tanning ads have historically been geared toward people with light skin, and questioned if the products actually worked for people with naturally deep skin. Turns out, they do. "I tested loads of self-tanners and realized that wanting to use one wasn’t a silly notion; the lovely lit-from-within effect they gave my skin was a real confidence boost," Ayanna writes. For more on what Ayanna learned on her journey to finding the best self-tanner for deep skin, tap the link in bio. Photos by Ruthie Darling and Ayanna Redwood-Crawford