Ok - shower and exfoliate especially knees, ankles, elbows, back of knees and sides of feet. Then lightly exfoliate the rest of your body. Once out of the shower, dry off and use a Vaseline type product and rub into elbows, ankles, knees, - all the places you heavily exfoliated. The Vaseline helps provide a barrier so you don't get uneven tone at the end. Then I use regular body lotion on the tops of my feet and the regular body lotion provides a lighter barrier to keep the tone even. It's line the gradual tanners on the market that are somewhat half lotion half self-tanner. So mix lotion with tanning stuff if you want to start small and don't be afraid to do test spots. I usually use my tummy or upper thighs. Then I swear by the self-tanning mit sims by St Tropez. It's multi-use and wash and air dry as needed. Using the mit helps you rub the tanner on evenly. Don't be afraid to aggressively rub it in and rub lightly over ankles and feet - the Vaseline/body lotion will help keep it even but sometimes I'll use a cotton ball if I think I was a little careless. For my face I usually wear a tight fitting shower cap and put Vaseline on my eyebrows and lips and sometimes I mix the tanner with a little moisturizer and sometimes I don't. Don't worry if you make a mistake - usually the next day you can exfoliate off any streaks or touch up with makeup. But that's why I swear by St Tropez - it's rare I get any streaks. It just looks crazy going on and the scent is very pleasant. They have several types of tanners and 2 shades. Hope that helps???!!!! Good luck!0