What I want from a self tan, and I'd like to think this is what most people want, is a self tan that is..
1. Quick and easy application. I don't want to be spending ages trying to blend in the self tan and I don't want a self tan that takes so much effort to rub in.
2. A quick trying self tan. There is nothing worse than having stand around butt naked for up to an hour while you let the tan dry, having to be careful how you stand, move, bend your body with the fear it might go patchy. I want to put my self tan on and be able to put loose clothing on after 10 minutes.
3. A self tan that doesn't smell. I'm sure no-one wants to stink and also I'm sure no-ones other halves want to be around someone who reeks of self tan! I can accept a slight scent, but nothing too strong and one that disappears after application.
4.NO RUB OFF ON SHEETS! I used to always self tan at night, let it develop and rinse it off in the morning. I would always put on old sheets cos I knew, especially on my pillows that in the morning there would be a slight colour on my sheets! I want to be able to sleep in nice sheets and not get them ruined by self tan!
So I have the self tan products, that I personally feel tick all of those points!
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| Fake Bake 60 minutes self tan liquid, St Tropez Dark Bronzing spray, Fake Bake Beyond Bronze wash off tan, Soltan Beautiful Bronze self tan mitt |
Firstly this is the first time I've ever used a Fake Bake self tan, I always considered Fake Bake to be too expensive but I got this at 10% off when John Lewis were price matching Debenhams the other week so decided to give it a go. I work full time and sometime struggle to find the time to self time in the evenings, so thought a 60 minute self tan would be ideal for the days when I have little time. Firstly how it works in such a quick time is that it has ingredients dihydroxyacetone (known as DHA) and erythulose which are apparently activated as soon as it has contact with skin, they basically are the main ingredients than dye (tan) your skin. These ingredients are found in most off the shelf self tanning products but from what I've read, they tend to not activate immediately and work over time, but they have added accelerators to speed up the development time. It says on the packaging that after an hour you should get "a beautiful golden tan, after 2 hours "a bronzed tan" and after 3 hours "a dark tan" they also recommend NOT leaving it on for longer than 3 hours, why? I don't know. This sounds to be good to be true right? Well it is....
I left mine on for 3 hours and rinsed it off, you get a guide colour like most tans, so when I rinsed it off the guide comes off, although not as much as other brands, what I was left with was a very light natural looking tan. Now I am very pale so possibly for people with darker skins the tan may be darker for you, I can only base this on my skin colour. I was a bit annoyed to be honest BUT I did reapply this 2 days later and again left it on for 3 hours and the colour was deeper, yet still very natural looking. Next time I use this I'm just going to leave it on over night as several people I know do that and find the colour to be deeper.
The reason this is listed here is because OMG it's soooo easy to apply! You get with it a pair of black latex gloves and a self tan mitt. I wasn't sure why you needed both, but they recommend wearing the gloves and then using the mitt over them.Wearing both of these meant that by my wrists I didn't get the build up of colour that I normally get, there are no harsh lines and it blends in naturally, which I think is great! The mitt is AMAZING and really buffs the tan into the skin literally effortlessly which is a big plus for me! They say you should spray the tan on to the mitt and then rub it in, normally I spray direct on the skin and then rub it in but sometimes I'd find I sprayed too much, by doing it this way I found I didn't use too much product. It's also super easy to rub it, it's literally so lightweight that you can just quickly rub it in and not worry about having to over rub in certain areas. It literally took me 10 minutes to do my whole body!!!!! It dries so quickly, I was dressed within 10 minutes! and there is no scent, well i couldn't smell any! It also lasted me 7 days (after the second application) and didn't go patchy as the days went on!
So dependant on how light/dark your skin is, I do recommend leaving this on longer than the recommended time frame, but application wise this is the best self tan product I've ever used! let me know if you have tried it and how deep the colour was for you!
I have always used St.Tropez, it was my first ever brand I tried years back and the smell was disgusting! I originally used the lotion which took forever to rub in, tried the mouse which I personally hated and then moved on to the normal spray which I preferred. A few years back the re-formulated the whole range and the scent wasn't as strong but I noticed they brought out a dark range, and me being pale and self tan not going to the colour I want straight away thought I'd try it! This does give me a nice tan on the first application, still natural looking but darker than the original range, so it means I don't need to reapply the following day! I can put this on in the morning and rinse it off 5 hours late and have a tan (although not a really dark one) if I need it for that evening and didn't have time to apply it the previous night. I do prefer to leave this on over night as I just feel all tans give you the full colour. I spray this directly on to the skin (but will try it on the mitt like the Fake Bake one) and it rubs in easily, although the Fake Bake one rubs in easier and quicker. It doesn't take too long to dry, but there is still a slight stickiness after 15 minutes so I tend to wait 20 minutes before putting on loose clothing just to be on the safe side. I haven't noticed any colour on my sheets which is a plus. There is still a scent and it being a spray I do find I get the scent in my mouth when I spray it on me, which doesn't taste too great ;) Although I'm hoping spraying it on to the mitt will stop that! I do find that I look ridiculously dark when it's fully developed (before rinsing it off) but once I rinse it off it dies down. A lot of the guide colour runs out after you wash it off, unlike the Fake Bake one. It wears off well too, but after 5 days I need to exfoliate well to avoid any patchiness and then reapply, if I want to.
I do really like this, it does give me a great colour and is easy to apply. I'd say if you like a dark self tan then this would be a great one to go for. Don't forget to keep an eye out for the special offers at Boots.
Ok so strictly speaking this isn't a self tan, it's an instant wash off tan, which are still hugely popular. They are ideal for those people who don't like self tan but who want to add colour and then to just rinse it off! Its great for people who are self tan virgins and who are scared their self tan will go wrong and patchy so they can practise with an instant tan knowing they can just rinse it off it goes wrong!
Normally I don't like to self tan my legs, I will in the summer but during the rest of the year my legs are always covered up in tights, so it's pretty pointless and also a waste of money to self tan my legs when I'm not getting them out! BUT when we get an unexpected day of sunshine, for those in the U.K will know that we don't get a proper summer and can go from wind and rain to beaming hot rays, so this is ideal for those who have been caught out by the sudden change in weather and want to get their pasty white legs out!
I LOVE THIS!!!!!!! The colour is super dark, but not a orange shade, it's relatively easy to rub in. You get a lovely sheen to your legs with this, even though I use the matte one, it still gives a gorgeous glossy moisturised look to my legs without shimmer. If I'm going on a night out, I use this on my legs as it comes up darker than any self tan I've ever used. the consistency is quite thick (I think most instant tans are) but it looks lovely once rubbed in. If I used this during the day I will add some moisturising cream with it so it dilutes the colour so it's more natural looking, you can also do this on nights out if you like too. By adding a moisturising cream it gives an even more glossy finish and can make legs look gorgeous! I apply this with a self tanning mitt so I can really buff it in to the skin, I feel like this helps it dry quicker than using gloves and gives a more even, streak free finish. I do find that it takes a little while to dry though, especially if I've added moisturiser to it but I pop it on and then brush my teeth, finish off my hair (standing up) pack my bag, and then will get dressed about 15 minutes later, I will be careful when sitting down for 30 minutes after applying, but after that its fine and doesn't rub off on clothes and it will stay there until I wash it off! LOVE LOVE LOVE this soooo much!
Again in boots they have this on offer quite a lot and I've bought this for around £7, I will normally buy it when I see it on offer and just keep it aside for when I'm ready use it.
There are other products in the line that I haven't tried but probably will now it's summer so will review them when I get them http://www.fakebake.co.uk/contents/en-uk/d157_beyondbronze.html
and finally....
Soltan Beautiful Bronzing self-tan applicator mitt £3.99 available only at www.boots.com as soltan is a boots own brand.
Ok so this isn't a tanning product but it's a vital tool to your tanning application. I used to use latex gloves but found they didn't rub in tan very well, more effort was needed to rub the tan in and found the general look not great after. With tanning mitts they really buff it in to the skin and also aid in the drying time, you get a more airbrushed finish and I found them quicker and easy, plus you can just wash them and allow to try and re-use instead of having to keep buying new gloves.
St.Tropez do their own one but it's priced at £4.49 and in my opinion this is just as good and cheaper. Again, like I've already said boots often do offers and Soltan is ALWAYS going on offer, especially inn the summer so you can get this for like £2.99 or less. I always buy a new one when I see them on offer and keep as a back up/spare for when I'm ready to change. They last a long time, depending on how frequently you tan.
This is a key accessory to your self tanning and I highly recommend people buy a mitt! Your tanning experience will be so much better and easier and you will never look at another pair of latex gloves again!!!!
Let me know what self tanning/wash off tanning products you use and what you have found to be the best ones. What do you look for when buying a self tan?
Until next time....
Julie
xoxo
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