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The Weekend Post #24: Tanning Time

Being an avid tanner means that I’m always looking out for the next best thing in fake tan, constantly going to bed slightly sticky and waking up smelling like a biscuit, but hey, at least I look nice and bronzed by the morning! In fact my days of dodgy fake tanning are over and those two faux pas no longer happen as I’ve found some great products that are prepping me up with some beach babe bronze before my holiday, and as Sunday tends to be my reapply day I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to go through them all.

One of the newest false tanners on the block is the No Sun Tanner from Perricone MD*, designed as a gradual tanner that you reapply each day until you reach your desired tannage level – this is by far the best gradual tanner I have ever tried. No weird smell, super moisturising and a decent amount of natural colour, I find that using this for two or three days on the trot leaves my limbs looking gorgeously tanned. The only drawback of this tan is its huge price tag, at £54 for a not so big 118ml bottle it’s nowhere near the best value for money, but perhaps a good one for those with false tanning anxiety to invest in before a special occasion. Another one that I’ve been using for about year now and is easily my favourite of he bunch is the Xen Dark Lotion Absolute Luxe (video mentioning it here). It gives the most intense colour, fades elegantly and lasts about a week on my skin, I tend to throw a layer of this on with a mitt on a Sunday night and repeat the next weekend. So easy, so simple and the one that I always go back to. I recently purchased the much-raved about St Tropez Bronzing Spray and I have to say I’m not really a St Tropez lover but this spray works well for evenly tanning the backs of your hand and tops of your feet. They are literally the only two jobs I use it for as I find the colour too subtle for anywhere else. Not the most economical purchase but something that I quickly spray on most days. Finally something that I tried this weekend and loved is the Clarins Self Tanning Instant Gel*. I haven’t used a gel formula in years, but this was so easy to blend, sunk into the skin almost immediately and had no funky smells to it, plus I woke up in the morning with a serious golden glow. I need to give it some further tests for longevity but this is the closest I’ve found to the miracle-like Xen Tan in a long time!

What a ramble about fake tan there! But I guess there is something for everyone: gels, liquids, sprays, intense tans and gradual ones. The only thing I neglected to mention was tanning mousses, but I’m not too keen on them – they dry out my skin and tend to go patchy. Never a good look. So what fake tans do you love? Any that have my list or have you got some recommendations?

*PR Samples

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