Every year my best friend always buys me two bottles for my Birthday. The first is a bottle of fake tan and the second is a bottle of Gin! This fail safe tradition has been going on for a few years and I’m always very happy to try both! *I do not recommend the use of fake tan is combined with the use of Gin, from previous experience.
I always use fake tan in spring and summer, I just think I look much healthier with it and with the British weather as it is then chances of getting a real tan are slim, plus we all know the dangers of over doing the sun exposure.
This year, I was given a bottle of Skinny Tan, which my friend raved about, along with the exfoliator mitt and tanning mitt. I’ve never used Skinny Tan before so I thought I’d review it for you guys and let you know my thoughts.
Packaging & quality:
The bottle is decent enough with a nautical vibe and the exfoliator and mitt are both nice quality. The exfoliator has an elasticated cuff to stop it slipping off, and the mitt is padded with a velvet finish, and is washable and waterproof – so no orange palms!
Application:
Step one: Exfoliate the body with the exfoliating mitt (the mitt has two sides, one for exfoliating, the other for scrubbing off any mistakes). The mitt is quite rough so be careful not to over do it or you will end up pretty raw.
Step two: Apply the Skinny Tan using the tanning mitt. This tan is a mouse, which I haven’t enjoyed previously because I found it hard to apply without colour guidance. However this one comes out a really dark colour and glides on to the skin nicely, with instant colour for guidance. I found a little goes a long way (one pump would do the front half of my body for example).
I did my legs, then body, arm and finished with my neck and face. I must warn you to go easy on the face, this one is very dark and my first attempt was too much, so I had to wash it off and apply a much lighter layer. (Use a small amount and use a dry part of the mitt to buff it towards the hairline). Finally I rub the back of my hands on the mitt to ensure my hands aren’t left white, which is often a give away!
Step three: Let it dry, (it takes a good 15 minutes) get dressed and leave to develop for 6 – 8 hours. During this time I decided to go for a run, not realising that sweat would remove the tan, so I ended up a bit streaky in places! This wasn’t a problem though as the product blends really easily so I was able to patch it up.
Step four: Shower off tan. I was left with a really good, deep colour. It continued to develop after showering so by the following day I was glowing! I didn’t have any streaks and my knees and elbows looked fine with the product on them. The smell whilst developing was the usual fake tan smell to be honest, but after showering it was fine.
Final thoughts: Over all I would rate this product highly and recommend maybe starting with a lighter shade if you haven’t tried a false tan before. Do not be tempted to use a cheaper exfoliator or tanning mitt, they are both really good quality and an important part of the process to getting a streak free result! I am sitting here writing this having applied Skinny Tan for the second time, and look like I have just got back from Barbados. If only!