EASY PEASY TANNING
Me? Tanning? Those two words have never really worked out well together. At university when everyone else bronzed up for a night out I embraced my pale skin and in the summer when everyone’s neon bikinis looked amazing on their tanned skin I was in hiding for the first few days before my natural tan appeared. I had a stint with the Palmer’s gradual tanner last year but after my initial positive reaction I found it got quite patchy after a few days on the skin.
This year I thought I’d give tanning one more go so I went to Anna, the tanning queen herself, to find out what to use and how. She may be embracing her English Rose skin now but I’ve seen photos of her uni days…. that girl knows how to tan.
The one product she always goes on about is the Xen-Tan Dark Lotion Absolute Luxe in Ultra Dark and I swear she’s been through so many tubes. I had more than a handful of doubts about this tanner including that fact that it’s expensive and says it’s ‘ultra dark’ which is not what I wanted to be. After a panic phone call to Anna at the till I was assured that the shade is natural, it’s easy to apply and doesn’t require much maintenance.
Something that’s always put me off tanning is the prep and post-application maintenance, but I’ve managed to figure out a simple routine that doesn’t take hours out of my day. I started by lightly exfoliating in the shower mainly using a scrub on my elbows, neck and knees where it’s usually dry. Whilst waiting for my hair to dry in a towel I started the tanning process using a tanning mitt for ease. I squeezed a small amount of product onto the mitt and just started buffing it into the skin. There was no real technique apart from applying most the product on the main parts of my body and using the left overs for tricky bits like elbow, hands, wrist etc. The texture is really nice, like a thick moisturiser and the smell is sweet like the Soap & Glory Breakfast Scrub. It does smell of tan, but it’s not quite as intense as others I’ve tried. After applying it all over I waited around 10 minutes for it to dry before putting on loose fitted pyjamas. Some of the product does transfer that night so I wouldn’t recommend wearing your favourite pair.
I found it took a couple of days for the colour to develop properly, although I could also see subtle instant results. The shade has an olive undertone which is how I naturally tan, making it perfect for me. I used my Vaseline Spray’n’Go moisturiser for a couple of days after to prevent any dry patches but I didn’t find it to go streaky or patchy at all. I was also able to re-apply a few days later without exfoliating and it was fine.
I was really impressed with the tan and it wasn’t ‘Ultra Dark’, but a perfect golden tan. For me, doing this twice a week would be ideal and I’ll hopefully get into a routine leading up to Summer. I do think it was worth the money, especially as the 236ml tube will last a long time!
Have you ever tried this tan? What’s your favourite tanning product?
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