I’m a bit of an awkward tanner to be perfectly honest. I’m fair skinned and tend to burn more readily than I tan. If I want to gain a golden look it takes me days and days to gently build it up and loving in London that’s difficult to achieve. Still I’ve never been tempted to use any form of fake tan – ever. So what made me change my mind? I had the opportunity to try two gorgeous looking products from Temple Spa.
Goldentini Body Oil & Glaze
This was the product of the two that I was most attracted to as I’ve always been partial to a bit of golden shimmer – especially for summer. The Goldentini Body Oil is an omega rich skin glaze that nourishes skin and gives a lustrous sheen with special photo-reflecting agents. It’s a non-permanent bronzer that washes off when you shower. Temple Spa describe the key benefits as being:
- Lusciously lightweight skin glaze
- Suits all skin tones
- Quickly absorbed
- Non-greasy touch
- Sophisticated bronzer for the body
- Brightens up skin that doesn’t have a tan
- Enhancing an existing tan
- Adds the finishing touch to your appearance
My experience was that it goes on easily and moisturised my skin well, soaking in and being dry to the touch within minutes. It provides a sheer wash of golden colour that’s right for my colouring. It doesn’t look like a fake tan at all and smells lovely. I’ve used it on my shoulders arms and decolletage as well as my legs. Perfect!
Available here priced £25 for 50ml.
Sol Mate Self Tan Soufflé
This was the product that I was most reluctant to try. As I’ve said I’ve never used self tan before and I witnessed lots of friends make mistakes with self tan. Then there are all those photos of people looking orange and smelling oddly of biscuits!
Of course there are so many pluses to using fake tan – we all like the look of a healthy looking tan but we don’t want to expose ourselves to harmful UV, risk sun damage or accelerate the ageing process. Sol Mate’s Key benefits are listed as:
- a breakthrough tanner that gives a natural, buildable tan without the risk of streaking, blotches or uneven tone
- can be reapplied every other day to keep the colour longer or deepen the tone
- combines serious skincare properties with a healthy sunless tan
- high quality formula is hydrating to the skin, rich in natural extracts and essential oils
- beautifully fragrance
- anti-ageing benefits
So, this is the awkward bit. I really wanted this to work and to be able to say that this had converted me to using fake tans but it didn’t quite work like that. I made sure that I read all the tips and made sure that I exfoliated with a scrub first and then moisturised especially around drier areas like my heels and knees. I bought a special mitt to apply it with so that it would go on smoothly and wouldn’t stain my hands. I was all set.
First good thing about it was that it has a beautiful scent due to the ingredients which included cocoa butter, sweet orange, tarragon, geranium, wild mint, citronella, olive leaf, lemon, grape leaf, thyme, fennel. So no bad smells here!
So onto application – and here’s where I think that I fell down on the task. I decided to use it on my legs as a trial and I patiently and smoothly applied the product to my thighs and then as I got further down my leg I got a bit slap dash and then for my feet I just kind of swiped it over the top of my foot. I think that I had in mind that as this was a buildable product and as I’d previously tried the Goldentini which added a very light colour that this would give me a golden wash.
I was so wrong! I’d planned to wear a summer dress and sandals the next day and instead I had to bring out my tights. My thighs, where I’d applied the product properly were a lovely golden colour but my calves were blotchy and orangey and my feet – oh dear – some toes had stained cuticles and others were white and my heels were a rusty colour! Now I really can’t blame the product – just my poor application- but what I should say is that if you’re used to applying self tan then you’ll be fine but if you’re impatient and inexperienced like me then you might be better to get a professional to apply it for you.
Available here priced £25 for 150ml.
Have you got any stories of self tan success or failure? What are your favourite tanning products? Do share them with me.
Hazel
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