Instants have come a long way since the gloopy orange mess I battled with as a teenager. There are now some incredibly sophisticated formulas competing for attention – lotion, spray, mousse in golden, olive or mahogany – they’re all covered. Here are a few I’ve been testing out on your behalf…
NB It is advisable to apply these products with a tanning mitt – I haven’t as I wanted to let you see how they would affect your hands if you don’t have a mitt available, since my biggest instant tan mare has always been orange palms!
First up: Fame Instant Mineral Tan by Rockstar Tan
Pretty pink packaging and an impressive skin friendly, mineral rich, organic ingredients list. Non-comedogenic, paraban, animal testing and talc free, Fame contains skin firming qualities and is fragranced with natural organic essences.
Before pic with product: if you look closely you can see little particles of golden shimmer through the chocolate brown creamy gel.
A quick wash with soap and water = perfectly clean hands immediately after application.
Overview: I absolutely adore this product. I’ve pictured it with one coat, but it can easily be built up into a deeper golden colour and I normally apply a couple of layers. It’s a very natural colour, quick and easy to apply, richly moisturising and water resistant – so no worries about your tan running down your legs if you get caught out in a shower! Oh and it smells good too – fresh and slightly fruity. All that and it’s good for your skin – I really can’t fault it.
Best for: Light to medium skintones, anyone from absolute beginners to tanning pros, those who want to nourish their skin while instant tanning.
Price: Available online at www.rockstartan.ie at 19.99 euros
St Moriz – Instant Self Tanning Lotion
Simple yet cleverly designed pump bottle makes application easy and minimises mess.
Before pic with product, which is very thick, sticky and dark – almost treacle like. This isn’t a bad thing as a super runny consistency would be more difficult to work with.
The colour is more olive toned than the golden Fame, so may be suited to darker skintones, but I still loved it on me.
Eek… post St Moriz hands after normal wash with soap and water. I’d stick to the tanning mitt with this one!
Overview: I have to admit that I was taken aback by how impressive this product is. I honestly didn’t expect it to be such good quality and such a lovely colour. Streets ahead of the self tanning mousse from this range in my opinion. It was very quick and easy to apply, though I wouldn’t use bare hands next time. To me this feels a lot more expensive than it is and if instant tan is something you would only use occasionally then this may well be the best choice for you.
Best for: Anyone who wants to achieve easy instant colour without blowing the budget. Particularly good for those with olive skintones though I still liked it on my fair to medium skin.
Price: Widely available, the RRP is £4.99 and the cheapest I found this for was at Fragrance Direct for £2.99 – bargainous or what?!
anatomicals tanatomicals body and face instant tan
Fun packaging and I do love the taglines and tongue in cheek branding on this range.
Before pic with product, a thick dark gel.
Applies easily and evenly, though a touch orange toned for my skin which was quite pale at this point. More suited for darker toned skins.
Lovely clean hands after a quick wash with soap and water!
Overview: Easy to use, pleasant smell, deep even colour, straightforward to apply. Quite a deep colour which didn’t really match my skintone but could work well with an existing bronze tan or on darker skins. Softly scented and completely inoffensive to wear. A well priced product for the quality and packaging.
Best for: anyone with a base tan or dark skintone.
Price: Available from ASOS for £7
Are you an instant tan fan and do any of these sound appealing?
* Samples provided for review. Opinions 100% genuine *
I'm loving your tanning product reviews :-) I need to get my hands on some Rockstar products ASAP!
ReplyDeleteI love St Moriz but I do always use a mitt with it. The Rockstar one looks good but £20 is a lot to pay for a wash off tanner.
ReplyDeletehaha go for it Zuzu! I have a few other posts on self tan & a guide on how to apply it, which you might find useful.
ReplyDeleteNic xx
Ah thank you mrsglobug I really appreciate your comment! x
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the blog it was very helpful as we all have different shades of skin and different budgets.
ReplyDeletethis post is the best. i had to tweet about this twice. although one tweet has yet to be published tomorrow xx thank you for a great comparison review
ReplyDeleteVERY impressive! I haven't done self tan since Clairins around 2000, but I really like the color you got on your skin, and since we're probably almost equally pale, this gives me hope of going wearing skirts sans stockings in the summer again. Right now my legs glow in the dark. So. No chemical smell. Hmmm.
ReplyDeleteBless you lovely liloo that is so kind xx
ReplyDelete