The following review is for Xen Tan Dark lotion: RRP £25.95 or £17.99 from feelunique.com
Ok, so the reason this took me so long to do was because I thought the best way to do it would be to actually show you the results, and me an avid fake tan wearer I had to wait for my existing tan to come off so that I could get some 'before' pictures.
I'll start by showing you my deathly pale skin so you can get some idea of the difference this stuff makes (excuse my bra, but all my nice bikinis were packed)
BEFORE
not too sure what's going on with my hip but what can you do ay.
AFTER 1 APPLICATION
AFTER 2 APPLICATIONS
SIDE BY SIDE COMPARISON
AND FOR THOSE WHO WANT A
MORE DETAILED REVIEW :) ...
Colour
The first time I used this self tanner I thought the colour looked unbelievably unnatural, I felt like I looked really really red. I decided I hated it and vowed never to use it again until people started asking me whether I'd been on holiday or used sunbeds. My mom, dad, boyfriend and close friends all agreed that it was by far the most natural coloured fake tan I had used to date despite how dark it was. I was puzzled by this initially, but after a couple of days I started to get used to the red toned colour and so I began to really like it. Even though I couldn't see it at first, I think that it's the red undertones in this tan that make the colour so natural, I always believed that the green undertones famously used by St Tropez were the way forward. But, when you think about it, who actually goes green in the sun?! If you look at a Caucasian (other races will probably differ) with a really dark natural tan, chances are they have a slight pink/red tinge to the skin (unless they're just completely fried).
Evenness
It's completely even, streak and patch free! No matter how poorly you apply it :)
(except from if you just completely miss a patch out)
Application
Initial application is fine, it's quite thick so you do have to rub a bit to get it to spread and I absolutely love the smell even though its not to everyones taste (almonds and cherries).
But once you've rubbed it in, oh em gee it looks appalling!
Insert picture to that doesn't even begin to show the appallingness that can be witnessed in real life.
The person who said you can use the guide colour as a bronzer and go out tanned straight away, well, they lied. But once you've showered all the horrible patchiness just washes away :)
Durability?
If that's the right word lol, is pretty standard. No fake tan is ever gonna look the same as when you first applied it after about a week. Although I have to say this wore of a lot better than St Tropez and I didn't experience the dreaded snake skin effect, so thumbs up to that. I'd say this maintained its full colour for about 3/4 days and I was completely completely fake tan free after about a week and a half.
So after the longggg wait there it is. This is definitely my new HG fake tan and I would definitely recommend it to all those fake tan obsessives like me :)
xxxx