I’ve always been intrigued by self tanners – the idea of having a tan whenever the heck I wanted it without having to deal with the problems inherent in sunbathing is really, really appealing.

But there’s a lot of downsides I always thought about too: there’s a lot of self tanners out there – between tinted moisturizer, mousses, gradual tanners… how the heck are you supposed to figure out what works for you? And not to mention upkeep and potential clothing staining? And ON TOP of all that, you have to eternally be worried about looking a ripe shade of Donald Trump.

So let me walk you through the self tanners I’ve tried out recently!

Let’s start this out by saying that I figured out pretty quickly that a tinted gradual tan moisturizer was not the way to go for me. With the St. Tropez Gradual Tan Tinted Body Lotion just didn’t dry down fast enough for my liking. I waited thirty minutes or so, but I still felt like the product would transfer to any clothing I put on so I ended up wiping it all off with some tissue. I’m too on the go for this kind of product I think! (If you use self tanning moisturizers – tell me what you love about them in the comments!)

However, the one I ended up falling in love with is the St. Tropez Self Tan Classic Bronzing Mousse!

The Self Tan Classic Bronzing Mousse is what I would consider a “typical” self tanner (this is coming from someone who has never use self tanners before though!). It has a pump top so that you can place dollops of the mousse onto  the tan applicator mitt in order to rub it on to your skin. It comes out very dark in tone which kind of terrified me at first, but rest assured that your skin will not end up that colour! That dark colour is a colour guard so you’ll know where you’re applying the product and what areas you’ve left blank.

So here’s a comparison shot. The leg you see on the left has the Self Tan Classic Bronzing Mousse on it, the right leg (my actual left) has nothing on it. This was after developing overnight (roughly 10 hours). I think on me it adds a caramel tone without going orange. That’s my take on it however, my husband did say he thought it looked a touch orange.

Since I’ve only used the product a few times now, I’ve got some tips for the newbies out there:

• Moisturize your feet (right up to the ankle), knees, elbows and any other rough patches of skin you have BEFORE you apply this. This will help the self tan not cling to the dry patches (it gets infinitely darker on dry, dead skin).
• The product needs time to develop on your skin – this is how self tanners work – they contain dihydroxyacetone (DHA) which reacts with the dead cells on the skin’s surface to temporarily darken the skin and simulate a tan. So let this product develop for 8-10 hours if you want to see the best results. I always opted to apply this before I went to bed so I’d at least sleep through the developing stage and then could shower any remnant product off in the morning.
• I opted not to apply this to my face as I wanted to use a darker foundation to match my body instead.
• It dried to the touch within about 15 minutes, so I was safe to go lay down in bed after that.
• DO NOT WORRY if you see stains on your bed sheets. I *freaked out* when this happened because I thought it was supposed to be transferproof. Thankfully, it washed out of my sheets even when I waited a week after I noticed staining.
• No one noticed at work until I brought it up. I consider this a huge benefit since it means that it didn’t look completely out of place.
• If you play sports where there’s a lot of sweaty rubbing action (like shin pads in soccer, etc.) you may notice fading happening sooner rather than later. I timed applying my self tanner after I’d played soccer for the day and I knew I wouldn’t be playing for another 7 days.
• As the product fades, it’ll go a bit patchy. It was absolutely fine for 5-6 days, but it was around day 8 that I noticed significant patchiness on the insides of my elbows and around my ankles. If you exfoliate your body regularly, you’ll help the product fade off nicely instead of in patches.

In short, I was really pleased with this self tanner since it’s what I was looking for: easy to apply, zero streaks and it gave me a healthy looking tan. And what I’ve learned out of all of this is I like a mousse that dries on my skin fairly quickly, and I’m just not into the self tan lotions!

St. Tropez Self Tan Giveaway

Alright, let’s get into the giveaway! I’ve got extras of the St. Tropez Self Tan Classic Bronzing Mousse, the Gradual Tan Tinted Body Lotion, as well as a Tan Applicator Mitt, so I figured somebody else would like to try out this line too!

Giveaway Rules

• This giveaway is open internationally!
• This giveaway starts on November 12, 2016 and runs for one week.
• Please be aware that all entries will be double checked to ensure fairness.
• Once the winner has been contacted, they will have 48 hours to provide me with their mailing address. If the winner fails to respond within that time frame, I will pick another winner. (And so on.)
• “Giveaway accounts” will not be considered for this prize. (If you want to know what I mean by that, please click here.)

Good luck!

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