Suntana tan review.......

Like most girls I am a huge spray tan fan especially this time of year when it's still cold and the lack of sun doesn't do anything for my already pale skin!

I've been using spray tans professionally for around a year or so now and I've stuck to one brand - I'm not going to say which as I don't believe in talking down a brand. Lets just say they are a customer services nightmare and we'll leave it at that!

I'm an avid reader and poster of Salon Geek so when I decided to switch tanning brands it was go to place to get opinions and insight into what tans other beauty therapists were using.

Suntana was a brand that popped up over and over again. Now, before looking into different tans I had only heard of the main big names like Xen Tan, Sienna X, Fake Bake etc however there were rave reviews about Suntana. Not just because of their amazing customer service but because of the product as well.

When I got in touch with them for some samples they were more than happy to send me some free of charge, not only that but they turned up the next day - 4 really good sized sample bottles for me to try.

Light (coconut), medium (cherry), dark (chocolate) and after dark (blackberry). As you can guess each shade has its own fragrance which I was really excited to smell and they smell divine! I was intrigued to see if this fragrance was the same on the skin as it was in the bottle.

 

The hard decision was to decide on which shade to use. I settled for medium as I needed more colour than usual for a birthday party I was going to. The dark and after dark versions I think will be too dark for my skin however I have guinea pigs lined up to try.

I set up my spray gun and a good friend of mine was ready to spray until a disaster happened - my spray gun died!!! Mortified is not the word and I'm currently saving for a new one to get as soon as possible! All was not lost though as the solution could be applied by using a tanning mitt. This isn't something I have come across before with spray tan solutions but I thought I would give it a go. Silly me forgot that the solution is a liquid so I spilt some over my newly tiled floor ooops! However once I got used to pouring a bit onto my tanning mitt I was away.

Before Application

 

I had to work quickly as this is one fast drying tan however it applied like a dream and was super easy to blend in. The smell was divine! Even my boyfriend commented that he liked the smell which was different from the usual 'eurgh you stink of digestives!!' The thing I liked most about the tan after application was the glow it gave to my skin, it made it look really healthy and my skin was really soft as well.

I slept in it over night and showered it off the next morning and I must say I was VERY impressed with the colour. I was a little scared that because I didn't spray it on it would look different but it looked amazing. No more pale skin and no horrid fake tan smell.

After

 

Overall I'm super happy with Suntana and I cannot wait to try the other shades out. I'm going to try the light tan next as I think this would look lovely as an everyday tan. As soon as I'm able to fund a new gun I will use the darker shades on my friends.

Suntana also offer a mousse solution which is super cheap at £3.99 for a 200ml bottle. They also offer a rapid tan which I'm excited to get my hands on - this means you can tan in as little as 1 hour which is fab if you have a last minute night out planned.

As with all brands of tan you need to make sure that you get your prep right and that you keep your body moisturised so the tan fades evenly. Below are my top tanning tips:

• Exfoliate, exfoliate, exfoliate!! Scrub away dead skin in all of the areas that are driest like elbows, knees, ankles and wrists. Make sure that you use an oil free exfoliator - using oil based products will mean that any oils will sit on top of the skin which can make false tan look patchy.
• Moisturise, moisturise, moisturise!!! Again using an oil free moisturiser, go over your driest areas and make sure that you really work it in to your hands- this will ensure that you don't have the orange hand look sported by many a TOWIE cast member!
• Make sure that if you need to shave or wax that this is done at least 24 hours before the application of your tan.
• When washing off don't use a shower gel or oil. This can strip the tan leaving you back at square one.
• Exfoliate and moisturise regularly to keep the skin soft and to ensure fade off is even. This also creates a perfect base for you to re-apply your tan.