Christmas party season is well and truly upon us. There’s only a few weekends left until the big day, and it’s likely your calendar will be rapidly filling up with work drinks, festive parties and all kinds of gatherings with loved ones – and a tan can make you feel a lot more glam in your outfits.
Now that we’re in the depths of winter, a natural tan is a lot harder to achieve, which is where a bottle of the fake stuff is a saviour. Fake tanning has been a solid part of my weekly beauty routine for many years, so I’ve tried my fair share of brands – some great, some horrendous. I recently took a risk and tested one I had never heard of, but it ended up being a massive success, for one important reason.
The brand is Saltyface, and if you’re someone who cannot stand the smell of fake tan, then it’s definitely worth a try. There’s nothing worse than applying a layer before you go to sleep, only to wake up with your sheets and your skin smelling like digestive biscuits.
This happened to be one of the only varities I’ve ever tried where I didn’t notice an unpleasant smell in the morning. Instead, the foam itself has a clean and soapy aroma, which was a welcome change.
The fake tan goes on clear, which is good news for your bed sheets and clothes – no irritating orange streaks. According to the bottle, you can just put it on and go about your day with no need to rinse it off. However, I applied it at night and woke up with an amazing yet natural-looking glow.
How to apply
After you’ve showered, exfoliated and moisturised, grab the bottle of tan and squeeze a few pumps on to a tanning mitt – which is crucial if you want to avoid any unsightly orange palms. Apply it to your skin in circular motions, making sure it’s completely rubbed in to avoid any patches or streaks.
For your hands, feet and any other difficult areas, squeeze a small amount on to a brush along with some moisturiser and buff it in, again making sure it’s fully rubbed in.
Personally, I like to do this at night so it has a good few hours to develop as I sleep, but this particular tan doesn’t need to be rinsed off. You can do another layer if you want a deeper tan, which I did, and make sure to keep on moisturising every day so that the tan stays on your skin without flaking off.
For a facial glow, the tanning water is an absolute must-have. I applied this as the final part of my night-time skincare routine, spraying it on to my face and gently rubbing it in along my hairline, jaw and nose, so that there was no visible build-up in the morning.
Removing tan is the bane of my life, but this was fairly easy with an exfoliating glove, probably due to how light the colour was. And interestingly, that was the one thing that put me off slightly.
I had to do three layers to achieve my perfect colour, which used up quite a chunk of the bottle. Costing £48 a pop, it’s not cheap, so I’d maybe try the medium/dark next time rather than the light/medium. Having said that, it’s definitely better to play it safe – especially if you’ve got a couple of Christmas parties coming up and want to avoid an orange or green-toned tanning disaster.
I’d recommend this for anyone with very fair skin who wants a natural-looking bronzed effect for the upcoming festive season. Or if, like me, you prefer a more noticeable tan, definitely go for the darker colour, which is what I will be doing next time.
