Gradual Tan Review: Garnier Body, Summer-body Moisturising Lotion Sun-Kissed Look (Deep).

According to Garnier what this product claims to do:

Garnier Summer Body Sun Kissed look Moisturiser is a 2 in 1 gradual tanning moisturiser giving you that gorgeous sun-kissed glow day after day! Enriched with Camomile, this long lasting moisturiser lasts for an impressive 12 hours, and contains only a small amount of tanning agents so each day your tan develops darker, resulting in natural, streak-free results!

 In one step, Summer Body moisturising lotion moisturises your skin from morning until evening whilst gradually building a natural looking tan in harmony with your skin tone.

·         Non greasy, light moisturiser with a hint of self tan

·         Builds a sun-kissed glowing tan to suit your skin tone

·         Camomile and apricot extract to leave skin soft and supple

 

Personally I prefer how I look with a bit of a tan and seeing as my pale Irish skin is never going to tan naturally I turn to the bottle of the fake stuff for a bit of help. I will openly admit that I have always had a love/hate relationship with fake tan- I love the colour pay off, hate the effort of keeping my tan looking good. As I am maturing [24 this year...eek] I have noticed from looking at old pictures and talking with my mum that I look better with a more subtle tan as opposed to full on dark tan, hence my search for a product that would leave me looking lightly bronzed with minimal effort. I also wanted a fake tanning product that would leave my skin looking and feeling moisturised as I found that many fake tans were very drying on my skin [yes I’m looking at you st.moriz]. From discussing fake tans and my problems with them one day in work I was kindly introduced to Garnier’s Summer Body Gradual Tan by a work colleague and at £2.89 in Savers for 400ml of product I thought to myself ‘why not.’

Basically Garnier Summer-body Moisturising Lotion Sun-Kissed Look is a moisturiser with a hint of self than that can be built up gradually. I use the shade "Deep Sun-kissed Look" which is the darkest. There is also a fairer option which I haven’t tried but may purchase to use for those times where I want to maintain the tan I have achieved without going much darker.

Scent:

In my opinion it smells lovely. It has a strong fruity scent of apricots which actually reminds me of Much Bunch apricot yoghurts-yummy!!! The scent of apricots does linger on the skin whilst developing but once washed off in the shower/bath the scent disappears. I actually apply this at night so it doesn’t really matter to me and I actually like this scent but for those who don’t like the scent of apricots then this product may be a no-go for you. The great thing about this gradual tanner is that there is no hint of the biscuity fake tan smell at all, which is great. Prior to using this tan a work colleague used this tan religiously and I never once smelt the tell tale ‘fake tan’ smell off her. She even commented that her partner loved the smell as it was developing. So this is also great for those with partners who detest the smell of regular fake tanning products.

 

Application and Upkeep:

This tan comes out as a white moisturiser, so unlike regular fake tan with a colour guide it can be hard to see where you have applied product and you don't know which bits you've missed until the colour has developed. However I recommend using a tanning mitt until you get used to using this product, also a bonus to having no colour guide is that your sheets and PJ’s won’t get stained-hooray!!!

Overall I found this easy to use. You use it just as you would with a normal body moisturiser, just be sure to wash your hands afterwards if you’re not using a glove/mitt. I personally like to use disposable gloves to protect my hands and apply it all over like any other moisturiser, in circular motions starting from my feet upwards. I then quickly give a rub down to my body with a mitt which takes off any excess lotion and ensures an even finish [good way of avoiding streaks]. For my back I normally get a housemate to apply the lotion however I have recently purchased Velvotan’s self tan back applicator which allows me to apply the gradual tanner to my back evenly myself.

I always apply some regular moisturiser to my elbows, armpits, knees and feet to ensure that these areas don’t over absorb the product as no one likes extra tanned knees, elbows etc. For my hands and feet I dilute the gradual tanner with regular moisturiser with a 40/60 ratio. So 40% gradual tanner, 60% regular moisturiser. This makes my tan look more natural looking and ‘sun kissed.’

If using this product on your face I would suggest applying regular moisturiser to your hair line, eyebrows, sides of nose and your top lip to ensure that you don’t get product over-load on these areas as no-one wants a fake tan moustache!!! I have used this product on my face but prefer to use my He-shi face and body gel on my face and neck as I find my face is harder to tan than the rest of my body and doesn’t seem to take this gradual tanners as well as other parts of my body [may just be me and my skin type].

I found that this sunk into my skin fairly quickly [way more quickly than Dove or St.Tropez gradual tanners], leaving my skin feeling a little tacky for approx 5 mins. I found that I could get dressed fairly quickly which is great when you don’t want to be hanging around naked for ages especially when it’s cold and your tired.

I’m really bad at remembering to moisturise so this product is great for keeping my skin soft. I have never had the scaly skin effect with this tan and find that it comes off easy when using baby oil and exfoliating gloves in the bath/shower. I use this tan approx twice a week and would only exfoliate my skin once a week. If I can remember I try to moisturise my skin once a day, however sometimes I skip this stage due to laziness and it hasn’t appeared to have affected the look of this tan which is great.  

Results:

The next day there was a definite noticeable colour change, I was a nice light/medium tanned colour which looked very natural [others around me commented saying that it looked natural]. However for those wanting a fair tan you may be better suited to the lighter formula.

For me this tan was dark enough after one application, but for those who preferred the more tanned look you could apply it again the next day. I sometimes like my legs a little darker so would sometimes tan my legs two nights in a row which gives off a lovely natural colour. I personally top this tan up every 3-4 days and more regularly if I have a special occasion coming up. My work colleague used this tan every second night which gave a lovely bronzed look and didn’t look too fake or over applied. So I would say that this tan is buildable. However I feel if you’re using this product every day to achieve your desired tan you may be better suited to using a regular fake tan i.e weekly and topping it up in-between with this to achieve a more natural colour.

Overall:

Overall all rate this product. I love the colour it gives me, the ease of use, that its low maintance, the fact that I can tailor the amount of colour I want, I love that I can see how much product is left in the bottle, I love the smell of the product whilst developing and that I don’t smell of fake tan, I love that there is no trace of this product smell wise on my skin after showering, I love that my skin is left feeling super soft for ages after using the product and finally I love that this product is readily available to me and is supper affordable.

**I have also tried Dove, Palmers, He-Shi and St.Tropez gradual tanners’ prior to trying this product. I disliked the He-Shi and St.Tropez gradual tanners as I wasn’t very impressed with the colour payoff especially when you consider their price. I couldn’t stand the smell of Palmers gradual tanner and actually really liked Doves gradual tanner; it comes a close second to Garnier’s gradual tan, loosing points for its tackiness on the body.**

Where you can buy the product and current offers:

250ml bottle:

Tesco for £1.90 which normally retails at £3.80, [buy here].

Just for fragrances for £2.55 with free shipping, [buy here].

Boots for £5.10 which is their normal retail price, [buy here].

400ml bottle:

Tesco’s for £2.50 which normally retails at £5, [buy here].

Savers for £2.89.

Superdrug for £3.55, which normally retails at £7.10, [buy here].

Semichem for £3.99, [buy here].

Boots for £7.15, [buy here].

Thanks for reading!!!

xKx