The Body Shop Gradual Tan

Hey guys! You will come to learn that I am the palest person EVER. I don’t tan on holiday, but I don’t burn either. I am just plain pale white all year round and I have learnt to embrace it and stand out for being different (I have lived in Essex my whole life and I’m probably the palest person here, haha!). Anyway, today I will be reviewing the only fake tan I have in my house – The Body Shop Cocoa Butter Everyday Summer Body Lotion (fair to medium skin).

When this product first came out in TBS, all members of staff were given one (this was like a year and a half ago), but I never used mine as I just thought it would make me orange. But I’ve dug it out and have tried it so you lovely ladies can see if its any good!

So, I have some pretty impressive Before and After pictures after just one application.

5 Hours after One application

tan3

(Please excuse the lack of clothing!)

In preparation for the tan I had a relaxing bath and scrubbed myself with exfoliating gloves and body scrub, and also shaved etc. I moisturized everywhere I was applying the tan straight after my bath (with some aqueous cream).

On to the deed – I applied the lotion with some plastic gloves (that you get with hair dye kits) as I didn’t want orange hands. The cream was really easy to apply and moisturized in to the skin really well, it didn’t leave me greasy and I felt I was able to get an all round good application. I rubbed it into my legs, arms, chest area and tummy!

tan2

Onto the smell – I don’t think it smells much like the other Body Shop cocoa butter range, but when applying it it didn’t at all smell like other gradual tan (you know, that mushroomy smell) so I was pleased.

Fast forward a few hours and I had a lovely gorgeous natural tan! I wasn’t orange at all, I just looked healthily glowing. I was so impressed that I popped another layer on just before I went to bed. This was probably a bad idea as I then has the worst nights sleep as I started to smell ‘the tan’ smell – you all must know what it smells like, like the Johnson’s body gradual tan. I also started to feel a bit sticky, but this was my fault for applying it straight before bed.

I woke up to an even nicer tan (I didn’t take pictures as I had a busy day out). My family noticed my glow and liked it and I felt nice showing off my first tan. Based on all of this, I highly recommend this product! I’ am so so so impressed with the colour of my skin after just one application and it wasn’t hard to use at all. The tan grew to its max after just 5 hours and I like how you can build it up to how dark you want to go.

tan1

Okay, now on to the negative side – I suffer from the worst hayfever and eczema and one of the other reasons I haven’t used a gradual tanner before is because of my fear of irritating my dry skin to start itching. My eczema has been tame for a while due to will power and lots of moisturizer, but on Friday night, two days after first applying the cream, my skin broke out big time. My arms and chest are covered in scratch marks and an irritated rash. I’m really not sure what caused the irritation, it could have been the cream, or it could have been the fact that Friday day I spent round a friends house where there is a dog (I think I’m slightly allergic to them). Its odd as my legs are absolutely fine and that’s where I put the majority of the cream, so maybe the arm contact with the pet is the problem. I’m really really gutted that my skin has reacted but I plan to make it go away, and then in a few weeks try the tan again, as I loved the results so much I don’t want to give it up just yet. I will definitely keep you all updated on this.

Has anyone else used this cream before? Are you impressed with the results!?

P.S I was given this product for free, but it was not intended for to be reviewed. All my opinions are honest 🙂

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14 Comments

  1. April 5, 2010 / 12:26 am

    this has given you a lovely colour! such a shame it irritated your skin x

  2. April 5, 2010 / 12:44 am

    Wow!!! Looks amazing! I'll be giving this product a try when I'm through with my current bottle of St. Tropez Mousse! Thanks for the great post!

    xxoo

    Kasia

  3. April 5, 2010 / 4:40 am

    Cute blog! That's a bummer that your skin broke out from this because the tan it gave you looks so good! Very natural and not orange at all!

    willworkformakeup.blogspot.com

  4. April 5, 2010 / 5:13 am

    Good work.Diploma Replacement Service

  5. April 5, 2010 / 5:53 am

    It worked really well! You have amazing skin though, it's like porcelain..I LOVE your foot tattoo. =)

  6. April 5, 2010 / 10:45 am

    Im impressed with the results! No streaks from what i see and its given you such a natural healthy glow. Even though, dont get me wrong i do love your naturally pale skin 🙂

  7. April 5, 2010 / 10:49 am

    The colour looks great, what a shame it set your excema off. I'm a fellow pale person, so will definitely give this one a try, my skin has the magical ability to make an fake tan go orange when applied!

    Ellie <3

    missyellieuk.blogpot.com

  8. April 5, 2010 / 1:37 pm

    it looks realllly good on you!

  9. April 5, 2010 / 1:46 pm

    i have just got back into using this and i forgot how much i loved it! i use medium to dark, even though im pale, for my pure laziness in not having to reapply it so often to get a deeper tan! love your blog xxx

  10. April 5, 2010 / 8:14 pm

    Such a shame it irritated your skin.
    I've wanted this tanner for while now but now i think i should be careful of it now because i had the same experience with the Garner one. x

    http://roxannewilliamson.blogspot.com/

  11. April 6, 2010 / 10:42 am

    i lovee your tattoo :!!!
    the colour came out well
    <3 huong

  12. April 8, 2010 / 11:32 am

    MizzWorthy – I know, I'm gutted. I'm going to try it again as soon as my skins okay again though!

    CassandraKK – Do try it and let me know what you think! They also have it in a medium-dark colour if you're used to tanning!

    Tiffany – I know, I love that it was a natural glow! Will def try it out again.

    Aleksis – Thank you so much!! I quite enjoy being pale, excpet in the summer cause I just look wrong aha! I've got some new shoesies to show off soon so you'll be seeing more of the foot tat!

    Gemma – I didn't have ANY streaks at all, I'm really happy with the colour, I'll be trying it again soon.

    Miss_Ellie_UK – Let me know what you think if you use it – I don't think it could make anyone look too orange!

    Jane – Thank you gorgeous!!

    Charley Lou – Ahh its lovely isn't it! Some of my friends use the dark one and it looks lovely on them!

    Roxanne – Pop into your local Body Shop store and ask for a sample to try it out, they give samples out for free, that way you can see if it irritates you before you buy it. I'd say still try it out though – my ezcema is really bad and sensitive, I don't know anyone who has it worse than me!

    Londons-Beauty – Thank you! You'll be seeing more pics of it soon! X

  13. February 14, 2011 / 3:49 pm

    You look really good with a hint of colour. Snow white skin is lovely for winter.

    Have you ever tried Xen-Tan? It gives a lovely natural olive colour – no orange – and is packed full of moisturisers so it might be more suitable for your skin. You may have broke out with excema as the dha is drying to the skin.

    Xen-Tan do an excellent gradual self-tan range called Transform. These products have won many awards too.

    http://www.xen-tan.co.uk/products/light-tan/1

    Hope that helps x

  14. July 8, 2011 / 3:13 pm

    Looks amazing and seems to be a nice colour. Might give this a try!

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