Xen-Tan do a number of products including daily gradual tanners, mousses and week long tanners but I personally chose the Deep Bronze. I decided to go for the standard size (148ml - RRP £19.95) compared to the Deep Bronze Luxe (236ml - RRP £25.95). This was purely down to the price - I wanted to spend as little as possible on my first purchase from the brand in case it all went horribly wrong!
The application
It comes out of the bottle a murky brown colour with a green tinge - the special aspect which makes this tan go brown, not orange..!
It smells gorgeous - sweet and like vanilla and glides on effortlessly. The first time I applied it I used no gloves - BIG MISTAKE! I washed my hands immediately after applying but it was too late, they were already horrendously stained - definitely use gloves or a mitt with this!
When applying, it does turn sheer but you can still tell where you have applied it so you don't miss any areas. After applying it all over my body - including my face - I rubbed a little moisturiser into my feet, elbows, wrists & underarms to dilute it a little then hopped into bed as it had dried pretty much instantly.
The next morning
I woke up looking like I had been away for 2 weeks - absolutely amazing! I was a gorgeous deep brown, olive colour with no hint of orange in sight. I had a quick shower to wash off any guide colour then applied a copious amount of body lotion and I was glowing! No streaks - just a healthy & natural looking tan.
A week or so later...
The tan stayed even - even on my face and hands - for a good week. I religiously apply a tonne of body lotion every day so whether this helped it I'm not sure. As expected with any fake tan, it started going patchy around my inner arms, knees, neck and hands after about 8 days or so but this is much longer than I have lasted with St Tropez!
I then encountered the only problem I had with this product when I attempted to scrub it off - it just won't budge! It took me about 3 days of scrubbing with salt scrubs, olive oil and sugar, nail brushes and exfoliating gloves to get rid of it all - luckily I was stuck inside revising otherwise I'd have got some very strange looks with my patchy half brown/half white skin....
Other things to mention:
- I applied this once half and half with body lotion and it did nothing. The moisturiser obviously affected its staying power and it just washed off in the shower
- Keep the product on for at least 8 hours I'd say - after 5 hours it washed off on me. I therefore find it easier to sleep with it on but the guide colour is very sheer so you could get away with wearing it in the day - just wear dark clothes as it does transfer to clothes/bed sheets!
- The green tinge should be very dark - if the product comes out a light green the chances are it is out of date and just won't work. Get your money back!
I don't have any specific before/after photos but using this picture again you can see my natural skin tone - unseen by anyone for years! - and the natural, olive tone the Xen-Tan gave me...
Would I re-purchase this? Absolutely! I'm not sure I'd buy St Tropez again....I have more faith in Xen Tan as a company and I will definitely be trying out some more of their products in the near future I'm sure!!
N.B. I am in no way affiliated with Xen Tan - I'm just a fake tan junkie who purchase this with my own pennies and thought I'd share my experience with you!
Ahhh you look so BROWN!!!
ReplyDeleteAmazing.
Where can you get it cheaper then?
do you not think that your too fake with a false tan, hair extensions, make up etc? you are beautiful, but don't you think that its all a bit vain? x
ReplyDeletearr thanks so much lovely lady! i got so excited to see my name! really great review. i think maybe i'll try & finish some of the millions i have and invest in some! thanks! x x
ReplyDelete@Rosie - If you type it into google, the shopping results come up and you can see the cheapest! There are more websites selling it everyday so I wouldn't like to give you an exact quote but I personally got mine from feelunique.com! xx
ReplyDelete@Anonymous - I don't like to think of myself as vain - I just like to make myself look as good as I can! If my hair was naturally really long and had a natural tan, would that be a problem?! I am happy with myself and don't care going out without the tan, hair etc so it's just all a bit of experimentation really! xx
@lipstick_kisses - No problemo! Glad I could be of some help! xx
Well I think you look great - if you haven't got it and want it, fake it right? I've put my order in for Xen Tan already :-)
ReplyDeletehttp://laura-pieces-of-beauty.blogspot.com/
@Laura - Thank you! I think it's just all about moderation - if I ended up looking like someone off Snog, Marry, Avoid it'd be a problem! Let us know how you get on with it! xx
ReplyDelete@girlinthecity - Thank you!! Ooh hope it all goes ok! xx
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for this, I was just wondering though when you showered in the morning did the majority of the colour come off or did you still stay a deep brown, as i find with a lot of fake tan i've tried it just washes off in the shower and leaves me looking pale again? Thanks again, i've only just come across your blog and I love it, its so helpful :) xx
ReplyDelete@Anonymous - Hi! The guide colour washed off but I was still left lovely and brown!!
ReplyDeleteOnce I was in a rush and could only leave it on for 4/5 hours and it ALL washed off so I would say make sure you keep it on for at least 8 hours or so!! xx
sweets, just stumbled across your blog and reallly enjoyed having a good wee read :) - will definitely follow to keep up with your posts.
ReplyDeletethis was great as I'm going to try my first ever fake tan application this coming friday (for a sex and the city night out!) with xen tan ... and I'm a wee bit nervous! lol!
x
girlinthecityglasgow
Well I think you look great - if you haven't got it and want it, fake it right? I've put my order in for Xen Tan already :-)
ReplyDeletehttp://laura-pieces-of-beauty.blogspot.com/
do you not think that your too fake with a false tan, hair extensions, make up etc? you are beautiful, but don't you think that its all a bit vain? x
ReplyDelete