Hi lovelies! So sorry it's been a while since I posted, as you'll probably know from my last post, I recently got engaged and the past few weeks have been a bit of a whirlwind as I'm sure you can imagine, but, in amongst seeing family and friends and beginning to plan a wedding, I've been seriously tied up! But, I'm back and with this lovely weather we've been having (hoping I'm not jinxing it by just typing that!!), I thought it was the perfect time to share my new favourite tanning product with you all.
The tan in question is the Lavera Self Tanning Lotion.I've been searching for a vegan gradual tan for some time now, as o don't always like to use instant tan, but so many gradual tanners on the market are not vegan or cruelty free which is such a shame. As you can see though, this one actually states 'we heart vegan' on the bottle, so I knew I was safe with this!
This claims to give a natural looking tan with 24 hour moisturisation, which is perfect in this warmer weather! To try this out, I made sure I had no existing tan left on whatsoever as I wanted to see exactly how it applied and how it faded with no interference from other products. On application, it goes on like a thick body lotion, you do need to be careful how much you use though as a little goes a fairly long way and you can end up looking like you've got a thick layer of sun cream on if you use too much (guess who did this on first attempt!). Once applied, it soaks into the skin fairly quickly, however I would suggest applying this in a cool room where you're not going to sweat or anything as it does take a minute or two to sink in!
I apply this an hour or so before bed to allow it to totally sink into the skin before getting into bed. Overnight, this gave a very subtle colour on the first application, which was great as it made it look as though I'd just been sitting the garden for a few hours rather than getting a full on tan all in one go. After a couple more applications though, the tan really starts coming out. I did build this up fairly dark in the end, but didn't go too crazy as I still wanted to look natural.
Despite being obsessed with having some sort of tan in the summer, I decided to let this fade completely without applying anything on it just to see how it went. I didn't really exfoliate too much except with shower gel and a loofah in the shower as I normally would and after three applications, it was pretty much gone in a week. For a gradual tan, I thought this was pretty good going. It didn't go patchy as it faded and it faded evenly everywhere except my face which always fades faster. I did actually apply this to my face, which I don't typically do with body tanners but I had no issues at all with this.
The colour itself is lovely, really natural and very buildable, as it fades so nicely, you could probably get away with applying this every other day with no problems, though I would recommend exfoliating lightly with a loofah every day or every other day just to make sure your skin is kept smooth and to prevent patches. It doesn't have a very strong scent, which is particularly good for my fiancé who can't stand fake tan smells!
Overall, I thoroughly recommend this, particularly as it's completely cruelty free, but also because it really does work if you like to look like you've got a natural colour rather than a full on fake tan.
What's your favourite self tanning product? I'd love to know!
