Fake Tan Files: Tan Organic Tanning Oil

After reading a few reviews of Tan Organic Tanning Oil I decided to give it a go myself and can tell you straight away that I reckon it lives up to its fairly good reputation!
 Even if I hadn't read about it, I think I would have grabbed it anyway had I seen it on the shelves just because the packaging is just so gosh darn appealing. The heavy glass bottle with wooden lid is just so different to what you usually find and would look perfectly sophisticated on any dressing table.

But I'm sure you're not reading this to hear about the bottle so let's get down to the actual contents.

The name is a bit of a giveaway really- the Tan Organic Tanning Oil is an oil formula, obviously. The tan has a dry oil feel that doesn't feel too slippery on the skin and absorbs pretty well and contains a bevy of natural ingredients including Sweet Orange Peel Oil and Aloe Leaf Juice which nourish the upper layers of skin while the DHA gets to work and gives you the faux glow.

Despite claims that it is odourless, it is not scent free by any means. That said, it certainly smells different to more conventional faux tan products as this has a sort of fresh, citrus scent that I quite like myself though I have read a few reviews from people who weren't keen on the scent at all. Still, it's better than smelling like a wet dog/ biscuits/ wet-dog-biscuits, right?

To use, you just apply it as you would any other body oil, slather it on and rub it in, making sure you don't miss any bits. This part can be a bit tricky because the oil doesn't really contain a guide colour but I've found its best to just coat yourself with reckless abandon to be on the safe side! I use my hands when applying the oil because it just absorbs into my tanning mitt, so obviously just take care to scrub my palms with soap afterwards. It does feel a little bit clammy on the skin for the first hour or so - just exactly like most body oils do, but it does sort of dry down after a little while.

The colour the tanning oil produces is quite subtle- I'd say light to medium but it is buildable so if you want to go deeper just pop on another coat or two.

I thought the best way to show contrast between the fake tan and my normal skintone is with this photograph of my wrist. I have a habit of wearing hairbands on my wrists even though my hair isn't long enough to really put up at the moment and I had a bit of a beauty fail by failing to make my wrist hairband-free before applying. For this purpose though, it worked out for the best!

Tan Organic Self Tanning Oil Result

Overall I think Tan Organic Tanning Oil is a genuinely lovely product that does what it says on the bottle and is particularly nice on the face - though it doesn't last long on my face because I'm such an exfoliation enthusiast these days! I'll continue to use this as it (eventually) warms up to maintain a subtle glow when I can't be bothered doing a full on fake tan routine.

I picked up my bottle from lookfantastic.com for around £21 though it has an rrp of £24.99.