Faking it!

Anyone who knows me, will know I'm a bit of a self tan addict. Sadly, I don't have a very even skintone - I spent far too much time frying on Greek beaches in the eighties, which means I'll never have beautifully even creamy skin like Nicola Roberts or Kelly Osborne, and as I've now learned my lesson about sunbathing, and only sit out with a high SPF, I have to fake it!

I've been lucky enough this year to be given a few new self tan products (thanks Kim!) plus I managed to win some in competitions. My two favourite brands for the last few years have been Xen Tan and St Tropez, although I'm happy to try others. I've always found that St Tropez is easy to use, and hard to get wrong as long as you prepare your skin well beforehand, although Xen Tan lasts a little longer, and smells of vanilla rather than the horrible fake tan smell we all hate!

One of the new items I've tried this year is from Xen Tan - it's their Intense Mousse, and I have to say, I think it's wonderful! It's incredibly easy to use with a tanning mitt - mine's from Superdrug although Xen Tan also sell their own. It's a coloured mousse, which means it's really easy to make sure you don't miss any areas, and with the mitt it glides on in seconds - I can do my whole body in just over a minute, and it dries almost instantly. Because it's from Xen Tan, it has a lovely fresh vanilla scent, with no giveaway fake tan smell, and the colour lasts for days. You can control the depth of colour with the amount you apply too.

The only thing that stops this being my perfect self tanner is the cost! I was lucky enough to win mine from Xen Tan on facebook, but to buy it's £21.95 and the bottle doesn't do many full body applications compared to their Deep Bronze Luxe, which is the cream I used to use, at just a few pounds more.

I'm not sure I could recommend it for weekly use all year round, as their are better value prodcuts available, but for anyone not used to self tanning, or for a special occasion, or some pre-holiday colour, this is perfect as it's so hard to go wrong!

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