Boots No.7 Quick Dry Self Tan Lotion

This self-tanning lotion by Boots No7 has restored my faith in faking it! About five years ago I tried a self-tanning lotion (can't remember who it was made by) which left me orange, streaky and smelly; since then I've been terrified of self-tan and always insisted that it just didn't work for me. Also, I usually go abroad every year and my tan lasts for ages (luckily!) so I decided that I didn't need to fake it, despite it being the healthier option. ...
...I went to my local Boots store and browsed the self-tanning products available. There was a much greater choice than the last time I had tried self-tan and this reassured me a little - after all, who knows what advances could have been made in five years? I decided to try No7 Quick Dry Tinted Lotion because I trust Boots No7 and it was in the middle of the price range (£10.50 for 200ml). When I used this product for the first time I found it very ... more

This self-tanning lotion by Boots No7 has restored my faith in faking it! About five years ago I tried a self-tanning lotion (can't remember who it was made by) which left me orange, streaky and smelly; since then I've been terrified of self-tan and always insisted that it just didn't work for me. Also, I usually go abroad every year and my tan lasts for ages (luckily!) so I decided that I didn't need to fake it, despite it being the healthier option. However, last year I couldn't afford to go away (poor student that I am!) and, although my skin is naturally fairly tanned (I would describe it as 'medium') I began to feel quite pale as winter arrived. I knew that I had only two options - sunbeds or self-tan. Now, although I put my hands up and admit that I do like a bit of sun-bathing, I simply couldn't justify risking my health on a sunbed just for a nice summery glow, leaving me with no choice but to brave the self-tanning experience again! I went to my local Boots store and browsed the self-tanning products available. There was a much greater choice than the last time I had tried self-tan and this reassured me a little - after all, who knows what advances could have been made in five years? I decided to try No7 Quick Dry Tinted Lotion because I trust Boots No7 and it was in the middle of the price range (£10.50 for 200ml). When I used this product for the first time I found it very simple and straightforward and the results were great - no orange, no streaking and very little smell! I have since become devoted to this product and always use it when I'm feeling a little down and peaky-looking, it's definitely worth the money! That's a brief explanation of why I bought the product and what I thought of it, if you want more detail, read on…

Packaging
"""""""""""""""
This product is part of the Boots No7 Sunless Tanning range, most of which are packaged in attractive shimmery bronze bottles or tubes with pearlescent white lids and feature a 'wear off' label. This particular product, the Quick Dry Tinted Lotion comes in a bronze 200ml bottle which curves in slightly towards the middle. The overall look is very pleasant - the colour is nice and suitable to the type of product and the packaging makes it look more expensive than actually is (I am in no way ashamed to display it in my bathroom). The writing on the bottle is generally dark brown, with the exception of the No7 logo which is gold. Below the 'wear off' label it says 'Medium/Dark', which is the shade I thought most suitable for my skin-tone, which I have already described as 'medium'. This product also comes in a 'Light/Medium' shade for those who are perhaps a little wary of trying the darker shade or who have quite fair skin. It also says on the bottle that it is hypo-allergenic.

Texture, Colour, Smell, etc.
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
As the name suggests, this product has a brown tint to it, which is designed to give you a slight glow upon application and also make it easier to apply as you can see which areas have already been covered and ensure that it has been properly rubbed in. I can't personally see much of a difference in the colour of my skin when I have just applied to product so I don't really feel that it does give you an immediate glow but the hint of colour is definitely very helpful when applying the product. If you are a first-time faker I would certainly recommend choosing a tinted self-tanner as it prevents you from making mistakes (i.e. going over areas twice or missing bits out altogether!) and ensures that the finished result is smoother and less likely to be streaky.
The texture of this product is absolutely lovely! It is a light, smooth lotion that feels great on your skin. It is very moisturising (contains vitamins A and E) and leaves your skin feeling as soft as silk! It has a perfect consistency - easy to blend in but not too runny (so you don't make a mess).
The smell of the product is a little difficult to describe, it's fairly sweet and not unpleasant though I don't think you could ever describe a self-tan smell as appealing. However, once the self-tan has been applied and starts to develop, the familiar fake-tan smell begins to rear its ugly head! Anyone out there who has faked it before will know the smell I'm talking about! It's a sort of musty smell that lingers on your skin for anything up to a few days depending on the quality of the product you use. This particular product is fairly good because although a faint fake-tan smell does develop it wears off in a day and in the meantime can be easily covered up by a nice, fragranced shower gel and body lotion.

Using the product
""""""""""""""""""""""""""
There are instructions on the back of the bottle which explain briefly how to apply the product but I have found with experience that applying self-tan is quite personal and everyone seems to have their own tricks and techniques to gain the best results. If you're an experienced self-tanner this part will be of little use to you so feel free to move on to the next section. However, if you are a first-timer and want some tips on application, read on. Here I will take you step-by-step through my self-tanning process:

1. Exfoliation: No pressure, but this first step is possibly the most important of all so you must get it right! Before applying self-tan it is vital that you exfoliate thoroughly. It doesn't really matter which method of exfoliation you use - gloves, body scrub, sponge, brush, loofah…whatever - the main thing is that you massage your skin a circular motion until it is smooth. Don't overdo it, you're not trying to scrub your skin off altogether, if it looks particularly red or if the redness doesn't go down or it stings then you've definitely scrubbed too much and you shouldn't apply the self-tan because it might aggravate your skin. When you've exfoliated, your skin should feel noticeably softer and smoother. If it your skin still seems a little dry you should be wary of applying self-tan because it will stain the dry skin and make it look orange. That's why exfoliation is so important - if you get this part right, the rest will be ten times easier. If you want to shave you should do it after exfoliating.

2. Moisturising: This step is optional but recommended for beginners. If your skin is quite dry or if you're still a bit nervous about applying the self-tan you can first apply a light layer of moisturiser. The moisturiser must be very light and runny otherwise it will provide too much of a barrier between your skin and the self-tan. Pay special attention to drier areas such as knees, elbows, ankles and feet. Let the moisturiser dry properly (give it 10 minutes) before moving on to the next step I used to apply a light moisturiser when I first stated self-tanning and I found that it helped me to get used to the process. Now that I am more confident in my application I don't use it anymore because I get a darker colour without it.

3. Applying the self-tan: When I apply self-tan I like to use a special mitt to prevent my hands from getting stained. No matter how much I washed or scrubbed my hands after self-tanning, I always used to get orange skin around my finger-nails (where it is driest) so I invested in a self-tanning mitt (cost about £3 from Boots) to prevent this from happening. The instructions on the bottle advise you to apply the lotion with cotton wool or moisturised hands but the first was too tricky and the second didn't make any difference but you can try these to see if they work for you. Some people don't have a problem with orange fingers so it's really trial and error but if you find that you have the same problem as me a mitt is very useful. Anyway, on to the actual application.

4. Legs: I read somewhere once that when applying fake-tan you should work from bottom to top (not sure why but it seems to work). I like to apply the self-tan to my calves first, then my thighs, (avoiding the feet and knees) always working in a circular motion so as to blend the lotion in properly and prevent streaks. How much you use is up to you and is something you can only learn through practice but a good starting rule is to apply a little and then add to it. After all, you can always use more but it would be difficult to take it away again if you use too much. Anyway, once I've done my calves and thighs I sweep a tiny amount over my knees and feet. As I said before, these parts are especially dry (even if they don't look or feel it) and you should only use a little bit of self-tan on them.

5. Stomach, chest, back and arms: After my feet and legs are completely done I self-tan my bum then my stomach and chest. When doing your stomach be careful of the belly-button, which can go orange. I prefer to simply work around it because no-one will notice that the inside of your belly-button is white will they? However, if you want to try tanning it anyway, go ahead but use only the smallest amount and blend in well. Having done my stomach I move on to my back. A lot of people find their back difficult to do for obvious reasons but I personally don't have a problem. The No7 lotion does blend in very well which makes the back easier to do but if you find that you have problems get someone else to give you a hand (or two) or invest in a back applicator (kind of like a mitt on a stick - actually you could probably just put a mitt on a stick, much cheaper ). Once my back is done I do my arms, being careful to put only a small amount on my elbows (as with knees and feet) and finally my neck and face.

6. Face: The great thing about the No7 lotion is that it can be used on the face as well as the body. Others, which are designed for use only on the body, can turn your face orange but thankfully that doesn't happen with the No7 lotion! The bottle instructions advise you to keep the product away from your hair, so you should bear this in mind when doing you neck and face. However, I have accidentally put self-tan on my eyebrows and hairline before and nothing terrible has happened, though perhaps if your hair is light or dyed it may stain (my hair is dark and only dyed temporarily from time to time). When applying self-tan to your face make sure you cover it evenly and don't forget to go right up to the edges! You can put self-tan on your eyelids but be careful not to irritate the eye area, which is very sensitive. I generally avoid putting self-tan on the lower eyelids because it can look like you haven't had much sleep but this is a personal thing and I advise you to experiment to see what suits you. This might sound obvious but don't bother with your lips because they won't change colour and you'll probably lick them before the self-tan has finished developing anyway.
Anyway, that's your whole body done. Remember, always blend the lotion in properly and use circular motions to prevent streaks. While the lotion is drying, it is advisable for you to keep your arms raised and your legs apart but only for about 10-15 minutes.

Results
"""""""""""
Right, sorry for the length of this review but I wanted to help out any first-time tanners with my application tips - hope they've been useful. As I said at the beginning, I absolutely love this product and use it all the time. It is great because it dries very quickly, allowing you to get dressed after 15 minutes without staining your clothes or spoiling your tan. You should see a difference in colour after about an hour, then a more noticeable difference after another hour (two in total). At this point you can wash the self-tan off if you want but I prefer to leave it on for another few hours to get the best result. The developed colour is great - a nice rich brown, not at all orangey and very natural. I re-apply every three to five days to keep the colour. I've never had any streaks with this lotion, which I think is mainly due to the ease of application and the quick-drying formula. Also, No7 lotion doesn't dry out your skin; in fact it leaves it feeling really soft. The bottle lasts for quite a while too so it's good value for money.
There are, however, a couple of downsides to this product, which is why I have given it four stars instead of five. Firstly, although the fake-tan smell is not too strong and fades reasonably quickly, it is still a bit annoying. I don't know if more expensive self-tanners avoid the smell altogether and I don't want to pay twice the amount to find out but I know that cheaper ones have stronger smells that last for longer (my friends have tried some) so I think this is a good middle-of-the-range type of product. Secondly, although the colour is lovely at first, it can go patchy after a couple of days if you don't exfoliate a little and moisturise. Aside from these two little flaws, I think this product is great and would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a good, middle-priced self-tanner.
 

...less