Hawaiian Tropic Tropic After Sun Lotion

...spray, I ended up with Hawaiian Tropic.

First impressions? The product wins no points for its “proud to have on display” ability – the bottle features a rather cheap looking cartoon, and though there is gold detailing, it’s more Ali G than Princess Di. It screams “young and tacky” rather than “mature and sophisticated” and would probably be most suited to (pre-)teens than the adults among us.

The pale green lotion comes ...
...allowing a slow but steady flow (ignore the pic above – most versions of this come in a plop-plop container rather than a squirty-squirt one). However the stuff’s a bit sticky and when you near the end, it starts being reluctant to leave the bottle – in this instance it’s easiest to unscrew the lid, reach through the neck of the bottle and scoop it out with your fingers. It’s easily absorbed which is especially important for a product you’re most ... more

For beach holidays there are some things I just have to have in my luggage: sun tan lotion, lip balm, hair protector and…after sun. This year, in a break from my usual Nivea spray, I ended up with Hawaiian Tropic.

First impressions? The product wins no points for its “proud to have on display” ability – the bottle features a rather cheap looking cartoon, and though there is gold detailing, it’s more Ali G than Princess Di. It screams “young and tacky” rather than “mature and sophisticated” and would probably be most suited to (pre-)teens than the adults among us.

The pale green lotion comes in a squeezy bottle with just the right sized hole allowing a slow but steady flow (ignore the pic above – most versions of this come in a plop-plop container rather than a squirty-squirt one). However the stuff’s a bit sticky and when you near the end, it starts being reluctant to leave the bottle – in this instance it’s easiest to unscrew the lid, reach through the neck of the bottle and scoop it out with your fingers. It’s easily absorbed which is especially important for a product you’re most likely to use on a holiday such as an after sun – after all, when you’ve only a week or so in a resort, you have better things to do than hang around waiting for your lotion to sink in. However, having to rub it in means it has the potential to be painful if you have sunburnt skin - I usually prefer more liquid sprays that are gentler on delicate areas.

The product smells flowery but more in a strange artificial way than a nice natural one. This isn’t really surprising given the ingredients list which reads like a who’s who of chemicals. Oddly the lotion also has a sickly, almost liquorice like tinge to it.

It’s not very cooling on its own – keep it in the fridge all day and it’ll be nice and chilled when you come to use it, but the same could be said for almost any product like this. I like things that can sit in your beach bag all day and still remain cool, something that definitely cannot be said for this one unfortunately. It also does not include an insect repellant which is a feature I do like, and have come to expect from other brands.

The bottle boasts that it “controls peeling” which I found a bit of an odd claim – surely “reduces” or “minimizes” would be better words here? Either way, I disagree. For the first time in over a decade my shoulders have gone a little flaky after too much sun, and liberal applications of this had no effect. My skin was not so much tolerant of the after sun as indifferent – though it produced no allergic reaction or similar, it also didn’t lead to any obvious positive effects.

Other uses? It doubles up as a suitable massage oil substitute, but if your massages lead to more, be warned that this stuff will rot condoms. (I know. My sex life’s taking a 6 month sabbatical at the moment despite a brief reprieve in recent days, so I have to make my own fun these days. At the weekend I dug out an old Durex to experiment with while I wrote this op, and the lotion had a significant effect on it almost immediately.)

The lotion comes in two sizes, and the 200ml bottle is more than enough for a 7 to 10 day holiday. At 6.75 GBP I found it a bit expensive for what is effectively a run-of-the-mill moisturizer marketed as an after sun. It’s available all over, but not as hyped up as some other brands, and less likely to be on 3-for-2 or 2 for 10 pound offers. The range includes sun tan lotions and lip balms, but I’ve never tried these. I got the after sun because it was free (or “bought” with hotpoints – the rewards you get for writing short, almost fact-free opinions at hotspot.co.uk) and though it was nice enough to use, I still prefer Piz Buin and Nivea for their smells, cooling and insect repelling abilities. It's better than nothing, but that's really the nicest I can be.

 

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