Winter Sun..

There's nothing we all would like more than a bit of winter sun; looking out of my window (which lets in more of a breeze whilst it's shut than it does when it's open), watching the snow fall, leaves a lot to be desired.  I'd much rather be sunning myself on some lovely beach.. but alas, not all of us can afford it!  So the next best thing?  Some fake tanning, of course!  I picked up this 120ml bottle of St. Tropez Bronzing Lotion in Boots' Boxing Day sale as part of a gift set.  I'm usually a mousse kind of girl; St. Tropez mousse, to be exact.  After the bottle ran out, I turned to St. Moritz, and with a definite drop in price (who can complain at £3ish a bottle!?) and a tan to be proud of, I never looked back.  I know many people are torn with St. Moritz, but personally I'm left streak and patch free, and generally quite golden.

The bronzing lotion is odd.  I like mousse because it's easy to control how much you pump out.. the lotion is a case of squeezing, and if you get a huge blob, it's tough.  It also looks like treacle toffee, just not sticky.  I found with it being a liquid consistency, my tanning mitt tends to soak some up too, which I thought was disappointing - like I was just wasting it.  But it does smooth on very easily, and is probably quicker to apply than a mousse is.  The lotion also boasts the 'Aromaguard' technology.. now yes, it does smell quite floral and un-fake tan at first, but after a few hours the stench was a rival of the cheaper end of the tan market.  Thank god I sleep in tan; I would've been embarrassed if I was out and about stinking so badly!  However, I am impressed by the depth of tan this lotion left me with.  It's a bit darker than I was expecting, which meant my hands looked a tad on the orange side - whoops!  But the rest of me looks like I've been away for a week on a desert island ;) if only.. and that was only with one layer of application.  So it is definitely good value/quality.  Normally, with the cheap tanning mousse I'll apply two layers to create a darker tan - thank goodness I didn't do that with the lotion!!

At £20.49, it's definitely not the cheapest tanning product out there, and I'm not sure I'd replace it with my St. Moritz for general use.  However, for special events this tan is probably one of the best on the market.  From memory, the colour has much more depth than the St. Tropez mousse, and so I'd say is probably better value for money.  So I'll be saving this for when I need to look especially like a bronzed goddess, as I don't fancy forking out £20 for another bottle!

xx