A Review Of The Fake Bake 60 Minute Self Tan Liquid*

I'm going to hold my hands up here and saying that I've been very lazy this year when it's came to fake tan. I've never been one of those people who uses if every single week, I actually don't mind embracing the pale. The only time I ever really use it, is during the summer month, for special occasions and of course when I go on holiday. Summer this for me was categorised mainly by illness, and exhaustion, I had no special occasions to attend and I didn't go on holiday, so bar a bit of gradual tan I stayed pale and pasty.

A few weeks ago though I was taking some blog pics and I was shocked by just how blue. white my skin looked, so I decided to dig out some fake tan. When it comes to fake tan I'm a mousse or a spray girl, they just seem easier for me and they do the job without too much fuss. When I looked through my rather crowded bathroom cupboard though I found something that I'd been sent a little while ago and I'd never used - Fake Bake 60 Minute Self Tan Liquid.

Although I'd heard of the brand, read reviews and seen advertisements, I hadn't actually tried anything from them. A few months ago though I was sent a little fun, survey on behalf of the company to meet my match, and find my ideal self tanning product. My result implied, that I was a girl on the go, who wants things done properly but at break neck speed. What I'm not 100% sure that fits my character, when it comes to fake tan it makes perfect sense. Fair enough I can wait an hour or so for it develop but I'm too impatient to wait for the 6 -8 hours that so many fake tans take.

Fake Bake 60 Minute Self Tan is designed to provide that healthy golden glow in as little as 60 minutes. The product comes boxed, and comes sealed and with a screw top cap, and the box you also get a pump action spray to make your application easier.

Unlike a lot of brands your self tan mitt comes provided, one side is made of a hot pink velour, and the other side has a foam / sponge like feel.

The majority of tanning mitts that you buy have a waterproof lining, but not this one. At first I thought that this was a little bit strange, but it makes sense I guess. Use any mitt more than once or twice and the waterproof lining eventually starts to either come away or leak. So in this case inside your box you also get a pair of black plastic gloves, to wear underneath your mitt.

Like all self tanners Fake Bake recommend that you regularly exfoliate and moisture both before and after tanning, in fact they actually produce several product that you can use for dry patches immediately before you tan. I didn't have anything like that used my normal exfoliators and moisturisers in the days before and hoped for the best

This is my before picture, it's not great is it. My legs aren't pure white by any means but they can have a very pale pink, almost blue look at times.

The comprehensive instruction guide recommends that you spray the product on to the pink side of your mitt. This product is really a liquid / lotion / spray hybrid. It's very liquidy, and to be honest it did tend to leak a little bit from the top when it was tipped or sprayed.

I have to be honest and say after a while I just applied the spray directly to my legs. Spraying it directly onto the mitt seemed to me to waste quite a lot of product. It was a bit messier this way, especially with the slightly leaky bottle but I felt it worked better and that I used a lot less product.

Once the product was on my legs or on the mitt, as per the instructions I just rubbed the lotion on in circular motions, until it looked even. I did find that the drier patches of skin particularly on my feet seemed so suck the product up a bit so I just tried to keep buffing it out.

The good thing about this tan is the guide colour, no light green or orange tints here, this is a full on brown / grey / green mud colour, so you really do resemble a creature from the deep! As per usual I've done the one leg challenge for you so you can tell the difference between the two legs.

Once it was on the legs it felt completely dry in probably less than 10 minutes. The liquid has a pleasant, summery coconut scent which gradually fades to the familiar digestive biscuit aroma as it develops. As the name suggests you leave it for 60 minutes to achieve a light golden tan, however, you can leave on up to three hours to produce a dark tan. To be honest I was blogging at the time so I ended up leaving it for just under three hours. Then all you do is wash off your guide colour with plain water. I would advise that you be a little bit careful after you've washed it off as I did seem to transfer onto the towels etc. till it was dry.

The results I think speak for themselves, I've used a lot of fake tans and by far this one has given me one of the best and most natural colours I've ever had, equivalent to two weeks holiday in somewhere hot. It's a tad darker than it's showing here but it was pretty even and there was virtually no streaking. The only areas that went a bit wrong were my feet, the skin on them was quite dry so the tanner really clung produces a couple of darker patches. Other than that I was happy with the eventual colour and the wear time, I did moisturise and exfoliate, but even so it lasted a good 4 days before starting to fade, and even then the fade was even and didn't lead to any patchiness.

It's not perfect by any means, but I really don't think any self tanner is but it's close enough for me to give it a thumbs up.

It has its faults, It could just be my bottle but it is a bit messy, and I would definitely advise that you apply it carefully and cover up the surrounding area in case you get any drips. A couple of drops from my feet seemed to end up in both the kitchen and the dining room, despite the fact that I applied in the conservatory. Thankfully the marks washed away from the lino and carpet easily but I'll definitely be more careful next time.

Like a lot of self tanners the biggest problem is clinging to dry patches. Pretty much every single one does it, and the only way is to exfoliate and moisturise before. As I say Fake Bake do an exfoliator and some moisturisers which they recommend you use alongside this product so maybe they would counteract this problem in this case.

The only other issue that I had with this product is the sheer amount you need to use. The first time I used this product I didn't use anywhere near enough to produce any sort of colour change. The next time I used it I applied a lot, lot more which ultimately did make the difference that you see above, so if your going to do a full body tan, then the bottle probably wouldn't last that long.

Despite these negatives I have to say I am a huge fan of this product. The colour just worked with my skin tone giving me a colour, that it would take at least two weeks in the sun to achieve, and it was a colour that lasted well, and faded evenly. I also liked the versatility of the colour change. In the winter we don't always want a dark tan, so leaving if on for just an hour would give the skin a healthy glow, compared to the dark, more summer appropriate tan that you can achieve if you leave it on for 3 hours.

It isn't the cheapest self tanner out there, retailing at around £25 for 236 ml but I would definitely consider purchasing it, or any of the other formula's in the Fake Bake range x Have you ever tried Fake Bake? If so which formula do you prefer? Leave me a comment and let me know x

(*Sample)