I was given this as a part of a St Tropez gift set way back when during Christmas / New Year period. At that time my skin was somewhat in need of a bit of help in the colour department and I couldn't wait to use the products in the set.

- Price -
The cost of this exfoliator (240ml) varies quite considerably in price and it's definitely worth a price check for the best deals:
£7.49 - Argos
£13.79 - Boots

- Packaging -

This comes in a very plain, simple white opaque plastic bottle with a screw top lid which has a push down nozzle at the top to reveal a small hole from where the 'polish' is dispensed.

- So what is it? -

According to the back of the bottle this is 'specially formulated for gentle action to remove tired skin cells. It will leave your skin ready for perfect tanning.'

In short for me, this means that it is a gentle exfoliator to remove dead skin before applying a false tan...... The 'Golden Rules' on the bottle advise you to concentrate on knees, elbows and feet before applying your tan.

- My Experience -
Given the good reputation of the product from others around me I had very high hopes for this product.

~ Smell, Appearance and Texture

This polish has a strong scent and can definitely clash with any perfumes that you may want to apply after using it as the aroma remains on your skin for quite some time afterwards.
It is white and has a good texture to it with very small, fine little 'bits' in it unlike some of the other exfoliators that I've tried which have rather large pieces in them which can be more than a little painful when rubbing on your skin.

~ Using it

I've used this in both winter and summer, pre and post natural suntan.

In the winter, I get very dry shins and therefore feel the need to use this particularly in this area even if I'm not planning on using the St Tropez tanning lotion or mousse. I have to say that it certainly makes my legs less dry and scaly therefore suggesting that the gentle ciruclar motions that I use when applying this actually works.

In the past week I have been using this body polish in a desperate attempt to rid myself of flaky dead skin cells now that my tan is rapidly fading. This isnt a good look at all and I have been using this daily.

I have tried it in two ways:

a) Ever so slightly dampening my skin in specific areas and using both small and large circular motions. This takes quite a lot of FIRM circular movements and I can actually see the dead, dry, flaky skin cells coming off in lumps.
b) In the bath when my skin is completely wet. Thisdoesn't seem to be quite so effective and I can't really see any improvement in the removal of the flaky skin that is appearing all over my legs and tummy regions.
This isn't the easiest to remove when in the bath, obviously because you are sitting in the polish that has been removed and it still clings to parts of my skin, leaving a not so pleasant residue in the bath. As expected this is a whole lot easier to remove in a powerful shower but you do need a very good rinse.

~ Lasting Effects

Even though I can see the removal of dead skin using the first method, once I have rinsed off the polish and patted my skin dry, there are still flaky bits on the very dry areas so after all of that effort it isn't 100% successful, probably about 50% effective.

Not the best or worst exfoliator I have used but given the lack of success, I certainly won't be using this again once I have finished the bottle. During the winter months when I need a bit of help with the tan from a bottle, I couldn't really see a marked difference in the success of the St Tropez tanning mousse or lotion and now that the so called summer is here and I need a good exfoliator it isn't that great.

Thanks for reading. Review also appears on ciao.