Soltan: The Alternative To White Nipples. (Boots Soltan Tanning Cream)

Member Name: Sexy Kay

Product:	Boots Soltan Tanning Cream
Date:	01/03/03 (1550 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Prevents burning and is easily absorbed by the skin.

Disadvantages: The smell!

I've said it before but I just love the sun. Give me a beach, sunshine and a thong and I'm in paradise. Though my boyfriend reckons it's just an excuse for me to get my clothes off - as if!

I am sensible while I'm in the sun - well as far as my skin safety and its appearance are concerned anyway. I always use, what I consider to be, the right suntan strength lotion and slap it on regularly. When we last went on holiday to Cyprus my boyfriend said he would buy the lotions, so I left him to it. I imagined exotic perfumes, sensual oils and what did he come back with? Boots own brand, Soltan, that's what.

"Well they were on special offer", he mumbled looking at my disgruntled expression.

So Soltan it had to be, judging by the full plastic bag he was carrying - waste not want not.

The Soltan plastic type bottles were a light orange colour with 200ml of 'cream' in each one. "But I like oil", I grumbled, while imagining stretching out in paradise with a glistening, shiny sheen to my sun kissed skin.

"Ahh", said clever clogs, "but oils are usually ineffective vehicles for sunscreens. Often a lower level of protection in a cream or lotion will protect you better than an oil with a slightly higher protection factor." Or something like that.

He's a right know-it-all at times. I glazed over, decided to shut up and think of some positive aspects to Soltan. Like, erm, it was cheap, especially as I didn't pay for it and, oh yes, it says that it 'rubs in easily'. Mind you, where's the fun in that! It's also supposed to be an 'extra moisturising sun lotion'. Now moist I like, "But 'extra' than what?", I wondered.

The first day of our holiday arrived and before we went to the beach I rubbed in the lotion all over. I used a factor 15 bottle as this is generally accepted as being the minim
um level for a high protection sun screen. With Soltan it should be applied fifteen minutes before going into the sun. It actually turned out to be a little longer than that before we finally left the hotel. I think this was because I asked 'holiday man' to rub some on my back that started the delay.

The cream did, as it claims, and rubbed in easily. It's white in colour and is like a thick runny lotion. It sort of looked familiar as I squirted some on my tummy, but it was soon absorbed by my skin. Afterwards my skin felt softish and it left a very slight shine, which I quite liked. The cocoa butter ingredient must have done the trick, it's good stuff. In Tahiti pregnant women use it to prevent stretch marks. Soltan also contains vitamin E plus a lot of other things I've never heard of like methyldibromo glutaronitrile for one.

As for the smell, it was a typical sun lotion pong. Not offensive, but there again, not exactly the stuff to enflame the senses and make you feel special. It didn't put my boyfriend off his stroke so I guess it was acceptable.

Now a problem is always: How often should you apply sun lotion? The bottle recommends that it is re-applied every 1-2 hours. With a 15 strength cream this, in theory, allows you to stay in the sun fifteen times longer than without any protection. But it all depends on skin type, so who knows how long this really is. It's an individual thing. I think the answer is to splodge it on often and especially after going in the sea. Soltan state that their cream is water resistant, but go on to advise that it should be re-applied after swimming.

My skin is quite happy in the sun, and I normally have the remnants of a tan. However I'm still always extra careful for the first few days. Especially with some areas of my body such as collarbones, shoulders, shins and areas not normally exposed quite as much, like nipples, breasts and bottom. I u
sually have some zinc oxide at the ready just in case it's needed, as this is a complete block. The only problem with this is that it is usually white in colour and can look quite odd when used on the lips or nipples for example. I mean I wouldn't want to draw attention to myself - hee hee!

The Soltan proved to be just fine. It did as it should and I ended the holiday with a nice even tan. It seemed compatible for my skin and I got used to the smell. Would I use it again? Well it wouldn't be my first choice but I wouldn't mind.

Soltan have various different choices of protection levels (2 to complete block), depending on what you feel is necessary. I must admit that after a week I started using a level 8, unless in the mid-day sun, and again this suited my needs. I didn't burn or go lobster coloured.

The Soltan bottles state that the cream has a 'Cell Protection System' which 'helps to prevent longer term skin damage by supporting the skin's natural defence system'. So there you go. There is so much mumbo jumbo written on skin products and I have no idea if there is any truth in Soltan's statement. I'm not even really sure what it means.

One thing you should seemingly avoid, with Soltan, is to allow the cream to come into contact with fabrics. Unfortunately my boyfriend didn't want me to strip off completely (on the beach, that is) so I couldn't prevent this from happening. But the lotion didn't appear to have any adverse effect on anything I wore.

To sum up: Soltan was a perfectly acceptable sun lotion and a plus was that it was a moisturiser as well. The sun does tend to dry out skin, doesn't it? The smell I could tolerate, but didn't really like. The cream wasn't particularly pleasurable to apply, but it did rub in easily unless the skin was sweaty or perspiring (obviously that would be him I'm talking about and not me!)
. It's not very glamorous and does nothing to encourage fantasies of sensual oils being gently massaged into your skin, perhaps that's just my 'thing' though. Also I wish it was properly waterproof. I love the sea and swimming and it was a bit of a nuisance to have to keep on re-applying the lotion. Now if it had been a slinky, nicely perfumed oil I probably wouldn't have minded.

To finish with, lets give Soltan some marks:

Waterproofing 1/5
Sun Protection 4/5
Moisturising 3/5
Absorption 4/5
Packaging 3/5
Value 3/5
Smell 1/5

Roll on the next trip to the sunshine, with or without Soltan.

- Kay

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