Anyone for Orange?? (Dove Summer Glow Body Lotion)

Member Name: cstag

Product:	Dove Summer Glow Body Lotion
Date:	19/05/09 (109 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Left my skin feeling soft

Disadvantages: Left me looking like a patchy orange

Every year as summer arrives and I start to want to show a bit more of myself I tend to try one of the tanning moisturisers which are available. This review is based on the 'Summer Glow Body Lotion' by Dove. I originally purchased this as I do have quite sensitive skin and normally as a brand I do trust Dove. It claimed on the side of the bottle that it would 'gradually build a light tan and leave your skin silky smooth,' I tried the, 'normal to darker' skin version.

Application
For a 250ml bottle it costs approx £4.50 which I thought was reasonable.
The instructions on the bottle state that you should apply daily all over your body and that the best results will appear after 5 days. The cream is very pale in colour and the main problem with this is that it makes it very difficult to see where you have already applied it (this may have effected overall result -see below!)
I also wasn't particularly keen on the smell - I thought you could really smell the tanning agent and I felt sure everyone else could smell it on me. On a plus point - It wasn't at all sticky like some tanning lotions can be.


The Results
I think because it was difficult to see where you had already applied the lotion - I did miss some bits and I must have put too much on other parts as to be honest I ended up with very patchy legs and arms. I also think the 'normal to darker' versions may have been a bad choice (even though I am not at all pale skinned and this would be the colour type I would normally choose!). The lotion left me incredibly orange and as the five days went by I just kept getting more and more orange!
So I decided to stop using the lotion for a few days and went back to a non tanning body lotion - after a couple of days of this - the tanning started to wear away very quickly (without scrubbing) leaving me even more patchy! (On a plus my skin did feel quite soft - even if by now I was just a big patchy orange!)

Conclusion
I really, really did want this to be a 'wonder' product but I think it is impossible to use this lotion on a daily basis and to have an all year glow. If used daily the lotion builds up a tan so quickly that you end up looking noticeably orange (so much so that people point and laugh!) - If you stop using for a couple of days then you end up looking patchy! Either way people can tell that this isn't just a nice natural tan but has come straight out of a bottle. I also found that it ended up being particularly streaky and patchy on my ankles for some reason.

The lotion worked the best on my arms giving them a nicer glow than on my legs - this is fine if you don't mind your body being two completely different colours!

I have since tried using the lotion less often - only a couple of times a week and it has worked slightly better. So if you ignore the instructions on the bottle you may have better results. I will probably try and use a few times before a special occasion or when I feel like I need more colour - then probably go into hiding until the streaking and patchiness wears off from my body!

Summary: Cheap Price for a Cheap Look!