Having recently dyed my hair much darker I've decided to rekindle my love for fake tan. I'd been embracing my pale skin for around 6 months, but now is the time to get the sun kissed glow back on the go! I'm a big fan of wash off fake tans as it means that I can 1) wash it right off if it happens to go wrong and 2) I can switch between pale and tan as and when I like. My current favourite wash off tan is the St Tropez Wash Off Body Lotion, which just so happens to be the one I'll be reviewing today!

The lotion comes in a tall, slender silver tube that stands on a transparent flip top lid. When it comes to using silver in packaging, I usually think it looks tack-tack-tacky but I actually really like the packaging of this lotion. Some people don't really care about packaging, but I'm definitely a sucker for nice packaging and I tend to avoid things that I don't think are packaged well. The information on the tube can be slightly difficult to read due to the silver mirrored effect of the tube and the glare that it causes, but this isn't too much of a problem for me. The front of the tube tells me that this is a wash off, instant glow body lotion and contains 150ml of product. The back of the tube has a whole host of information that will ensure you get the best results with this product. The ingredients are also printed on the back and we are told that this is suitable for all skin types.

As with all fake tan, I prepared my skin by exfoliating and moisturising so that my skin was as smooth as possible before applying the lotion. This just ensures that the tan won't appear flaky or gather in the dry areas of your skin. I then squeezed a little bit of the lotion onto my tanning mitt (these only cost £2 or £3 and stop your palms from getting orangey) and started applying it to my upper body. The first thing I noticed was that this doesn't have the typical "biscuit" tanning scent, this is actually a very perfumey (I think I just made that word up) product and although it isn't very strong, it's strong enough to bring on a slight headache. I get headaches very easily, so if you are like me and can get headaches from highly perfumed products, then you might want to be wary of this lotion.
The lotion itself is a very smooth, gel-like cream. This is dark brown in colour and has a slight gold shimmer to it whilst also having an olive green undertone. Sounds scary, right? Don't worry, the olive green undertone will work with the brown to guarantee that you won't turn orange with this product. The gold shimmer doesn't appear shimmery on your skin, this just gives your skin a very natural, healthy glow.

The lotion is beyond easy to apply, you simply need to apply it in circles until it is evenly applied all over the area you wish to tan. A little bit of this product goes a long way and I only need to use a 50p sized blob for each arm, a 10p sized blob for my chest/neck and a 10p sized blob for my upper back/shoulders. I tend to only apply this to my upper body as my legs are never on show due to the weather conditions at the minute so I can't tell you how much you will need for your legs etc, but it certainly won't be very much!
This will provide you with a very natural looking tan, some people may argue with me that false tanners will never appear to be natural, but this gives a very healthy glow without making you appear orange and without leaving any unsightly streaks. The colour achieved will vary due to your natural skin tone which I think is quite obvious. My skin appears roughly 3 shades darker after applying this lotion whereas my mum's skin, which is naturally 3 shades darker than mine, also appears 3 or 4 shades darker after using this product. I don't recommend this product if you have very dark skin as it won't make any difference, but if you have light-medium skin then this will make you a bit darker.

The main issue with wash off tans is that when it rains or someone spills a drink on you, it will instantly drip off. This is where St Tropez has really thought about their product. They have produced this product so that it can only be removed when you use soap/shower gel and water. I was slightly skeptical about it, but I've had plenty drinks spilled on me and been caught in plenty rain storms whilst wearing this and I've never had any problems with it running or washing off. I've also never experienced it rubbing off on my clothes, which is incredible because I wear a lot of white and cream - I'm a sucker for the dark hair, light eyes, tanned skin and white/cream clothes look at the minute! Again, this won't come off with sweat unless you're sweating soap suds, so you don't have to worry about that either!

The lotion is very easy to wash off in the bath or shower, and won't leave any trace of product on your skin as long as you're washing thoroughly. I have very sensitive skin and haven't had any irritation from using this, despite the fact that it is a highly perfumed product.

I've had my current 150ml tube since Christmas Day and have used it on my upper body every single day since then and I still have a week or two of product left. This tan costs £12 from Boots and is amazing value for money in my opinion. I've already purchased another tube for myself which is a rarity when it comes to a tanning product - I usually never repurchase tanning products as I'm always on the lookout for something better.

I highly recommend this product if you're looking for a high quality wash off fake tan. This isn't the product for you if you're looking for a healthy tan that will last you a whole week, but for a quick fix healthy glow then this is perfect for you! I'm giving this product 4 stars, I've only removed a star due to the fact I get a slight headache whilst using it.

Thanks for reading!