As a red head with particularly fair skin, I'm quite wary of tanning products and tend to avoid bronzer and spray tans. I'm quite lucky to have skin that lightly tans so a gradual tanner suits me well as long as I know when to stop applying to avoid looking like an Oompa Loompa! I've used dove products for a long time and am a massive fan of their body washes and lotions, so I felt inclined to use their gradual self tanner.

Packaging: the packaging of this product is quite basic, the colour is quite attractive and definitely puts the consumer in the mood for a tan! The bottle itself is easy to use and makes squeezing out the product easy, although the flip lid has a tendency of catching the product residue around the inside leaving unattractive hardened lumps of product around the inside of the lid.

Application: the consistency of the product feels like normal body cream and is pale in colour. The cream goes on smoothly and actually feels quite luxurious on the skin. The cream takes absolutely ages to run in though, and if you dress less than 30-60 minutes after its applied the tan will probably end up patchy. As the cream is pale in colour it makes it difficult to know when it's even, but as long as you've got the time and the patience to properly rub the cream in (especially around the knees and ankles!) you'll be fine. The scent of the cream is quite strong for my liking but it doesn't have that cornflakes/biscuit smell that fake tan normally has! One thing I found with the cream was that its quite stingy if applied right after I've shaved my legs, so the cream might not be suitable for those with sensitive skin.

Results: after 'airing' my legs for a few hours to finally let the cream dry I woke up with a lovely, even golden glow. Even though I used the lightest shade I felt that one application was enough for my pale skin which I was happy about as I don't always have the time to sit around and let a product dry. My skin was left with a supple softness for a good few days without having to reapply any other body creams which I found impressive.

Conclusion: a good reliable cream if you want a healthy looking glow. Suitable for pale skin although be careful you don't go too far! Feels quite luxurious although the product takes far too long to absorb and the scent might be too strong for some, but overall a good product.