Battle Of The Budget Tans

Fake tan. For years, fake tan was either expensive or orange. There was no in the middle. These days, Boots and Superdrug are rife with dozens of budget fake tans, many which are actually decent quality, but the ample pickings means a lot of testing which can potentially lead to some dodgy looking skin if you try a new one in a rush, and without good recommendation. Word of mouth is key when it comes to budget fake tan!

I don’t fake tan very often, but when I do I want it to look as real and as healthy as possible, I’m pretty sure that is everyone’s goal?

St Moritz Tanning Mousse:

I think most people have tried St Moritz? It’s the well known cheapy version of St Tropez, and retailing as low as £2.99 it attracts anyone on a teenage or student budget. I’ve tried the mousse in both medium and dark, and the spray in dark.

Colour: I originally tried the medium, and found it didn’t give much of a tan so I switched to dark. Once it’s developed and before it’s been washed off, you basically look like a giant turd. Me and my housemate both used to put it on the night or two before a big night out, and we looked like a completely different race. Once you’ve washed it off, quite a lot disappears and you’re left with a one week worth of tan. It’s not orange, but it’s not the most natural tan colour either. I’ve found the spray is a little darker than the mousse.

Developing time: you need to leave this on for at least six hours before washing it off, but you get a better tan if you leave it on overnight. It does take a good half an hour before you stop being sticky, but until you’ve washed it off I would highly recommend not wearing anything light as it does leave fake tan everywhere.

Difficulty: the mousse is easy to apply with a glove, and it leaves colour straight away so you can spot if you’ve missed anywhere. The spray is a little more difficult, as it doesn’t mist, it literally sprays and then you have to quickly work it in.

Wear time: This lasts around two days before it starts to go patchy.

Overall rating: 3/5

Cocoa Brown One Hour Tanning Mousse*:

Cocoa Brown are famous for their one hour development time and non fake tan smell. They also do a range of fake tan related products, like body scrubs and moisturisers. At £6.99, it’s a tad more expensive than your budget budget tans but still affordable!

Colour: The foam applies colourless at first, which makes application pretty tricky! Once it’s fully developed, this does leave a really natural looking colour. I built up two layers for my graduation and I got asked twice if I’d been on holiday!

Developing time: It says to leave one hour for a lighter tan, or up to three hours for a darker tan, but I actually find you get the best tan after around six hours or overnight. Unlike St Moritz, this doesn’t go really dark while it develops, but less comes off when you shower.

Difficulty: the mousse itself is fine to work with, but I do have an issue with the fact it is a colourless foam as it’s only when it has developed you realise you’ve missed patches. I tend to do a layer, than go back and do another layer straight away and that ensures I get all of me.

Wear time: I’ve worn this for around five days and it’s worn off evenly, meaning I don’t have to worry about spending an hour scrubbing it off.

Overall rating: 4/5

Sunkissed*:

What I really like about Sunkissed is they contain no parabens or alcohol. Alcohol is well known for drying out the skin, which could potentially lead to patchy tan so it makes sense not to have it! It smells gorgeous, really coconutty and has aloe vera in. You can pick these up in Primark for £2.99!

Colour: The foam is a dark brown, making it easy to see where you’re applying it. It looks scarily dark but once rubbed in, it leaves a deep, natural tan colour.

Developing time: The instructions don’t say how long to leave it on for, so I took to Google. From what I can tell, it’s an instant fake tan as nowhere mentions the developing time. It’s a pretty strange feeling not having to wash it off!

Difficulty: None really, it’s easy to apply and fast drying. It feels strange not washing it off after a certain amount of hours but it’s quite convenient!

Wear time: Around three to five days.

Overall rating: 4.5/5

Sunkissed has won my vote because the lack of development time means it’s perfect for impromptu nights out, or when you’re just feeling too lazy to tan during the week. I really love Cocoa Brown Tan too, but if you’re on a budget I’d definitely recommend Sunkissed!

If you’re not how to fake tan properly, check out this post.

What is your go to fake tan?