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Here we have a real cult beauty product. Apparently when Holiday Skin launched in 2005, it sold out straight away, with bottles going for a ludicrous amount of money on Ebay.
The first “gradual” tanner on the market (and much imitated), I was late to this. Ironically, I was more of a fan of proper fake tans. I’ve already waxed lyrical about my love for L’Oreal Sublime Bronze Airbrush spray tan. I felt that a 15 minute spritz, with 20 minutes or so of drying time was better than having to slather something on after every bath or shower.
However, after my holiday last month, I picked this out of the bottom drawer in the bathroom cabinet (the one where the things I never use but can’t bring myself to throw out live). I thought perhaps a gradual tanner / moisturiser would be a good bet to try and prolong my tan.
So here’s the thing. I don’t moisturise from top to toe every day. Partially because I have psoriasis and am between decent paraben free moisturisers at the moment, but mainly because I can’t be arsed. I hate all the faffing about, waiting for it to sink in. Bad enough waiting once a week for your fake tan to dry, but once a day? Really? Life’s too short.
I have the Normal to Light version of Holiday Skin, after trying the Dark one a few years ago and managing to get finger marks round my ankles after one use. Nothing gradual about that.
So. Application is ok, it doesn”t absorb very fast, and does feel a tad greasy. However, once it has finally sunk in, your skin feels nice. For a day. I don’t know about anyone else but I was finding that after a shower the next day, before moisturising again, my skin felt greasy and strange, like the Holiday Skin was just resting on the surface of my skin and somehow the water from the shower just reactivated it again. Weird. And annoying, especially as it just wiped off and made my white towel orange.
And the smell. It’s bad. It’s strong and makes me gag a bit. It is ok when you get the first whiff, and ok, it doesn’t pong of chemical fake tan, but you should never be able to smell your moisturiser over your perfume and have it still smelling strong at the end of the day.
I wonder if the “improved formula” has increased the amount of tanner in it as well. I decided every day was just too much for my lazy bones to deal with, so used it every other day for a fortnight. My lovely golden holiday tan is now more or less tangerine tinted. Not really the look I was going for. More third division WAG than glowing wife to be.
So. In conclusion, it does the job, if the job you need doing is stinky, greasy and orange. Johnson’s tell us to Love The Skin You’re In, and to be honest, I preferred my skin as it was before unleashing Holiday Skin on it.
I hate this stuff! It takes forever to dry and it always looks really streaky on me! I thought the point of the gradual effect was to avoid that! x
Helen – sorry to hear of your J&J ‘scare’. I don’t believe we have any J&J self tanners here in the states, at least I haven’t seen any. For the price per ounce, the best one I’ve used yet is by Jergens. Yes, good old Jergens. I’ve tried the most expensive (Clarins) and also the cheapest and for the cost, Jergens gives very good results for a great price: maybe $8 to $10 U.S. dollars. If you haven’t tried Jergens and it’s available to you, I highly recommend it.
i got the night time one as it was on offer for £1.I looked like i had been tangoed,and it was really streaky
Me too! I didn’t expect it to take quite as fast as it did. It only wasn’t streaky on me because I already had a tan but I remember using it a while back and thinking “never again!”
Hi Beth!
Good job you don’t have this – it’s not worth bothering with. I’ve never heard of Jergens but I love the fact that a cheaper one works for you. Especially in this day and age – great to mean you don’t always have to buy the most expensive.
Carla, I can imagine. The darker one did exactly the same thing to me, after only one application.
I don’t get gradual tanners. Maybe I’m just too pale, but I find I have to dilute mine with moisturiser, I have to rub in really carefully and fade out under my arms, and I have to exfoliate beforehand.
Really. I have never used proper fake tan, but this does seem a lot to me like going through all the faff of fake tan… but having to do so EVERY OTHER DAY! Chuh.
I read your older post on Sublime bronze with interest though. This was highly recommended to me by someone else too. I bought the wrong one, but may go back and aim for the ‘gold shimmery bottle’ next time!
I never do fake tan in any way, shape or form. I’m all for natural skin colour. Especially as I live in Liverpool and a lot of girls here are fake tan and sunbed mad, it makes me stand out!
Will definitely give this one a miss. I’ve tried the St Tropez gradual one just to take the glare off my legs, and it’s okay, but still stinky.