Suave Visible Glow Self-Tanning Lotion

So self-tanners are just not typically my thing; I've never been someone who has looked into them or tried anything long term. I think in high school I might have tried one, and would try my moms Jergens Natural Glow lotion from time to time. Over the years I have made less and less of an effort to tan outside because I don't want to expose my skin to the sun and do damage. I religiously wear SPF on my face and my body when I'm going outside and I always wear sunglasses and cover up. 

Recently, I have been really into creating a "glowing" look with my makeup and have started to think how awesome it would look on my body. Well I looked at my legs the other day at an outdoor party while I was wearing a dress and thought "holy crap Jess, your legs look like tissues". You know how white tissues are... My brain immediately went into "find a self tanner" mode because I knew I didn't want to sit in the sun and fry my skin and I knew I needed something, fast.

I went to target anyway because I wanted to pick up some new Acure products after talking about them in my last post, and I needed some new ELF makeup. Wandering around the beauty aisles, I come across this:

 Suave Visible Glow Self-Tanning Lotion

(Around 6.50 at Target)

Now I am a big fan of suave products (not so big on their formulas, but mostly on their cost and quality) and so this was kind of a "I need to try this" purchase. I was really going to go and try the Jergens Natural Glow but looking at the ingredients it had some pretty bad chemicals inside. Suave didn't seem so bad.

I knew I wanted a self-tanning product, but if I was going to try it out it needed to be one that was also a lotion or a gradual tan because I really didn't want to be orange or streaky. 

It was kind of a ballsy move for me to grab the "medium to tan" color because to be totally honest being out of the sun for so long has made me super fair (I'm italian, I tan easy; I'm also Irish, I fair well). Normally throwing on something out of your skin color yields a orange tone. Lets move onto the review:

CLAIMS:

• Provide a streak-free experience with gradual self-tanners in the formula.
• Gives your skin just the right amount of color with said gradual self-tanners.
• Moisturizes your skin for 24 hours with its rich hydrating formula. 
• Only takes several minutes to dry. 
• Can be used daily. 

 

What do I think:

• I definitely think that this product should not claim to be "streak free" because when I woke up this morning I was STREAKY! To be fair I am pretty sure that was because I applied it before bed and lets face it you sweat while you sleep so my streaks were on my legs, and in between my boobs. This was diminished in the shower almost completely though after using a loofah and shower gel so that is definitely good to know. I had applied this earlier in the day also and gave it appropriate time to dry and it seemed fine.
• Totally impressed with the color that this lotion gave me. Not orange which is HUGE, and the color came about after only a couple hours of applying it. It is the perfect glowing tan color for me. (and remember I chose the "medium to tan" base color and I am fair as hell!)
• The lotion part of this self-tanner is definitely moisturizing, and I like how it is a thin formula so it glides onto my skin really easily.

• Drying is another misleading claim, because it definitely takes SEVERAL minutes. I'm actually starting to wonder if this ever really dries fully. I feel like whenever my knee was bent and I flexed it again it was sticky back there, like the product never settled in.

• I have used it for two days now and I feel like the tan this has given me is just what I wanted.

If you want to try the product here is what I recommend:

Use it not for a gradual tan, but for a real sunkissed tan about 5 hours after application. I wouldn't apply it in the morning unless you're wearing shorts that day (or a tank top). The smell is a little bit overbearing at times which is unfortunately standard, it's the skin reacting to the chemicals in the product.

How I'll use it is at night, probably after I get home from work. I like that I can scrub in the morning around the areas that might look a little streaky, and it helps get rid of the self-tanning smell.