St Tropez Bronzing Mousse

When you think of fake tans there's one brand that would rush to the front of most people's minds- St Tropez! From what I can gather the general opinion is, or was, that it's the holy grail of faking it. However, it's always sat very far outside my price range so I never really gave it a second thought. Sure why would I with so many reasonably priced options available that promise to do the exact same thing? But I found a 500ml bottle of St Tropez Bronzing mousse for €16.50 and I thought now was as good a time as any to try. I'm not a believer of only having a healthy glow during the summer months, if you do it right you can adapt your tan all year round.

I have used this tan twice since I bought it, both times my impressions have been distinctly...... meh. I'll start with the good points-

The mousse formula is super easy to apply.

It's a huge big bottle (which I've seen on sale elsewhere for a whopping €55) so you do get a fair bang for your buck.

It has a good colour guide so streaks and blotches are easily avoided.

I haven't yet encountered the dreaded biscuit smell.

It does develop into a really lovely golden colour, actually one of the nicest I've ever come across.

BUT!!!!!

It has no staying power whatsoever. The bottle says to avoid getting wet for 8 hours. Ok, that's a bit of a pain but I can live with it. You may as well wash it all off immediately for all the good those 8 hours do. I woke up with a beautiful colour, washed my hands and then only from my wrists up had any colour. When I showered I lost any hint of colour, I was my natural white self.

It's totally unreliable. If someone accidentally spills something on you on a night out call a taxi, cos your night is over!  Like, this is worse than Sun Shimmer when threatened with moisture, it just gives up and goes home.

The bottle says to reapply every day or so, but unless you spend your days in a bubble, or in a world void of liquid, you'll be applying new tan over a blotchy mess, or you'll just be reapplying to clean skin and won't be building any colour at all.

I know people who absolutely swear by St Tropez and wouldn't hear of any other tan, I can't see why. I know I only paid €16.50, a bargain on the St Tropez price scale, but from a more realistic point of view that's 2 bottles of Cocoa Brown, a much better and more wearable tan in every way! Maybe this new breed of affordable tans have spoiled me and I just expect too much from all fake tans now.

My verdict- if I could I'd go get my money back! And then go buy some Cocoa Brown because it's everything St Tropez wants to be but isn't.

Streaks the hound left me (10 hours after application)