Xen Tan Transform

Hi there,

I should probably start off by admitting something quite embarrassing, I am addicted to fake tan, a complete tanorexic! I have tried hundreds and regardless of the time of year will be slathering myself in the stuff, because of this I was ridiculously excited to try a new product. Through out my search to find the best fake tan I have come across what I think is my favourite for the occasional application, what I mean by this is a fake tan that is dark enough and long lasting enough that you only need apply it once every 2-3 weeks ( I will reveal what tan this is and review it in a subsequent post).

My ultimate fake tan search then moved onto finding my favourite everyday, gradual tanner that I could use as a daily moisturiser and not end up orange or mahogany, this search has finally ended with Xen Tan Transform. I had been reading some reviews of this before I purchased and there was a significant difference of opinion, you either love it or you loathe it. I found that most of the negative reviews were to do with the smell, Xen Tan Transform does claim not to have "that fake tan smell", personally I don't think such a tanner exists. This "fake tan smell" condemns so many products and people expect companies to just eliminate it, personally I don't mind it that much, I apply at night time and shower in the morning so it doesn't effect me that much. (or possibly I have become immune to the smell, which my partner says smells like vanilla burgers)  Unfortunately for Xen Tan, they have gone too much the other way and the actual smell used to cover up "that fake tan smell" is pretty acrid, it smells like the sweets Refreshers, but Refreshers on steroids! 

Lets move on from the smell now, when applying Xen Tan you almost can't put too much on, streaks and stripes appear on areas you have missed so going over the same bit twice won't effect the final result. The consistency is that of a rich creamy moisturiser, I found it quite easy to apply but left me a bit greasy for about 20 minutes. Xen Tan claims it will never go orange as it has olive undertones, I found this to be partially true, granted it didn't go orange but the end result was slightly yellow which as I have pink undertones to my skin worked out OKish. It sounds as if I am critiquing this quite harshly but in all honesty I love this product, if we put the good colour result aside it moisturised my skin so beautifully that I'd buy it again just for that aspect. I have had very bad experiences with gradual tanners and thus am over the moon that I have found one that delivers as promised if a bit too sweet smelling.

The packaging is simple and doesn't leak like so many other fake tan products and it is easy to control how much product you end up with. I would suggest wiping the bottle down after each application as otherwise you will end up with sticky browny green finger prints all over the clean white bottle.

My one real criticism would be that it has no guide colour what so ever and that the white colour you get out of the bottle disappears almost instantly so it is really down to feel alone.

Peace, love and lip gloss

Frank x