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bargain, bBold, bBold Smart Mousse, beauty addict, beauty advice, beauty blog, beauty buys, beauty products, beauty reviews, bronzed, budget, fake tan, glow, natural, no streaks, Smart Mousse, tan
Hello Readers,
I recently bought the bBold Smart Mousse to try out, I’ve always loved having a tan on holiday but in recent years I’ve come to appreciate more of a subtle glow rather than the full-on tangoed look! I also love the convenience of a gradual or long-lasting tan that doesn’t require maintenance or top-up, let’s face it when you’re on holiday you just want a hassle-free beauty regime, right?
Some of my personal favourites are Bellamianta, Xen-Tan and Vita Liberata which are all natural and long-lasting finishes, if you read my previous reviews you’ll find all the pros and cons.
The thing that struck me about this tan, other than having seen a few (not many) beauty bloggers recommending it for its natural colour, was the fact that it supposedly continues to develop after you shower! The promise of no mucky build-up or stained clothes/bedsheets was very tempting. It claims to give the perfect tan in 3 easy steps…
1) Apply: I used a mitt to apply the tan, I always find it goes on smoother with less chance of streaking, plus you avoid the dodgy tanned palms! It was so easy to apply, it’s tinted so you can see exactly where you’ve applied and it spreads so easily. I applied a thin layer but as I’ll explain later you could definitely apply two. It was a bit slow to dry, it stayed a little bit sticky so I was nervous of wearing clothes over it but it didn’t stain my clothes although it left a slight fake tan smell. I don’t mind the smell but if you’re not a fan best to wear pyjamas or clothes you want to put out for washing straight after.
2) Shower: So the bottle recommends you leave the tan on for 1-3 hours depending on how deep a tan you want, I obviously appreciate a darker colour so I actually left it on for close to 4 hours – I’d read a few reviews of bloggers who’d left it on overnight without disaster so I figured I’d be fairly safe. The colour had developed to a golden brown in that time and I was pleasantly surprised that not a lot of colour washed off, it did fade but the water wasn’t running brown as it can do with other tan brands. Obviously it’s important that you don’t use shower gel, you can shower properly the next day.
3) Develop: So out of the shower I pat myself dry, I never rub in case the skin/colour starts to flake. The colour was still quite golden and I put my pyjamas on to leave it to deepen overnight. The next morning I was surprised, but not unhappy, that the colour was really natural, it hadn’t deepened much overnight and instead stayed looking bronzed rather than tanned as such. I’ll definitely apply two or three layers next time to build more colour, I might even leave overnight before showering as although it did continue to develop it wasn’t drastic.
The above picture was actually taken 3 nights after application/showering and even with another shower and a good scrub it hadn’t faded. As you can see it’s very natural, just bronzed, but it looked so well and really even, there were no streaks whatsoever. Even as the tan faded it did so evenly and I was never left with stubborn patches, it all seemed to fade gradually at once.
Although I’d aim for a slightly darker colour next time, I loved the finish and I’ve never had such an even tan with an all over even fade! It lasted for days and even when it faded it was so natural that you couldn’t even notice. At only €14.95 a bottle I’d absolutely recommend this tan, especially for those of you who only want a natural glow although it definitely can be buildable if you want a deeper colour. Huge success!
Lauren,
Xo