Hi Hunni's

 

Now it is no secret I love false tan, I just think I look healthier and without a doubt feel more confident when I have more of a colour. False Tan mousse, lotion, wipes, cream, spray, you  name it iv tryed it.  So thats pretty much every method of false tan there is, except gel.  I had never tryed a gel before as the thought of a gel sends shivers up my spine to me it just screams orange, streaky, sticky mess.  This was a pre judgement of mine that I decided needed testing out , so I very luckily got my hands on some of the most talked about false tan ranges of 2012 - Vita Liberata.

The products I have been using are.

Extra Rich Silken Chocolate Dark Tinted Self Tan Gel - Dark
Rich Tinted Self Tan Gel for Face - Light
Moisture Boost Body Treatment

The products - sorry about the flash

My first impression was fanatastic.  I loved the packaging.  I think the outer glossy boxes with metallic bronze detailing make the product look expensive and do their job well, to keep the product inside protected off course.  If you know me, you will know I keep everything in their original packaging boxes etc, so this an important factor for me.
The bottles are also very impressive.  I like that they are brown plastic as when applying false tan I am not a fan of white bottles because after the first use they have dirty brown splodges and finger prints all over them, I like my bottles clean and pretty, my gosh Im starting to sound slightly OCD about bottles, maybe I am slightly.  They are fitted wth a pump and a very reliable pump at that, its stirdy with a thin nossle, making it easy to determine the right amount of product onto your mitt.

My false tan routine runs over two days, The first day I hair remove, exvoliate the hell out of my skin, and moisturise using a thicker moisturiser, like body butter. No tan involved on the first day.  One the second day I shower again exvoliate, mostly concentrating on dry areas such as, feet, ankles, knees, hands, elbows and neck. Then use a lighter mosituriser like body lotion or body milk. I dont know why but I always tan on a night time and sleep with the tan on and have a shower in the morning to remove the excess colour. 

So this is a tanning gel, something I had never tried before so I wanted to have a play around before I applied directly to my skin, I pumped some of the gel into my vita liberata mitt and scrunched it into the mitt to get a feel for how it will blend into my skin.  It is quite a lightweight gel and fits the name well as it really does look like melted chocolate. I was convinced it would blend nicely and dry quickly with no smell as Vita Liberata claims it is odourless.

 The tan pumped onto a mitt

The tan scrunched into the mitt

As soon as I started applying I realised I was not a fan of gel based false tan. I started at my feet and it felt like it was just gliding over and sitting on top  my skin and not sinking in quick enough.  As I continued working upwards it was obvious this was not going to dry quick enough for my liking, but in order to have a balanced opinion I kept applying.  My arms were a nightmare to do as everytime I moved my arm it smudged so I had to reapply, in the end I had to ask my boyfriend to help me.  I was enjoying using the branded mitt as it was comfortable to use I seemed to blend well to me, but as soon as my boyfriend put the mitt on he did'nt like it. He eventually got another mitt from my false tan box (yes I have that much) which seemed to make a massive difference to the application and was blending so much easier.

  The facial tan was a delight to use, it was light, easy to blend and the guide colour didn't look to dark.

The guide colour is essential using this gel as it makes it clear where you have applied and not, if this tan had been clear I can assure you I would have been an orange zebra.
After I had finished applying the tan my feet and legs were still not dry, so I stood around for a while to ensure it was at least a little dry and soaked into my skin before I got dressed again.  Even though I was a bit miffed at the soaking in/drying time I was very very happy with the initial colour.

Dramatic colour change, love this quick results!

 As I said before I always apply my tan at night and sleep in it to let it develop overnight and wash off in the morning, so I went to bed as normal.  This tan only takes 4-6 hours to develop so an overnight developing period is not needed but its just the way I do it.  It was a horrible couple of hours until I eventually fell asleep, I felt sticky and like my skin couldnt breathe but I can deal with this if the colour pay off is worth it, I like to see quick results.  The one thing I cannot deal with is the smell of false tan, and this unfortunately did smell very strongly of the burnt biscuit smell, even though it claims the gel is odourless.  I have used tan before that is indeed odourless and it makes such a difference.  Even after a couple of hours the colour was deepening more so than any other tan I have used, I was worried it was too dark for my skintone.

I woke up early as I was attending the Bloggers Xmas event and I couldn't wait to wash the excess colour off.  I was very deeply tanned and smelled very strongly of the horrible biscuity false tan smell.
After showering the colour did tone down but was still the darkest tan I had ever used, this is the kind of dramatic colour change I look for in a false tan, Im not a gradual kind of tanner.  It was flawlessly even I was very impressed!  I also could still faintly smell the dreaded false tan smell, so I tried to mask it with a highly scented body butter - it worked.

The first two days of wearing this tan it was still slightly too deep a tan to what I prefer and still slightly smelly but by the third day I had the perfect tan, non steaky, non smelly and a perfect shade.  I always find the face tanners always fade quicker than the body so I add a tiny bit of the facial tanner into my moisturiser everyday to keep it matching my body. By the fifth day the tan had faded slightly but was doing so very discreetly, it was like a natural tan fading.  This tan was still going strong at seven days and wasn't looking streaky or scaley, this has definately been the longest lasting tan I have used, which I am delighted with.  I was moisturising daily which would have helped the colour stay but not with the Vita Liberata one in the photo at the top.
 I choose not to use this one as it had added in shimmer, which is a pet hate of mine in daily moisturiser.  I would use this if I was going out as it does feel lovely on the skin, lightweight, non scented and non greasy and I do love shimmer when Im going out.

Overall I like the end results of this tan, I was not very happy with the application as it was more difficult than I have experienced in the past, but I do think the mitt was to blame for this, as it wasn't buffing the tan into my skin properly, and it was my first time using a gel based tan. The colour after three days was perfect. In total it lasted about 10 days which is amazing, definately the longest lasting and most even fading I have ever tried.
 Due to the results being so great I would definately use the Vita Liberata range again but maybe try the mousse as I am more confident in using tanning mousses.

Have you used any Vita Liberata products?

Ladies would you appriciate a post on my exvoliating routine and which products I use to make the process easier?

Lots of Love


Gem

xxx