Like a lot of people with fair skin in the summer, Bazaar's beauty director, Katy Young, is constantly searching for the perfect fake tan that has no tell-tale patches or smell. It's a firm favourite from the Noughties though that passes the test every time.
It's about this time of year, when the t-shirts and skirts come out of hiding, that the tan plan kicks into gear. But it's a pale and interesting start – because faking it has to start with some level of believability.
Which is why I went back to my trusty favourite this season, Xen-Tan – my original tan of choice circa 2008, when the world was light on self tan brands and Britons somewhat more wary of suntan showers in a salon.
Xen-Tan was founded in the States by a team of keen tanners miffed by the whiff, the streaks, the dryness and orange hue that various bronzing lotions left behind.
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It was as good as I remembered, taking me just two notches up the Pantone tan table to a respectable, 'yes I can wear a skirt thank you very much.' My tan-phobic pale-skinned Irish colleague even asked for details, thanks to its natural tone. (It could also be the fact that vitamin A, E and shea butter meant my skin looked juicier, ergo patch-free tan).
Since the noughties Xen-Tan has of course had an update – better smell, better formula, better dry-time – but it still has one of he most convincing colours to date, and particularly so for those first few weeks of baby-step bronzing.
With Xen-Tan I think I've found my summer groove. No doubt I will up the ante to a deeper shade of pale next time around, but one week in and I'm still streak–and fancy–free.
Xen-Tan tanning products start from £16.99 for face and £23.99 for body. Or, get a full-body spray tan using the brand at Third Space, Marylebone, 020 7042 6333, for £35.
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