Tantastic Dark Liquid Tan: Hit Or Miss?

I always look forward to marinating in a fresh layer of tan and there's nothing I love more than waking up with a golden glow. So when I received a bottle of Tantastic in a goody bag from Fashion Fest (Which you can read all about here), you can imagine my excitement.

Even though I love my usual bBold tan I do like trying other brands, and although I have heard so much about Tantastic I have never had to the opportunity to try it for myself. I received the liquid tan in dark, and to be honest I was a bit worried about just how dark it would turn out... Was I going to be hazelnut or mahogany?

I completed my usual routine of exfoliating off old tan, moisturising elbows and knuckles and ensuring my skin was free of oils. I then applied a layer of the Tantastic liquid using my favourite tanning mitt of all time from Bellamianta. If you haven't tried this particular mitt, where have you been? Here's the link, you can thank me later.

Anyway, I found the Tantastic tan applied really easily, however, I tend to get dry patches at the top of my arms near my shoulders and I found this tan accentuated this. The rest of the colour looked great though and I was really happy with how fast it dried and how I didn't feel sticky or clammy.

Left to right: Before, immediately after application, and after rinsing the guide colour

I got a quick shower the next day to wash off the guide colour, and to be honest I was left a bit disappointed. I felt that a lot of the colour rinsed off in the shower even though I was quick with no scrubbing and I was careful not to use shower gel with any oils in it that would break down the tan. I did end up with a light tan that was lovely, but it was by no means the deep shade I expected from a tan labelled 'dark'.

I also found it made the skin on my neck slightly itchy where I used to be prone to eczema, something which I have only found with cheaper brands of tan. My skin wouldn't be on the sensitive side these days, so I was quite surprised.

In saying this, I had heard from a few friends that Tantastic was hard to remove when it begins the wearing off process. Although by the time it did begin to fade it didn't leave me looking patchy and I found any remaining colour was extremely easy to remove with my trusty exfoliating mitt and some Soap & Glory Pulp Friction.

Overall, I had quite high hopes for this tan but unfortunately I was left disappointed and looking like an undercooked chicken, instead of well roasted. It goes on well and looks lovely and deep following application, however it did cling to small dry patches and aggravated a small area on my neck. That's not to say this is a useless fake tan, because it's not. I know plenty of people who use this and love it, I just didn't have an amazing experience with it. I will probably use the remainder of this bottle on my legs at some stage and maybe give it another go on my upper half sometime, but for now I think I'll stick to good old bBold.

You can try Tantastic for yourself here.