From white to whoa that's tanned | St Tropez First Impressions

My uni friends will tell you, I'm not a fake tanner. I went through my uni years without the tactile tanning sessions to make sure the body glow was at the optimum level for nights out, I never understood what all the fuss was about. That was, however, until a couple of months ago. I was going to my cousins wedding and wanted a little bit of a tan so I didn't look like a ghost up against my other family members. I read reviews and it looked like St Tropez Express Tan was the way to go, a natural tan that develops in three hours and means I won't have to sleep feeling sticky. On my trial run I didn't go overboard and I have to be honest, I was a little disappointed that I wasn't looking much darker than I did when I was going au natural. So the next time, I went all out a smothered myself in the stuff. This is when everything changed. I think I like the compliments I get more than anything. Like, 'ooh you look tanned' or 'have you been away'. No I have not, it was all done in the comfort of my own bathroom!

Anyway, since this revelation I've still not delved majorly into the world of fake tan but there are two products I've found work for me so I thought I'd share them. The first is the above mentioned St Tropez Express Tan. So easy to use, you just have a shower, tan yourself, wait one to three hours, shower it off, go to sleep and wake up in the morning to find yourself a golden goddess. If, like me, you're quite new to the tanning world I'd recommend getting this little kit. It's £15 and you get a bit, a mini exfoliator, a mini moisturiser and a mini Express Tan. It means you can try out the tan without having to shell out £33 on something you might not like. Plus I've had three applications from the mini and I reckon it could do another so there's plenty to give it a good test! I'd read reviews that the St Tropez In-Shower Tan was good but not great and that it worked best as a top up for a pre existing tan. So after my recent holiday I thought I'd get it to give it a whirl. Cue an email from Beauty Bay saying St Tropez was 20% off and I was soon the proud owner of another money saving (well sort of) minis set. This set (which I can't seem to find on the website anymore which is a shame seeing as I only bought it a couple of weeks ago.) features the Classic Tan, In-Shower Tan and Gradual Tan. I'm yet to use the other two products (but I'll let you know what I think if I like them) but I quite liked the shower tan. After I got over the fact that I have no idea how much to apply or where I had already applied it, it worked quite well. I can understand that there would be next to no colour had I not had a 'base layer' but I can see this as a good product to top up my holiday glow.

What's your favourite tanning brand and product. Obviously I'm still new to the world of tanning so I'd appreciate any recommendations!