Last month my husband and I went to Jamaica. I've always been a huge beach bum - totally in love with sand, water, and sun so this was the ultimate vacation for me. And of course with a tropical vacation comes a gorgeous tan! Since we live in the most northern city in North America with a population of over 1 000 000 and NO beaches with hardly a summer, I was very happy to have a tan for the first time in almost 2 years. I'm originally from a place further south in Canada that has HOT summers. So when I got married and moved even FURTHER north, I was disappointed to learn summer here (according to my description of it at least) is maybe a week with sporadic days in between May - September of temperatures above 25 degrees.

Anyway, to the good stuff. I was so happy to have a tan again and I was determined to keep it as long as possible. But after a few weeks, it starts to fade. I am not for tanning beds so I started looking up what the best self-tanners would be. Along the way I came across anything from Jergen's Natural Glow to St Tropaz (I only actually tried Jergen's, St Tropaz is certainly out of my budget). I didn't want anything TOO bold since I've never used self-tanner before and, like many first time self-tanners, was worried of streaks and turning orange. The second product I tried was from Bath and Body Works in the True Blue Spa line. It's called Strike Gold Bronzing Self-Tanning lotion. I just have one thing to say: LOOOOOOVE!

Pros: I exfoliated and put lotion on my knees and elbows just like it says on the bottle. After my shower, I rubbed in just a thin layer over my face and body. It reaches max effect in 4 hours which I thought was pretty short! It also goes on a little dark initially so you can see where you've applied. The next morning, I looked like I'd just gotten back from Jamaica again! Someone actually commented at work the next day, "Did your tan get darker over night?" I was thrilled and it looks totally natural. It was a perfect brown/gold colour - NO orange whatsoever and absolutely no streaks. I actually even noticed it had a little bit of a gold shimmer to it, but not at all obvious. It's already last about 4 days and I have not had to do any touch ups yet so I'm hoping the bottle will be able to last awhile.

Cons: I can only think of a couple negatives. One being it is a little on the pricey side (for me at least) BUT it's TOTALLY worth it and Bath and Body Works almost always has bundle deals, like buy 2 get one 1 free or something so you can stock up! Another one is in the initial couple minutes of having the lotion on, I just felt kind of yucky. Kind of like I had paste on but that went away after about 20 minutes. And finally, the smell isn't great. Not awful, but not great. The night I put it on, my husband said I smelled weird but I didn't want to shower and risk losing the tan. But then the next morning he said it smelled great. So either he just got used to it, or the smell gets better as the tan develops. Either way, the cons I am totally ok with dealing with because the payoff is totally worth it.

I also do know that this product comes in a spray-on. However, the lady at Bath and Body Works told me the lotion is much more popular and likely the reason for that is the spray just "dyes" your skin temporarily and only lasts a couple days. The lotion lasts longer. I haven't tried the spray. I plan on sticking with the lotion!

If you need a tan, I'd try this product first. I really doubt you will be disappointed. I plan on stocking up!!