For me, it’s hard to hear the words “self tanning” without picturing orange and streaky skin. As someone who is naturally pretty pale, I tend to avoid self tanners for fear of how they’ll look on my skin and carry an SPF 50 with me pretty much wherever I go. So when I heard about St. Tropez’s new Gradual Tan In Shower cream, I was pretty skeptical but gave it a shot, fully expecting to come out of the shower looking like an orange zebra.

St. Tropez, which offers a bunch of different self-tanning products, aims to ease the fears of the “afraid to tan” population. This new shower tanning lotion (which sold out at Sephora in under 24 hours…NBD) is revolutionizing self-tanners. Before applying, get in the shower and wash your body as usual. Then get out and apply the cream (I started out with a pretty light coat because, you know, trust issues, but eventually I found myself putting on more.) As with any self-tanner, pay special attention to difficult areas like your elbows and the backs of your knees. Then wait 3 minutes, get back in the shower, and wash it all off!

If you’re like me, you hear these directions and think, “how does this not streak?” It took 3 days of using the product before I really noticed a difference in my skin tone, and while there were some areas that I did miss, there was NO streaking. I simply tried to pay extra attention to those areas I missed when I was next applying. Not going to lie, while this is a great product and did help ease my fears of self tanning, it does take patience! Remember to apply the lotion in circular motions, and it might take 3 days before you notice a difference. But hey, anything for a good natural looking glow, right? (Oh, and no damage from UVA or UVB rays, so that’s a plus.)

—Devon Kelliher

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