I have a natural tan to my skin, but in the winter I'm pretty pale. I have never and will never go to a tanning salon and use a tanning bed, and I'm not a fan of laying out to get tan either, so I'm a big fan of using self tanners to get color on your skin rather than going a harmful way to get color. Xen-Tan is a great self tanning company, and I recently tried out their Luminous Gold Gel. What did I think? Read my review below to find out!
Check out my pics, swatches, info, and review... click on pics to view them larger.
XEN-TAN Luminous Gold Gel
XEN-TAN Luminous Gold Gel Info & Review:
Cost/Availability: $35.00 (5 oz full size). Available on the Xen-Tan website, at Nordstrom, and everywhere else Xen-Tan is sold.
My Rating: 4 out of 5 Kisses
This fast-acting sunless tan has a unique new texture. A thin silky gel that dries down quickly on the skin and has no instant color, so it's easy to use on days you want to wear lighter color clothing. Has a light tropical scent of coconut and pineapple.
Filled with luminous gold shimmer, it adds a gleam of gold to the skin, but not does not contain glitter particles that get on clothing. It has a medium depth self-tan, but can be deepened by applying twice a week if you prefer a darker tan.
It has a high level of DH, so you only need a thin layer on the skin for a light non-sticky feel. Use by itself weekly as your self-tan or mix with Xen-Tan's Morccan Tan if you like to add instant color and deepen your self-tan. Paraben-free.
This self tanner does smell nice; if you like tropical scents, of course. It has a nice lightweight gel texture that is clear with lots of gold glitter.
I personally don't like that I can't see where I'm applying it, because I don't know if it's blended well or if I missed any spots. That's where I deducted some points in my rating. Although easy to apply, I still ended up with some spots that were less than perfect but the majority of my application was perfect even without seeing where it was going.
The color payoff was nice for me. It took me to my natural tan that I normally have in the spring/early summer, but it was close to my natural color so it wasn't a high impact difference. Not enough for anyone to even notice, but I could see a difference. This is a self tanner I would have to mix with a darker tan, or use more than once a week to see a big difference in my skin tone. I do love that there was no orange hue; just a warm natural looking tan, which I love!
The gold glitter was pretty but short lived. I would say if you want the glitter to be noticeable then you should apply this a few hours before you plan to go out. It didn't last an entire day on me, but I guess it would depend on your activity level too (I did a 2 hour work-out, on top of cleaning the house and doing laundry). The tan does take a few hours to develop - I'd say around 3 hours - so keep that in mind if planning a night out.
One good thing is it does dry down really quickly. Within a couple minutes I could put clothing on and I didn't feel like it was getting everywhere.
Overall, I liked this product and I think it's a beautiful option for a lot of people. For me personally, I need to mix it with something to see where I'm applying it and to deepen the color slightly. For sure one to check out!
This fast-acting sunless tan has a unique new texture. A thin silky gel that dries down quickly on the skin and has no instant color, so it's easy to use on days you want to wear lighter color clothing. Has a light tropical scent of coconut and pineapple.
Filled with luminous gold shimmer, it adds a gleam of gold to the skin, but not does not contain glitter particles that get on clothing. It has a medium depth self-tan, but can be deepened by applying twice a week if you prefer a darker tan.
It has a high level of DH, so you only need a thin layer on the skin for a light non-sticky feel. Use by itself weekly as your self-tan or mix with Xen-Tan's Morccan Tan if you like to add instant color and deepen your self-tan. Paraben-free.
This self tanner does smell nice; if you like tropical scents, of course. It has a nice lightweight gel texture that is clear with lots of gold glitter.
I personally don't like that I can't see where I'm applying it, because I don't know if it's blended well or if I missed any spots. That's where I deducted some points in my rating. Although easy to apply, I still ended up with some spots that were less than perfect but the majority of my application was perfect even without seeing where it was going.
The color payoff was nice for me. It took me to my natural tan that I normally have in the spring/early summer, but it was close to my natural color so it wasn't a high impact difference. Not enough for anyone to even notice, but I could see a difference. This is a self tanner I would have to mix with a darker tan, or use more than once a week to see a big difference in my skin tone. I do love that there was no orange hue; just a warm natural looking tan, which I love!
The gold glitter was pretty but short lived. I would say if you want the glitter to be noticeable then you should apply this a few hours before you plan to go out. It didn't last an entire day on me, but I guess it would depend on your activity level too (I did a 2 hour work-out, on top of cleaning the house and doing laundry). The tan does take a few hours to develop - I'd say around 3 hours - so keep that in mind if planning a night out.
One good thing is it does dry down really quickly. Within a couple minutes I could put clothing on and I didn't feel like it was getting everywhere.
Overall, I liked this product and I think it's a beautiful option for a lot of people. For me personally, I need to mix it with something to see where I'm applying it and to deepen the color slightly. For sure one to check out!
Now let me know what you think...
What do you think of this self tanner? Have you tried this or is this on your wish list? Discuss in the comments below.
