After a run of quite serious facial tanning disasters, I have found a version that leaves an even and flawless tint. I had been apprehensive about Charlotte Tilbury’s new Overnight Bronze & Glow Mask after some of my more recent – patchy – experiences with tanners, but it has delivered brilliant results three times out of three. A believable, non-orange tan that’s streak-free and doesn’t odor of biscuits.
As regular readers knows, my face-fake-tan of choice is Hylamide Glow, a watery serum that may be applied neat beneath moisturiser or added in drops to your face cream. It gradually adds an indication of colour to the skin (though if you apply it neat, as I do, the results are bigger and faster) which is virtually foolproof. I think since the product is so light and absorbs so quickly there’s absolutely no way for any residue to migrate to susceptible streaking areas, or sweat off in patches.
Read my Hylamide Glow review…
And I do think that’s what happens with a lot of facial tanners – it’s less the user’s application technique that fails them, it’s the fact that they go to sleep or sit up staring at their iPhone all night, and the product melts and gathers and takes hold odd places. Take last week, for example, when I applied the brand new Dior Bronze Self-Tanning Jelly; a beautiful, fresh texture and pleasant smell, but I woke up with a dark brown patch under my chin (probably where I’d had my neck bent over scrolling through my iPhone before going to sleep) and a weird streak at my temple where I think I sweated in the night (nice) and the tanner pooled and developed in its new home.
Anyway, no issues with the Overnight Bronze & Glow Mask: it had been my third use last night, and I didn’t have any of my usual feeling of trepidation. I normally have to keep fake tan testing to evenings after i know that I have absolutely no excuse for leaving the house the next day, just in case I awaken looking like a patchy potato, however i seem to have adopted the Charlotte Tilbury Mask into my trusted products inner circle.
I was apprehensive concerning the “mask” element, mainly because when I consider masks, I think about that very neat application pattern that masks always display on their packaging – a perfect oval of product on the main part of the face, but avoiding the eyes and the hairline. Subconsciously, I believe, the idea of a mask doesn’t gel well using the idea of a self-tanner, but there we go. Masks, especially overnight ones, are the rage. But fear not: are applying this one just like a face cream, albeit more carefully, ensuring you’ve covered all areas and blending well into the hairline and under the jaw. I actually take this tanner all the way down (and around) my neck, and onto the chest in the “v” that is usually on show once I’m dressed.
No streaks or patches and, miraculously, no weird smell. I mean there was a hint of it as my head hit the pillow, however i was really tuned into sniffing for your biscuity aroma, knowing that this post was in the making, and I don’t think that a normal (non-obsessed) person would notice any kind of odd scent whatsoever.
The result after one application is – for me personally, at least – a beautiful, low-key bronze. It’s noticeable but not so much that you do a double-take in the mirror as you blearily do your morning ablutions. Just glowy and summery and perked-up, which is exactly how I want to look first thing.
This stuff isn’t cheap whatsoever – lb38 a tube – but for even, trustworthy results it’s worth the splurge. You don’t need a separate moisturiser beneath it (though I used a hydrating serum) also it can be built up to a darker tan over a number of nights if you want a deeper colour. Find it at Cult Beauty here* or – if you would like something infinitely more cost effective – the Hylamide Glow is lb20 here*.
