What they say:

Absolute X40 takes ultra dark to the next level for an incredibly ultra dark skin finish. X40 quad bronzing melanin activating intensifiers are combined with naturally derived tan actives to produce a darker, faster tan by activating skin cells to boost colour. The unprecedented power of blended X40 quad bronzers provides rapid unparalleled bronzing results. By choosing when to shower, create an instant tan that continues to develop into the darkest colour available, without the fake tan smell.

Friday  – 5:30pm

Pre-Tan

Exfoliated – nope no time today but had a shower in the morning though, and no old tan on the skin to exfoliate off

Deodorant still on from this morning – didn’t wipe off before tan

Eyebrows freshly tinted this avo – so avoiding the face as they go orange if they have just been done

During Tan

I usually go naked to avoid the tan lines! Usual positions along with bum out to stop the white lines under my bum cheeks and arms up to get under my breasts, so all and all happy with the technique and application.

Finished Spray

Didn’t feel sticky at all, felt quite dry instantly and not a heavy bronzer, I only got one coat so had a quick dry and put my loose clothes on (without bra)

First inspection of the tan the bronzer isn’t super dark and it looks really even, I could definitely whip to the super market whilst developing and no one would be none the wiser.

I had a casual family dinner that night so just went along and developed whilst I was at that

Smell – None

Developing Time – This is a rapid one hour tan but I left it on for 4.5 hours before rinsing. You can actually leave this tan on up to 8 hours or overnight if you want to go darker.

Rinsing Off

10pm I jumped in the shower. Rinsing off the bronzer it definitely has a black base or “quad” as they call it as I saw all the black bronzer wash down the drain. Grabbed some body wash and went over some of the areas that naturally grab on me – round the sides of my body, my bum and backs of legs. I jumped out of the shower to check in the mirror if I got all the bronzer off but my neck was still dripping black so jumped back in and had another rinse off

Initial Colour After Shower

Its really nice, probably the most natural looking tan I have ever had, Im thinking that I could of left it on overnight for a darker tan but I waited till the morning to see how much it developed after the shower and it deepened up a heap! Its actually a perfect colour, if I had of left it on any longer it would have been too dark so Im really happy with the result.

Day 2 Colour

Colour has deepened up even more and is quite dark now, its not drying on the skin and is a nice bronzed colour.

Colour Recommendation:

• Fair skin tone – leave on for just one hour max two
• Fair – medium skin tone (you tan well In the sun naturally) 4-6 hours
• Medium – dark skin tone (you’re olive or dark to start)  6 – 8 hours
• Double coat recommended if you want a deeper colour, doesn’t have a heavy bronzer so you could get a double coat and it wouldn’t be too dark initially either .                                      

 Happy Tanning X

My weekend was about to begin with my weekly spray tan done at SKT. I made sure that I had shaved my legs the night before and exfoliated the shit out of my body - I'm sure I actually took a layer of skin off but hey, I wanted to get the most out of my spray tan and make sure that nothing was on my skin, from experience the better the prep the better the tan.

My usual tan in the past has always been a single coat of either BGorgeous medium 8 hour leaving it on overnight or the one hour rapid if I am short for time and want the tan for that same day or the next morning. I booked my tan online www.sunkissedtan.co.nz and booked in my usual 8 hour tan for 630pm Friday night.

I arrived at SKT with my fav tanner greeting me, Danielle, who would greet me with “the usual” I would pay then enter into the booth. But today was like no other day, Sarita asked if I wanted to go a bit darker today and do another coat? Another coat… what would this mean? I love being this bronzed gorgeous babe stepping out of the salon, would this mean it could possibly double that sense of “OMG” instead of looking 5kgs skinnier would it mean I would like 10kgs skinnier? I know we should say we get tans to look “healthy” but lets get real… the shadowing does amazing things with our bodies and we DO look skinner!

Anyway I said yes to the double coat, paid the extra $10 and headed towards the booth of nakedness. What happens with a double coat anyway? I was interested to see what this consisted of…. actually a lot of the description on what they do was in the name.. it was another coat of tan. Sarita only took about 7 minutes to complete the tan and was out and said I could get dressed.. I had a sneaky look at my tan line…umm whoah ok thats dark I am definitely going to have to go straight home and wait this out.

3 hours later……..

I usually go quite dark with one coat medium as I do have a bit of colour in my skin naturally, however this was getting super dark. Even though every spray tan I have had at SKT has turned out flawless I think there is still something subconsciously in every womens mind that screams “youre going to turn out orange”

In my shear panic I ended up messaging SKT on Facebook - it was 10pm at night and I wasn't hopeful I would get an answer but I did! the response back assured me that everything was progressing as it should and that I should just wait it out. I wasn't convinced however I let it run its course and went to sleep. I did wake up mid 3am thinking maybe I should jump in the shower seeing that would be the 8 hours up…but sleep got the better of me and I thought I would deal with the situation in the morning.

8 am rolled around and I got up and checked my face out in the mirror. Ok yup thats totally dark and first up jumping in the shower is more important right now then my normal morning coffee.

I rushed into the shower and noticed the tan line and how white I actually was before this super dark tan! as the water ran down and the bronzer began to wash off I could see my tan being washed down the drain and slowly my skin started to assume the colour of a naturally tanned person.

I got out of the shower and quickly checked again in the mirror. The tan turned out amazing! I had actually been freaking out about something that turned out to be a bit of a non event on the tan complaint department. Phewwwwww! A quick snap of my tan line to my friend to confirm that emergency had been diverted and all was well.

Double coat medium you are my new favourite and I am pleased I decided to take the plunge and try you on for size. The question is now.. how dark can I actually go….

Im used to my Thursday night ritual of self tanning then waking up in the morning to a semi perfect (ok not perfect at all) tan that gives me a glow in all the right places with my clothes on - with my clothes off is a different story… I have been seeing a lot of hype online and within my circle of friends about SKT and how you go into the salon and come out nothing short of bronzed and flawless.

I liked the sound of this magical treatment where you just reinvent your whole skin colour to a completely new one within minutes. To be honest the only thing stopping me was the fact that I had to get naked in front of a complete stranger and not only that I then have to stand there for god knows how long.

After one month of putting it off I finally decided to try a spray tan.. at a salon… with no clothes on in front of a complete stranger. The time was booked.. It was a Wednesday and for 830pm I went for the later time hoping that not many people would be around at the same time and it might settle my nerves if it wasn't that busy.

I was extremely nervous about getting my first tan - not because of the outcome but because of the “getting it done” part. I wasn't really sure what I was supposed to wear and what was the norm, I didn't want to go in there and do something weird like go completely naked then find out that no one does that.. I wasn't sure if I should wear a bra and how that happens, do I take everything off all at once or do they do just parts of your body and you can quickly remove what you need to as you go. Do they actually stand in there with you and spray your body or is there more to it, and how long do I have to stand there with no clothes on? All these questions were going to be answered and like anything the first time is always the most nerve racking.

8pm rolled around and I had had a shower, i didn't put any deodorant on or moisturiser on as per the recommendation and even though I wouldn't usually be seen dead without make up I refrained from putting any on (another reason for my late appointment).

I packed some loose clothing to go home in, I know what you're thinking why don't I just wear the loose clothing there.. but again I wasn't too sure what the protocol was so the more clothes I had to choose from the better and the less likely I would stand out for adorning the wrong spray tan clothing.

830 I arrived for my appointment - i was greeted by Courtney who was the person I was booked in with according to my confirmation email and she asked me to take a seat and she wouldn't be long. Whilst sitting there I noticed other clients coming out in all sorts of clothing from tights to baggy clothing and from high heels to jandals - I soon realised that it was the sort of place you could rock up at at any time of the day either after work or before picking up the kids from school and you wouldn't look out of place. The women exiting the booths seemed filled with a new lease of life and I noticed the confidence that seemed to beam from them on leaving the salon.

My name was called and I was up.. a rush of nerves flew through my body and I began to over think everything. Courtney asked me to pop into the booth and get undressed to what ever I felt comfortable in then to stand on the towel and to face the back. Phew face the back - I was happy with that, at least I wasn't on full display right from the get go and was a good way to ease into it.

Beth came in and began to tell me how to stand and to brace myself as it may be a bit cold - she began to spray my back and she wasn't wrong - it was definitely cold! As i was sprayed and put into positions I was able to have a great chat about all sorts of things and before I knew it it was all over! It was done so fast and and so methodical and was no where near as bad as I had made up in my head.

I couldn't help but have a look at the contrast of my tan and I could understand why the women I saw earlier had emerged from the booths with such confidence. I was one of those women - I put my clothes on and exited the booth and smiled knowingly at the next women sitting in the waiting area waiting for their names to be called up.

I arrived home and announced that I had had a tan and no one was to touch me or go near me with water. I should actually get a tan every other day as this got me out of doing a lot of the nightly chores and I was able to blob on the couch watching Netflix.

The next morning I got up and went straight to the bathroom mirror to check out my tan - it was awesome, what a great way to start the day and it had made my skin look so even I didn't even think I would need to put make up on.

I jumped in the shower and instantly all the bronzer began to wash away and was left with a gorgeous bronzed tan - no wonder this product was called BGorgeous as that is exactly how I felt!

Nervous as I was at the start to try something new I will say without a shadow of a doubt that this spray tanning thing is addictive! there is no way I can go back to my normal pasty self… I do think being tanned is my new norm!

Happy Tanning Guys