As you all know by now, I’m a total freak for self-tan so I was thrilled to get to try one as luxurious as Kanebo SENSAI Silky Bronze:

Kanebo describes it as a ‘breakthrough gel-cream formulation with a clean, summery fragrance’. It promises to ‘hydrate’ and ‘firm’ your skin while creating a natural-looking bronze colour.

Before unleashing it on my winter white legs, I decided to do a comparative spot test using Caribbean Tan self-tan spray in shade B:

Personally, I think don’t think Caribbean Tan in B is an especially dark self-tan but it looks kind of fierce in the above shot because Kanebo’s colour result is very much a subtle ‘glow’. This makes it a rather nice totally unobvious ‘winter self-tan’ or the type of self-tanner that would go down well with very fair peeps like Mevrou Emma Stone.

Anyhoo, I proceeded to apply Silky Bronze to my legs and thought that, application-wise, it totally kicked ass. Being a clear ‘velvety’ gel, it really does ‘glide’ across your skin and you only need a small amount to cover a large surface area. In fact, its texture’s almost like that of a silicone-based facial serum. It doesn’t absorb instantly but I liked that it didn’t feel sticky in the least and I could slip into my leggings after five minutes or so without feeling iffy.

When the colour developed, again, Kanebo’s hue was a very believable light gold. It also hadn’t ‘latched’ on to drier bits of my bod (although I’m quite good about adding a bit of body lotion to places like knees and ankles before I self-tan; this prevents latching) and was completely streak-free. I also liked that when it faded, it did so evenly. In fact, I woke up about four or five days later and it was just ‘gone’ in it’s entirety which is a good thing. You don’t want to have to sit and scrub off any patches that linger after the majority of your colour’s packed up and left.

The only downside? It’s not exactly wallet-friendly and some might want to apply it twice if they prefer a deeper colour result which is why, in that case, I suggest you try another brand. This is the pale girl’s friend, okay? Still, like I said, a little goes a long way and what I’ve got left is going to last for ages as I now plan to use it on my face. I’ll only need a smidge and the colour it provides is exactly the kind of look that’s great for le visage.

Love, love

Leigh

*Kanebo SENSAI goodies are available at Edgars, Stuttafords and Dis-Chem. Go play with this brand if you’re not familiar with it, they’ve got fab foundations and their 38*C Silk Performance mascara (it only comes off with water above 38-degrees celcius) is a veritable beauty icon.