A Well Oiled Machine: Tanning Oils and golden suntans

We’ve all heard the saying about a well oiled machine. And so it goes the body should be no different. But I’m not talking about whole foods and super grains (sorry eat clean crew) I’m talking about the necessity of a beautiful tan and the current trend of achieving said tan with tanning oils.

Any instagrammer worth their salt knows what I am taking about. images of beautifully bronzed bodies adorn the instagram feed on a daily basis. Naturally derived products promise gorgeous results and if like me, you are a marketers dream, you have probably found yourself hovering over the “pay now button” of your shopping cart on one of these sites.

And so it was. I found myself shopping on the bright and ever so easy to navigate website of BaliBody.

Bali Body is an Australian company founded on the principals of providing “beautifully packaged, high quality and affordable products”. Their co-founder and director Laura Foley states that a history of eczema led her to explore the healing properties of naturally derived plant and seed based oils and butters. Her quest proved fruitful. And so Bali Body was born.

Named after the beautiful indonesian Island, Bali body boasts an ethical and moral approach to beauty; products are  not only natural they are cruelty free so you can feel righteous and beautiful on the inside and out.

Check out the Bali Body website for an idea of their product range.

The hero of the show appears to be the Watermelon Tanning oil and the Cacao Tanning oil. Both products offer sublime tanning results when used safely in combination with a sunscreen product (Bali Body do offer a sunscreen in their range but products can be used in combination with any sunscreen according to their FAQ page)

Watermelon Tanning Oil

The watermelon oil contains organic watermelon seed oils which “nourish and replenish skin”. I can vouch for this. I have noticed a huge improvement in my usually very dry skin. I’ve even notice an improvement on areas of Psoriasis,  which I suffer with. This is something which the brand makes claim to and certainly from my experience appears to be well founded.

But the real crowing glory of this oil is that Watermelon seed oil stimulates the skins production of Melanin, which is what gives our skin pigment. This helps to boost your tan naturally! Pure tanning gold if you ask me.

Cacao Tanning Oil

The Cacao contains the same blend of ingredient as all the tanning oils with the added benefit of organic Cacao oil. This affords an immediate glow to the skin so perhaps if you are little pale you might want to wear this one for a confidence boost early in the sunbathing season. It also has a delicate scent of chocolate!

For me however, personally, it’s watermelon all the way!

Delivery is from Australia. My tanning oil arrived 7 days after I made my order. Neatly packaged in a 110m bottle. It’s small but perfectly formed a little goes a long way. The pink bottle is delicious looking.

It smells like watermelon but not at all in a sickly way. It’s refreshing.

In my haste I brought the oil without the SPF, however I would advise that you buy the oil with SPF just to give your skin added protection. You can never have too much protection from the sun. Glorious as the sun is, she is just like any beautiful women, dangerous when handled incorrectly!

I wore my oil over my Eucerin Sun oil factor 50. Yes I wear a factor 50. Despite being mixed race I do burn and as I have already said, the sun is a cruel mistress. It’s better to tan slowly and deeply then it is to tan quickly and burn. Peeling is a drama that no one needs in their life!

Since using my oil I have had a few really nice comments on my tan. It’s definately more golden and deep.

Ive enjoyed using the oil and will be reinvesting in the one with the added SPF when it eventually runs out. However there’s no sign of that happening anytime soon. A little goes a long way as I said before, good job they have a 6 month expiry date on them.

How do you enjoy the sun safely? What’s your tanning routine? Leave a comment and share your sun care tips.

Enjoy the sun safely

Amellia Mae