Award-winning Self-Tanners

So you need a tan in a few hours? These tried and tested one-hit wonders should tick all the boxes – and won’t leave you looking like a carrot or whiffing like a burnt biscuit. Each wowed 10 Beauty Bible testers, in our trials... FOR FACE

Vita Liberata Rich Face Tinted Self Tan Lotion

The bronze-tinted gel/lotion may look scary as it comes out but it spreads instantly, you can see where you have put it and four to eight hours later gives a natural colour, according to our testers. Based on organic plant extracts, this packs a powerful punch of hydration with its base of aloe barbadensis leaf plus shea and murumuru butters, and hyaluronic acid. In three shades, Light, Medium and Dark, Beauty Bible testers trialled Light.

Comments: ‘Loved this product – the best colour I have come across. I am truly bowled over by everything about it – and the decent price' • ‘I panicked when I first saw the VERY dark brown but it gave my face a really healthy glow, which deepened with subsequent applications but still looked as I had been in the sun' • ‘This made me feel great. I’ve finally learnt to stay out of the sun and this made me look really healthy. I just added mascara and lip-gloss and was good to go' • ‘Evens out my skin tone and makes me look healthy rather than overly tanned'.

Vita Liberata Rich Face Tinted Self Tan Lotion/£17.50 for 100 ml at www.boots.com - buy here

Garnier Ambre Solaire No Streaks Bronzer Dry Face Mist

So this might involve a leap of faith (or a friend to apply it for you) as the instructions are to close your eyes then spray for up to three seconds while moving can left to right… Surprisingly perhaps, our testers said they got the hang of it easily and gave this ‘Beauty Steal’ high marks.   They trialled Fair to Light.

Comments: ‘Brilliant realistic sun-kissed colour and people commented how healthy I look' •  ‘Bit unnerving to close your eyes and spray but it is just like a fine mist settling on your face' • ‘Pleasantly surprised it didn't clog pores or give me little blackheads as some products have done' •  ‘Dries instantly, takes about two hours to develop; sounds daft but it smelt clean… I am a convert'.

Garnier Ambre Solaire No Streaks Bronzer Dry Face Mist/£5.66 for 75 ml at www.boots.com - buy here

FOR FACE & BODY

TanOrganic Self-Tanning Oil

Beauty therapist Noelle O’Connor, creator of TanOrganic - the world’s first organically certified sunless tanning brand, explains that water-based products may cause skin to flake while an oil-based one like this hydrates deeply. You can use this oil for both face and body, massaging in a few drops lightly with your hands – just avoid eyebrows and hairline. Check the colour after six to eight hours, or the following day, and then re-apply if you want a deeper colour. Repeat twice a week for maintenance.

Comments: ‘Full marks; I loved this lemony-smelling product, which was very easy to apply, absorbed quickly and left my skin feeling moisturised – not at all greasy' • ‘Colour took up to 24 hours to develop fully but left my very pale skin golden and glowing, as if I had been in the sun' •  ‘Made me feel very confident – I needed less make-up and so I looked more natural. I will definitely buy more' • ‘My skin felt so smooth and plump and it did not irritate my sensitive skin'.

TanOrganic Self-Tanning Oil/£24.99 for 100 ml at www.feelunique.com - buy here

Omorovicza Glam Glow

Based on the brand’s signature mineral-rich Hungarian Thermal Water, the citrusy-scent of this light lotion is enough to raise your spirits even without the golden glow that develops overnight. With plant extracts including plum almond oil to help elasticity and tone and apple pectin for hydration and suppleness, this is a truly luxurious treat.

Comments: ‘Beautiful texture and spreadability, no tackiness, developed over an hour or so to a very subtle, healthy, glow-y golden tan, which made me look more alive' • ‘Made me feel sexy and happy' • ‘Foolproof product that feels very luxurious, nourishing and moisturising.Started fading evenly after about three days' • ‘Skin looked glowing and tanned – people commented on how well I looked'.

Omorovicza Glam Glow/£35 for 150 ml at www.selfridges.com - buy here

FOR BODY

Jane Iredale Tantasia Self Tanner & Bronzer

A pioneer of mineral cosmetics, Jane Iredale is passionate about safe sun – which mostly means self-tanning. This lightly tinted formula uses wheat protein for natural hydration. As well as DHA, the colouring agent, this product is said to mimic your own natural tan by stimulating your body’s melanin synthesis with the herb vitex agnus castus plus acetyl tyrosine to accelerate the colouring response.

Comments: ‘A pure delight to use: easy to apply, wonderful aroma and great results – a gorgeous even bronze glow after about three hours. Was told I looked as if I had just come back from holiday' • ‘The best smelling self tanner I have ever used, a lovely consistency and it sinks in with no tacky residue to give a realistic lovely colour with my red hair' • ‘I am hopeless with fake tans but suit suits me! And I had no handprints the next day' • ‘Super product: very realistic colour and faded evenly, with no patches'.

Jane Iredale Tantasia Self Tanner & Bronzer/£18.96 for 124 ml at www.salonskincare.co.uk - buy here

Boots Soltan Beautiful Bronze Self-Tan Mousse

A great value, tinted mousse that develops into a rich tan over two to three hours. Like most body products (although not TanOrganic above) it is best applied with a tanning mitt in small circular motions. And do remember to exfoliate thoroughly first or you risk it flaking off quickly and unevenly.

Comments: ‘Absolutely great product, which was easy to apply. Although it looked alarmingly orange on first application, it developed to an even golden colour that looked like my own skin tone. I used it after flying back from another continent where I had spent no time in the sun - my son saw me and said ‘you’re very brown!’ • ‘Being a mousse rather than a spray made it easier to apply on me rather than the furniture but because it’s tinted I do advise sitting on a dark towel to apply. Would buy again for summer legs' • ‘I don't go in the sun now but being tanned made me feel a bit better and able to face the world'.

Boots Soltan Beautiful Bronze Self-Tan Mousse/£6.66 for 150 ml at www.boots.com - buy here

SUMMER LOVING

Elle Macpherson, 50, entrepreneurial supermodel

‘Beautiful skin is the best accessory and my must-does are dry skin body brushing to help lumps and bumps, exfoliating to keep skin smooth and moisturising. I developed my battery-powered Rotating Dry Brush to make body brush quicker and easier so it’s simpler to fit into your daily routine.’

 Elle Macpherson Rotating Dry Brush/£39.99 at www.homedics.co.uk - buy here

Marcia Kilgore, founder of Soap & Glory

The latest research about chicken skin on the upper arms – ominously called keratosis pilaris – reveals the main culprit is dehydration. So give your triceps a gentle thrice-weekly scrub and then moisturise them. Soap & Glory The Firminator is a targeted arm firming and toning formula that exfoliates, tones, blurs away arm bumps. Follow with a body lotion.

Soap & Glory The Firminator/£12 for 125 ml and The Righteous Butter Body Lotion/£10 for 500ml at www.boots.com - buy here and here