He-shi Express Liquid Tan Review: Easy Fake Tanning Tips

Hello! So I thought it was time to give you a little bit of an updated tanning routine, I've already given you an updated skin care routine (see that here if you missed it) but tan does seem to be something I am frequently asked about, I regularly recieve messages asking which fake tan I wear so I thought it was time to spill. For me, sunbeds are an absolute no-go, why use something that's going to increase your risk of getting cancer? No thank you, so I've always stuck with fake tan. If you've been reading my blog for a while, you'll know that usually, I swear by Xen-Tan but when my trusty Xen supplies recently ran out, it was time to reach for another bottle and the lovely ladies at He-Shi kindly sent me their express liquid tan to try out. I am always quite weary of fake tan, my golden rule with fake tan is usually and unfortunately, you get what you pay for, the higher the price, usually means better quality and a better final result. Unfortunately the cheap fake tans generally tend to go green and patchy (or they do on me anyway) so I've always stuck to quite high-end fake tans. Let's see how me and He-Shi got on...

 

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't excited to try this tan, I have been using it for quite a few weeks now but I really do like to give things a proper go before I review them. Prior to this I have used He-Shi after receiving it in a blogger goodie bag over a year ago and I was really impressed with it then. 

He-Shi is a liquid formula which was quite different for me, I usually either use spray formulas, thick lotions or mousses. This does come out quite quickly and it is quite a watery texture so you've got to be quick when applying it, I just tip the bottle upside down straight onto the tanning mitt and then blend all over. I get quite impatient when it comes to fake tanning so I did just tip quite a lot onto my legs at one point (for some reason I hate tanning my legs, it's so tedious) - this did make my floor quite messy but it's my own fault for being impatient, I found that it was easier to blend on my legs when I just tipped it all over one leg. At first, it looks like it's quite weak so I applied 3 layers, then when I checked my tan lines, I realised that I was going to be very dark in the morning. The great thing about it being a liquid tan is that it doesn't feel like it dries the skin out whatsoever, also, it feels like it's moisturising your skin whilst you apply, it literally sinks into the skin. Another great thing about the liquid formula is that it really isn't hard to rub in and blend at all, it's much easier than some other tans that I've used - I think I'm actually a huge fan of the liquid formula.

I applied this with the He-Shi tanning mitt, I have never really found any good tanning mitts, they do always tend to leak onto my hands but for once, this actually didn't leave a mark.

I really did notice that this tanned instantly on contact with my skin, usually I don't recommend instant tans, but I would actually happily wear this out on the day of application. It gives such a lovely, light, bright bronzed colour - that's the only way to describe it and it only got better once I'd washed it off the next morning. It dries really quickly, I jump into my dressing gown immediately after application and it doesn't smudge at all, also I really didn't notice any bad fake tan odours either. The texture is extremely light and moisturising as mentioned before. This is both paraben and alcohol free so it's not bad for your skin, it's also pH balanced for sensitive skin, it's so good that it's actually suitable for both face and body, it doesn't make my face break out at all which is always a bonus as I like to tan my face.

Time for the results:

This is my hand after allowing the tan to dry for 8 hours over night, as you can see, it's a little bit messy on my hands but this was fine once I washed the colour guide off - this looks pretty grey but I promise once I washed the colour guide off I was left with the most beautiful colour, which got me lots of nice compliments the next day from friends.

This is my arm before washing the colour guide off, I am so impressed with how vibrant and nice the colour is - please note that this is from a different angle/in a different light to the photo of my hand so they do look like slightly different colours.

My knees look pretty dodgy, uhoh but here is a photo to show the colour of the tan on my legs.

Above is the colour after washing off the colour guide and as you can see, my tan lines are pretty impressive (I took a photo of my tan lines to show you my colour before in comparison to the colour after applying the tan) and it doesn't at all look orange, it's very natural. Finally, I decided to upload a photograph below which shows my skin tone after the first ever time I used He-Shi, a time where I had applied a few more layers, obviously, I look a lot darker in the photo than I actually was in real life because the bikini is neon and neon colours do make your skin look a lot brighter, but as you can see, the tan is such a gorgeous colour and I do still think it's very natural as I do go very dark naturally abroad, you can also see how smooth it is. The photo below is after applying around 5 layers of He-Shi, washing off the colour guide and then moisturising with two layers of Palmers Coco Butter Natural Bronze Gradual Tanner over the top to intensify the colour and make it stay for longer. 

The tan lasted two weeks before it needing exfoliating off (with regular moisturising), however, I did go swimming so the chlorine probably made it come off quicker. He-Shi costs £20.00 for a 150ml bottle and you can buy it here.  

5 Top, Easy Fake Tanning Tips:

Now Summer is on the horizon, we want to be browner, so after receiving a few emails asking me to write down some tanning tips, I thought I'd do a quick list of my fool-proof, easy fake tanning tips and tricks and add them to this review.

1 - Exfoliate - Something which is quite an obvious one but a lot of people don't do it, if you know you want to be tanned for Saturday night, exfoliate on the Thursday and shave on the Thursday too, this will get rid of any dead skin cells or any old fake tan that you have on, it means that it will look smoother when you re-apply or apply the fake tan. It also means that when you do apply the fake tan, it will last much longer. I exfoliate my whole body about 2 times a week just to get rid of any fake tan that has gone manky. The reason that I recommend shaving on the Thursday (if you're wanting to be tanned for Saturday night for example) is because this gives your pores enough time to close before applying the fake tan, there is nothing worse than shaving your legs and then applying fake tan straight over the top, I've seen it before when the tan goes inside the pores and it just leaves you looking extremely patchy and dotty.

2 - Always apply your fake tan the night before - I know quite a lot of people who apply their fake tan on the day of going out, this is fine if you have 8 hours (generally fake tan takes 8 hours to develop properly) to let it develop, but if you don't have this long, I'd recommend applying it the night before otherwise it does tend to look a bit dirty and patchy. Fake tan is designed to be washed off so that it looks smooth and natural once the colour guide comes off in the shower, everytime I apply my tan the night before, it looks quite uneven but as soon as I wash it off in the morning, it goes really nice and even.

3 - Moisturiser is your friend - I'd say that I fake tan once every 2/3 weeks and this is purely because I moisturise my whole body after every shower, fake tanning can get rid of moisture and can be quite drying, so you need moisturise to keep your skin from shedding all the tan that you've just put on, it also gives you a nice glow too, I'm a huge fan of Palmers Cocoa Butter and The Body Shop body butter. I have also been using Kiko's Body Skin Glow which gives such a gorgeous, natural glow. I love applying a gradual tanner over the top of my tan the week afterwards, I find that it just keeps my tan nice and vibrant as well as keeping my skin moisturised and glowing. 

4 - Always wash off it off the morning after - As touched on above, you must wash the colour guide off in the morning, I have a lot of friends who sometimes want to look as dark as possible so they don't wash it off, this is when it ends up looking dirty and un-even - once you jump in the shower, quite a lot of colour will run off but this is because it's getting rid of the colour guide usually. You will be left with a lovely, smooth, even finish and yes it will be a little bit lighter than the colour guide, so if you are wanting to be super dark, I recommend applying another layer the night before - knowing that you'll be washing it off. I often wake up looking like I've been abroad for a year and then wash off the tan and I just have a nice glow, so if you know you're wanting to be really dark, just add another few layers or moisturise with a gradual moisturising tanner after.

5 - Green isn't a good look (neither is orange) - I really do recommend only buying products which you've been recommended/you know don't go green/orange. We've all had fake tanning disasters (me included) and that's why I only swear by using the likes of He-Shi and Xen-Tan now. I used to use St Moritz when I was younger and looking back at photos I am embarrassed at how orange I was, I'm not sure why anyone let me out. I would rather be pale than be orange/green. I had a fake tan disaster earlier this week where I forgot to apply my tan the night before so I applied an instant tan on the day that I was going out, unfortunately I just looked green and patchy and I was actually embarrassed to go out. Not a good look.

Obviously, this is just my opinion and this is just what works for me - if you're wanting a sun kissed, natural, glowing tan then hopefully this will work for you too.

What fake tan do you use? Do you have any top fake tanning tips and tricks? Have you ever used He-Shi? Do you like the sound/look of He-Shi?

Lots of love, Em x

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