Tanceuticals is probably one of the best self-tanners I’ve ever tried, at the recommendation of http://www.selftanning.com, where it was one of the only products with a true 5/5 rating. But as with any self-tanner, you still have to play by a few rules to get a good application.

The price point for this product is steep ($28), and honestly, there isn’t a whole ton of product in it — perhaps only 5 to 6 full-body applications worth. The liquid is runny and brown when it comes out of the tube, although, in my opinion, for being so thin, the product doesn’t spread very far and you’ll feel like you need to keep going back to the bottle to get more product. The initial smell is standard fare sunscreen-coconut smell, devolving into equally standard fare DHA-stink after hour eight.

Wear gloves with this product!! I mistakenly tricked myself into believing this could operate similarly to a true gradual self tanner. Do not do that. It will create crazy brown deposits if you aren’t spreading this out thinly, and avoiding the “thin skin” areas.

I think what I love most about this product is that there’s essentially no dry time. It absorbs really quickly, cutting down on the potential to rub your skin against something on accident and smear the color. The color starts showing after a few hours of application. It doesn’t stop there, either: it continues to get darker as the day goes on. It does skew brown, not orange, and never gets too dark, just dark enough to be noticeable to other people.

Onto a few more weird quirks about this product. You CANNOT stack any other product with this in an effort to “enhance” the tan. This will cause extreme streaking and blotching with the original product. My normal MO is to use Jergens Self Tanner every morning to keep the underlying base color, and if I’m going out somewhere special at night, I’ll use a mousse. Forget all of that with this product. It does not play well with others, in fact, I would say don’t even reapply the product itself until day 3 or 4. Also, this product dries the heck out of your skin by hour eight, even if you end up using a regular body lotion later on in the day. This seems strange to me, since the ingredient listing is actually relatively tame (no alcohol, many plant-based ingredients).

For all you sensitive skin users: I did not experience any DHA rashes on my body, but this stuff will definitely make your face break out. I did, however, just recently purchase the face tanner of this product (which is advertised as “gentler”?), so I’ll be reviewing that separately and we’ll see if that does any better!

I know it seemed like there were a lot of complaints in this review, but self-tanners are honestly so hit or miss. There are a lot of components to them working correctly, and every product is different. Overall, though, I was really blown away with the fast dry time and the overall color, particularly because that color does stay steadily intact for three to four days. I also appreciate that the ingredient listing seems more plant-based than most. ~A

Click here to buy Tanceuticals on Amazon:  https://amzn.to/2NrW61o

Perceived efficacy: 5/5

Longevity: 4/5

How much I actually like this product: 4/5

Recommended for sensitive skin: Yes — on body only.