Tanwise Dark Bronzing Sunless Mousse

I really wish the company didn't change the formula of this product. This was the BEST self tanning mousse on the market with one of the most unbeatable prices. I wish I had stocked up on the old formula (brown/white label) before they changed it. The product is now streaky, doesn't last as long and creates patches. It's such a bummer.

I've used this for the last few years but now find the tan is different from bottle to bottle like the ingredients are not consistant. Plus the pump stops working half way through a bottle every time. The upside is if you buy this from Sally's you can return your defective bottle for a new one for free...without a receipt. Need to move on to something different cause this isn't worth the money and time.

After using this product for a few years and trying different techniques to apply it, I finally made it work for me! If you apply it straight from the bottle you’re going to be sticky for a LONG time. I would put this on before bed and I’d wake up feeling so sticky and gross. It almost never fully dries and if you aren’t careful the product will slide around and leave brown patches and white patches. BUT, by adding a pump of body lotion to my hand with one pump of mousse this goes on perfectly and dries instantly. I also get a much more even and natural looking tan this way and it lasts just as long. I apply it this way with rubber gloves and never have any issue. The only problem is it will make your face darker than your body even with lotion so use sparingly! Also make sure to have a back up empty foam/pump bottle because the pump on this product is a piece of sh!t and will stop working half way through your tan.

I absolutely love this product. The color is a dark greeny olive-brown when you pump it out, the formula blends into the skin very seamlessly and easily. I would recommend exfoliating very well beforehand and after the shower applying moisturizer to any dry patches and letting that soak in for 30mins to an hour before applying the mousse. The only con would be that my acne scars and small dry patches turn into a dark green color if I apply this tanner to my face, which only comes off by scrubbing the hell out of my face! Other than that I just use a regular tanning mitt from Amazon and the process is pretty simple and results are beautiful!

The best tan you can buy.
I'm very fair. A true "Type 1" skin. I've never had a 'sun tan' in my life as my skin does not have enough melanin to produce a tan.
I recently had my yearly physical. There was a new doctor on the staff who I had my appointment with. Where she had never met me, she didn't know how pale I naturally am. She brought up during the physical how I was in good health , but had to be 'smarter about sun safety '. I was dumbfounded as I wear SPF 50 all over ever day.
It then occurred to me that she thought this tan was REAL. I squealed with delight as I lifted up my shirt to reveal my actual skin tone on my tummy.
She fully admitted she had believed my tan to be an actual sun tan. She then asked for all the details about this sunless tanner to buy for herself and to recommend to her sun worshiping patients !
I have all of the expensive sunless tanners in my collection... NOTHING can compare to this one!

This stuff is incredible on me. I'm pretty pale naturally (nw18) and this makes me look naturally tanned and radiant. I'm kind of a beginner with self-tanners but recently I tried a "light" one that turned me pretty orange and it was very noticeable. I went to Sally's and the girl set me up with this stuff, even though it said "dark". It is a slightly green/olive formula (might not work if your more pink/cool-toned) but it looks like a natural tan because it's not orange-y. It was apparently so natural that no one (not my family, boyfriend or boss) noticed I was like 4 shades deeper than usual out of the blue. It also didn't dry out my already dry skin, which was nice.

I use this with a $10 St. Tropez mitt and it applies pretty seamlessly. I find it dries pretty quickly but not so fast that you can't get an even application. You just have to be super diligent about scrubbing prior to application and it should go on flawlessly. Highly. highly recommend.

I absolutely hate this stuff I've had a couple bottles of it and given plenty of chances. First the guide colour is so bad and I wouldn't leave the house with it on. It's a dark green/brown and it looks like I painted myself brown, aside from that the tan that I get is always patchy and looks like it's an old tan wearing off it lasts 2-3 days and it has a bad scent. Now the best part the last bottle I have bought of it turns me green! I ran out of my tanner and tried this again and washed it off and was left green/grey on the upper half of my body. Here in Canada it's $17 before taxes, and not worth $1, oh and it's hard to apply (on me anyways) it dries while rubbing in and it's so hard to get it rubbing in quick enough. I wanted to love this since so many others do but it's the worst self tanner I have tried and really don't like being left green/grey, the only positive thing is the bottle lasts a long time I get a lot of applications out of it. Guess that's what I get for buying self tanner at Sallies.... low quality junk.

This s*** is DARK. The bottle means serious business when it says "ultra black bronzer". As others have already mentioned the guide color can be frightening upon initial application but fear not because your tan will not be that incredibly dark brown once you take a shower and rinse it off. However, it does leave you with a beautiful deep rich tan without the dreaded orange glow that most cheap self-tanners give. This gives me a darker tan than my St. Tropez Self Tan Dark Bronzing Mousse and they both last about the same amount of time. Tanwise Dark Bronzing Sunless Mousse has a light chocolatey brown undertone whilst the St. Tropez delivers a more golden olive result because of the dark green guide color. Tanwise has a better fragrance than the St. Tropez which leaves me and my bedsheets wafting of DHA by morning. I frequently combine them to get the best of both worlds 🖤

Overall, a much better self-tanner than most of the drugstore options and rivals the higher end ones too. I buy it at Sally's for $12.99.

Best self tanner I have used in years.
Dries down fine for me and minimal DHA smell. The color is fantastic. The color guide is a bit over the top, but I apply it before bed so not really an issue. I apply with disposable vinyl gloves.
Just be careful when you go to Sally's because Tanwise has a wash off bronzer that comes in the same mousse bottle. Make sure it says Sunless on it so you get the right one :)

I gotta say, this beats Fake Bake Flawless & Flawless Darker in my book. I'm a fairly seasoned self-tanner and this is definitely the best I've tried especially at this price point. I was using the Fake Bake Flawless line for years until I realized that it was drying the heck out of my skin and aggravating my eczema most likely due to it's high alcohol content. I was quite sad but I knew I had to switch to something with no alcohol. Enter, Tanwise Mousse (I use this in the dark shade btw). I am so glad that I made the switch, I only wish I started using this mousse sooner. I could've saved my skin from so much aggravation while also having an even better tan. For further reference, I'm naturally an NC15 skintone but can get my body to an NC40-45 within 1-2 days with the tip I give below.

--The Color Guard--
This mousse has a dark brown color guard with obvious olive tones, at first it looks somewhat dirty and ashy when applying for the first 10 minutes until it starts to develop into a more natural bronze color that gets darker the longer you leave it on. The scent is hard to describe but if it can be described at all, I'd say a slight almondy coconut tanning product type scent?? and that's me reaching. I actually really like the scent and don't find the DHA smell to get too gross after its been on for a while.

--Application-- *(& a tip for those wanting a REALLY deep tan fast)*
It's very easy to apply (I suggest applying with a tanning mitt) and not at all messy. It goes on pretty evenly for the most part but I have gotten slight streaks before that lessen as it develops and completely goes away after you wash the color guard off. Now the key here if you want a really nice deep tan after one go is to layer the tan. After liberally putting on the first layer, let it sit for maybe about 2+ hours (don't rinse it off) then put on a second liberal layer over top of it and let it sit for the rest of the day/night at least 8+ hours (the longer, the better). I'd advise not going anywhere while doing this as it makes you look pretty darn dirty in the process. I wish I knew of this tip a long time ago because it works! Even after rinsing off the color guard I'm left with quite a dark tan and I'm naturally pale. I like to take things further by repeating this process a second time and getting an even darker tan. A con is that it does remain fairly tacky while its on for several hours after applying. It takes a while to dry down but it's okay because that's the price you pay for no alcohol.

--Results--
The tan this mousse provides is a very even olive-brown based tan which in my opinion, looks quite natural even after its been on for 4+ days. It retains a more natural appearance than Fake Bake Flawless (which starts looking super golden yellow after 4+ days). With one single layer, this makes my NC15 skin about an NC30 but with one double layer NC40 and two double layers NC45 (which takes about 2 days to achieve). How long the tan lasts will depend on how you moisturize, how much you shower and how many layers you put on (the more layers - the longer it lasts). I have found this tan to last an average of 6-7 days which is decent. It fades gradually and naturally for the most part but there's been times I have seen it become somewhat patchy in certain areas like my hands and feet after the 5th day but not every time. One of the best things about this tanner is that I have not experienced my skin drying out from it which is huge -no more uncomfortably, distgustingly dehydrated, no amount of lotion can remedy skin! (looking at you, Fake Bake Flawless). Another great aspect is that I find it pretty easy to remove after 6-7 days. I don't have to rub my sensitive skin raw just to get it all off. It's about $13 for 7 fl oz and can be found at Sally's. This is definitely a self-tanner I'll stick to.