Recently updated on October 13th, 2018
Hey everyone!
I am so excited to share this post with you all! As a huge fan of cruelty free beauty, I love when I find a CF product’s quality truly stands out above major brand products. Today I want to share with you my experience with Golden Star Beauty’s self tanning lotion! I also have a discount code for you all! Keep reading 🙂
This post contains affiliated product links. However, all opinions are 100% my own. I only share and recommend products that I truly love and feel would benefit others.
Golden Star Beauty Self Tanner Lotion Review
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I am naturally super pale. Like, people have actually approached me in the grocery store to ask how I am so pale in Arizona. (some people can be so bold haha) Basically, I just avoid the sun! I burn so easily and hate the feeling of the brutally hot sun on my skin. I am also super into skincare and I know that the sun is my skin’s worst enemy when it comes to aging.
Anyways, I have always been a huge self tanner user. However, I have never found one that has looked natural on my super pale skin without having that lingering tanner smell. You know that smell… it’s sickening! Basically I had to choose to either have a greenish-brown/orange tan with no smell or have a decent colored tan but smell like sweat and dirt the entire week.
Golden Star Beauty, where have you been all my life?! This product left me speechless!
First and foremost, Golden Star Beauty products are made from certified organic and vegan products. They are cruelty free (which I love) and made in the USA. I love small and independent businesses so much, because they tend to be more innovative and unique since they want to stand out from their competitors. Let me tell you, this product surpasses the $40+ self tanners that I have purchased from Sephora! Their Amazon reviews are phenomenal by the way!
Preparation
The preparation process is similar to any self-tanner. I basically showered, shaved and exfoliated my skin. Typically, all I need is a gentle (cruelty free!) body wash and a loofah to get a good exfoliation, but sometimes I use a sugar scrub if I am feeling extra hehe! I didn’t apply any moisturizer out of the shower and I waited about 10 minutes before applying the tanner.
Application
Applying the self tanner is as easy as putting on lotion after a shower! I typically dread applying self tanner. It is usually so messy and the mit helps, but you have to really rub those tanners in circular motions and then you can’t touch anything for basically a day because of the applicator color. It’s a mess.
Golden Star Beauty’s tanner is not a mess at all! As you can see, it is a creamy white lotion. It blends so well and the whole process is effortless. I did not use a mit.
The smell is wonderful and not overpowering at all! It reminds me of any cocoa butter lotion with hints of coconut. Not going to lie, after realizing how easy and clean this product applied, I was a little skeptic on whether or not it would work and/or turn out super streaky like most lotions do. Keep reading for the results…
Results
After applying, I went to bed and even slept on light colored sheets. The next morning, I was expecting to see a little product on my sheets and jammies, but there was no trace of any color or stains. Yay!
As for the product results, I woke up to a beautiful, natural and streak-free looking tan. I know it sounds silly, but I literally couldn’t believe it! I even woke my husband up because I was that shocked with how great it worked! He kindly pretended as if he cared about my self tanning endeavors haha!
Like I said, I am naturally VERY pale, so this product gave me a creamy sun-kissed glow. If I wanted more of a darker looking tan, I would have to do another application. I personally love how build-able the color is!
Key Points:
- Cruelty Free & Vegan
- Certified Organic Ingredients
- Lasts about 5-7 days
- Looks natural & Doesn’t Streak
- Build-able color and great for fair skin tones
- Fades naturally and doesn’t flake off
- No self tanner smell at all!
- Smells like cocoa butter 🙂
Overall Thoughts
I am just obsessed! After wearing the product for six days, it started to subtly fade. There were no patchy tan marks or flakiness while the product was fading. I believe their use of natural ingredients, oils and hyaluronic acid helps maintain the color as long as possible without flaking off like other products will do. Plus, my skin felt so soft the first morning after application!
I am just so excited and inspired that a product can be so effective while also being so healthy, cruelty-free and affordable. I hope other beauty and skincare companies start to feel the pressure to become cruelty free and use more natural ingredients like Golden Star Beauty.
Likewise, I have spent $40+ on self tanning products, because those were the only ones that gave me decent results. Golden Star Beauty has products for half the cost and I believe they work better. They are such a great company with an amazing product that I truly believe you will love!
Offer Code!
Use my code GOLDENSTAR7 for 5% off your purchase of Golden Star Beauty products!
You can shop any of their products off Amazon’s website or right below 🙂