Angela Beitz gets swiftly and safely bronzed with the Vita Liberata spray tan at The Beauty Spot Salon.
The promise
This 80 percent organic tan is free from parabens, alcohol and perfume and claims to be kind and nourishing to skin, lasting up to a week. It has also been creating a bit of buzz of late and has been named ‘official spray tan of The X-Factor UK 2012’.
The experience
It’s easy to get caught up in always wanting to be super-tanned and bronzed, especially in a place like Abu Dhabi where there is sun all year round. But the truth is that tanning is bad for you, so we highly recommend going with the fake option. For those with psychological scarring from streaky, orange and terrible smelling tans of the past, it should be reassuring to know that fake tans have come so far in terms of technology. Results now look natural and can be catered to be as dark or as light as you want.
For our pre-holiday golden glow we head to The Beauty Spot, a well-established hair salon which also offers nails, waxing and make-up, along with the Vita Liberata spray tan.
We are given disposable underwear and a shower cap, into which we get changed, and then we are told to wipe off our make-up and anything else on our body such as moisturiser or deodorant. We opt for a lighter shade, because we are very pale and don’t want to end up looking unnaturally dark or orange. Jane, our therapist, starts by putting the special Vita Liberata moisture barrier cream on our hairline, fingernails, hands, knees and feet so that we don’t get excess colour in these particularly dry areas. We are sprayed with two coats of the fake tan and Jane makes sure it is evenly applied, going over a couple of areas a few times. It takes about 25 minutes for her to do the two coats and then we wait for ten minutes while Jane makes sure that we are dry and that no areas are splotchy.
The results
The tan is natural and completely even. We are very happy with it. It doesn’t have a smell like some fake tans do and it makes our skin feel soft, which is a nice bonus. We have a natural glow without any streaks.
Pros
It’s a very quick, painless process and the staff are well trained so it is applied evenly without any tan trickling down your legs. It develops quite quickly and it will last about a week, so it’s perfect if you have a special event or if you are going on holiday. It’s also relatively cheap compared to others in the city.
Cons
No cons of note, obviously if you don’t like fake tans then this is not for you.
5/5
The Vita Liberata Spray Tan costs Dhs225. The Beauty Spot Salon is open Sat-Wed 10am-9pm; Fri 2pm-9pm. Eastern Mangroves Hotel & Spa by Anantara, Eastern Ring Road (02 656 1149).
