The formula, in full.
Three things decide whether a self tanner works with your skin or against it: the base it is built on, the active blend, and the pH. Almost no brand publishes any of them. Here are ours.
Why two actives instead of one
As DHA concentration rises, the colour shifts further toward yellow compared with a real tan — which is most of why sunless tanning earned its reputation. Erythrulose develops more slowly, over 24 to 72 hours, and reads warmer. Because it carries part of the colour, less DHA reaches the same depth, and less DHA means less of that yellow shift.
Ultra Light
Very fair, sensitive and eczema-prone skin. First-time self tanners.
Light / Medium
Fair to medium skin, everyday glow. The most popular shade.
Medium / Dark
Medium to olive skin, deeper bronze. Experienced self tanners.
The base decides what your skin does while the colour develops
The actives create the colour. The base determines what happens to your skin in the meantime, and it is the most overlooked decision in self tanner formulation.
Grass-fed tallow's dominant fatty acids are oleic, palmitic and stearic — the same three that dominate human sebum, which is why skin takes it up readily instead of leaving it sitting on the surface. Grass-fed specifically: a commissioned comparison found roughly 22% more oleic acid and 65% less natural trans fat than grain-fed tallow from equivalent cuts.
An honest limit on that comparison. Human sebum is not only fatty acids — it also contains squalene and wax esters, and tallow contains neither. The overlap is real, and it is in the fatty acid fraction. It is not a whole-profile match, and we are not going to claim it is.
What we left out
These are the classes most often implicated in reactions to personal care products, and all of them are common in conventional self tanners.
- synthetic fragrance — a leading cause of contact dermatitis, and usually there to mask DHA odour
- essential oils — as sensitising as synthetic fragrance on reactive skin
- drying alcohols — they strip the barrier lipids your skin uses to hold water
- synthetic bronzers and dyes — colourants that only add to the ingredient load
- parabens — a documented sensitiser with repeated use
The formula, in a jar
Three shades. Every number published. Shipping included.