Are Tanologist Drops or Water Better? Full Review

I prefer to be tan. I do. Sue me. I look better when I have a moderate tan. My eyes and teeth are brighter and I feel more confident. As evidenced by the slew of sunless tanners on the market, I don’t think I’m the only one either.

When I saw that my BFF Target had started carrying the new line , I had to try it out. was started by UK-based makeup artist Lottie Tomlinson. I am biased but I really do think hair and makeup artists understand color on a different level so I had high hopes for these products.

I purchased the and Tanologist Face + Body Drops, both in Light. I tried them each separately on different days.

I’ll be reviewing each product individually and comparing them to similar products from Isle of Paradise.

I really really didn’t like the last self tan water I tried. Before I ruled out “water” as a sunless tanning method all together, I wanted to give Tanologist’s version a go.

Application

This is a non-aerosol spray pump that won’t spray out as well when not held upright. It dispenses an appropriate amount of product but you still need a tanning mitt to blend it out right away. I had no problems blending this with my mitt.

Dry Time

stayed sticky for at least 30 minutes and never fully dried down and I don’t feel like. I’m a sweaty person though, so who knows.

It says to wear it for 1-4 hours, so it’s not super express but nice that you don’t have to sleep in it if you don’t want to. I assure you; I never want to.

Scent

has a fresh, non-tropical scent and a normal to less than average DHA scent. Every sunless tanner will have a scent as it develops but this is nothing horribly offensive.

Color

The color delivered was very believable. Even my mom commented that the color looked really nice and realistic and I assure you; she’d be the first to let me know if it didn’t!

On my upper body, it looked great. However, on my legs, specifically my lower legs, the color simply did. not. take. Even when I applied 2 coats, it just didn’t stay.

Wear

It wore pretty well on my upper body. I didn’t see any weird streaks, patches or uneven fading.

However, as I mentioned, my legs looked basically like I hadn’t applied anything to them. It’s mainly my shins that are the problem. I think they’re made of wax paper or something.

I really love The and I wanted to see how compared.

Application

In general, I like the delivery method of drops vs. a water much better. These feel similar to the , perhaps a little thinner consistency. When mixed with a body butter or moisturizer on the face, it’s easy to apply.

Dry Time

are less sticky than the tanning water for sure. The dry down time depends more on what you mix it with so as long as your moisturizer isn’t too heavy or sticky, this won’t be either.
Tip: Mix with aloe vera gel for the lightest texture possible in the hot months.

Scent

There’s a light, fresh scent, but it’s faint and not overpowering. Again, very similar to . I hardly notice any scent at all while the develop so that’s awesome.

Color

I definitely got better color on my legs from vs. the tanning water. I don’t feel like the color is as pigmented or as realistic as .

It’s fine, and it takes the edge off, but I don’t prefer it to .

Wear

I think the wear is slightly below average. It doesn’t last long on my face so it’s something you’d need need to stay consistent with to maintain color. That’s to be expected though as we exfoliate and wash our faces more vigorously.

Do I recommend ?

I use sunless tanners to mainly take the edge off my legs, and because the didn’t work on my lower legs, it didn’t really serve it’s main purpose for me. I will probably continue to use it on my upper body, because the color really was nice, but will use a different on for my legs and wouldn’t repurchase.

The were definitely better but because they are only $9 less than a similar product that I like much better, I wouldn’t repurchase them either.

I like the clear format, fresh scent, availability at Target and that is vegan and cruelty free, but I think there are better sunless tanners out there at this price point. I’m putting together a blog post about the best sunless tanners to highlight the ones that really do excel in all the aforementioned areas.

If you’re feeling risky and want to try one, I’d definitely go for the drops. That being said, I’d just get the Isle of Paradise Self Tanning Drops for $9 more. Thanks for reading and stay tuned for my best sunless tanner post.