Million Dollar Tan Cabana Tan Extreme Face & Body Lotion Review!

Million Dollar Tan Cabana Tan Extreme Face & Body Lotion

Million Dollar Tan Cabana Tan Extreme Face & Body Lotion ($66) is Million Dollar Tan's Best Selling Formula for long-lasting, natural, ultra-bronzed color. It's made with organic ingredients and is paraben free.

I jumped on the Million Dollar Tan bandwagon after it seemed like every Youtube beauty guru was raving about it and deeming it their all-time favorite self tanner. Despite the hefty price tag, I gave in with expectations of a beautiful, deep tan.

I really like the consistency of the lotion. It's thin - therefore it smoothes on the skin easily and doesn't leave a heavy feeling on the skin. Also, the lotion isn't tinted, which has it's advantages as well as disadvantages. I really like the fact that it isn't tinted because it allows me to apply the lotion to my neck, chest and body in the morning after my shower, and I can look forward to bronzed skin hours later. The only disadvantage is that since it isn't tinted, you can easily miss areas of your body since it goes on clear. To avoid streaking/missing areas, work in small areas at a time.

Application

I don't typically like using my bare hands to apply self tanner, but it's my preferred method with this particular tanner. Latex gloves streaked the product on my skin and wouldn't properly blend, and a mitt seemed to absorb too much product. To apply, I would just simply pump some product into my palm and apply it to my skin as I would a normal body lotion - in circular buffing motions. To make the product go a little further, I'd like to add a pump of regular body lotion to every two pumps of self tanner. For my neck/chest, I like to be a little darker, so I usually apply around two layers of product. It dries pretty quickly, so once dry, you can apply another coat of product for a darker result.

*To avoid orange knees, elbows and feet, I will use a small amount of body lotion and rub it into those areas before and after applying the self tanner.

To avoid over-tanned hands and palms, I typically wash my hands a couple of times through the application process.

Results

The lotion provides a really nice even tan. It's a nice tan color with pretty strong golden yellow undertones - not super brown, but not really orange. I prefer lotions that have a hint of red, as they tend to look a little more natural on my skin. As far as the color being "extreme", it really isn't. With one coat, it brings me around 1-2 shades darker. (Maybe a MAC NC15 to a NC20-25.) My legs come out a bit darker, but my arms, neck and chest need 2-3 applications before I'm satisfied with my color.

Unfortunately I don't have any before/after photos, because when I traveled with the lotion, it completely emptied out in my luggage.

Here are a few photos on my vacation where I was wearing the self-tanner. Again, I apologize that the photos aren't the best since my arms or legs aren't exposed, but hopefully you can get an idea of the color with a few applications.

Lasting Power

Here comes the good and the bad. The good part is that the tanner lasts longer than any other self tanner I've used. Most self-tanners last 3-4 days, but Million Dollar Tan lasts for a solid week. Now the bad part is the way that it fades. The best way I can describe it, is that it fades like a temporary press-on tattoo. In my experience, I haven't had one instance where the lotion faded evenly without blotching. I've noticed that wearing binding jewelry (such as watches) and tight/strappy sandals can lift the tan off in those spots. Also, sometimes I'd wear jackets with binding faux leather sleeves, if I sweat, it would wear down the tan and cause it to look uneven and patchy. Once the tan lifts off in certain areas, it's very difficult to get it to look even again until it completely fades after several days. Scrubbing won't remove all of the color. There were instances where I scrubbed my skin with abrasive cloths and sponges until my skin became bright red and actually bled, and still 100% of the tan wouldn't be gone. Applying tan over top of old tan blotches won't even out the color, it will only make the tan look blotchy (darker in the areas with left-over tan).

Because of this, you have to be very careful of mistakes, so either I skip applying the product to my hands and feet completely and use a different self tanner with better fading capabilities, because my feet tend to be dry and it can overtan those areas, and I wash my hands a lot, so after a few days it can lift my tan off and leave darkened knuckles.

Here's an example of what I mean by fading patchy. Yuck!

Face Lotion

I found the face lotion to work in the same fashion. It only provides a very light tan with first application, and a very nice medium tan with 2-3 applications. But, it also fades patchy - especially the area around my mouth/chin. After a few days, I'll have to scrub my face until all of the color is removed or be forced to wear a full coverage foundation to cover up the uneven color. Also, I wasn't able to apply it every day, as after around three days, I would break out (not a bad break out, but a pimple here and there).

Would I recommend? Despite the cons, it really does provide a nice tan (before it fades). In fact, if it faded naturally, this would probably be one of of my top favorite self-tanners. I love everything about the self-tanner, but the patchy fading outweighs all of the good for me. In many of the reviews, reviewers didn't mention the fading factor, so if you're interested, I don't want to discourage you from purchasing this product. It's great for a special occasion, but I won't be using it as a regular self tanner.

Will I repurchase? No. I won't personally. But I will give the spray a try and see if it works any better for me.

Have you tried this self tanner? I'm really curious to see if any of you had the same issue as me. Let me know in the comments!

The Round-Up

Pros:

• No color guide, so you can apply the lotion during the day
• Develops fairly quickly - after a few hours the tan is already starting to develop and will intensify after 5+ hours
• Nice tan color - although it's not super brown, it's not orange
• Long-lasting - the color lasts a full week
• Color is still visible after showering
• Has a really nice coconut scent
• 
  

Cons:

• Although the color is nice, it could use a little more red pigment to look a bit more natural. I found that it gave me an obvious self-tanner appearance
• Fades patchy 
• Difficult to remove

Price: $66, Million Dollar Tan.