I have been using the Anti-Wrinkle Tanning Cream from Institut Esthederm and I will boldly say from the very first sentence that I think it is amazing. It would be pretty great if it was just an anti-wrinkle cream – it smoothes on beautifully and provides long-lasting hydration – but as a tanning cream, it works small miracles!

Esthederm don’t use the SPF system to classify their products – instead they tell you which cream is most suitable for each strength of sun. I use the ‘Normal to Strong’ tanning cream. This isn’t the cream to use if you are intolerant of the sun or you burn incredibly easily; it’s not a sunblock. What it is is a cream that allows the skin to use the sunlight in a ‘positive’ way – it protects the skin from the outside, filtering out harmful UVA and UVB rays, but it also protects from the inside by stimulating the skin’s ability to defend itself.

“Claptrap” thought I, reading through the gumf that came with the cream. Although I had heard of Esthederm’s ‘Adaptasun’ technology, which allows the cream to adapt to the skin and the strength of the sun to provide adequate protection, I didn’t quite believe it would work. My face rarely tans and so I tend to keep it under a hat when I’m on holiday. My body tans easily and doesn’t burn (it would in extreme sun, but I am careful with my lotion reapplication!) and so I was interested to see how my face would compare to the rest of me after a few hours in the hot sunshine on my roof terrace. I  used the Esthederm Bronz Repair on my face and just Ambre Solaire SPF15 on my body, and sat out reading the papers for three hours from 1 until 4pm.

Well what do you know? My face, after three hours looked amazing! Just the very, very slightest hint of bronze – but the bizarre thing was that the colour was perfectly even! It looked as though I was wearing foundation! I couldn’t quite believe it, but I washed my face to make sure that it wasn’t the cream itself casting such a beautiful glow and there was the palest bronze, sunkissed skin. I tested the cream out on the following day to the same effect – wonderful. On the second day the sun was actually very strong, but I didn’t catch any redness on my nose or on my cheekbones. Normally I would apply a dod of extra SPF30 or 45 to my nose and forehead, but I didn’t need to! Brilliant.

This is definitely a keeper – it’s a gorgeously textured cream that absorbs easily and keeps the skin very moisturised. I adore it, but there is a catch…

Institut Esthederm Bronz Repair Anti-Wrinkle Tanning Cream has an RRP of £52 but is £49 with delivery from LookFantastic HERE