Designer Skin Spellbound - Indoor Tanning Bed Lotion Review

My biggest pre-requisite before trying out a new indoor tanning bed lotion, is that it can't be a bronzer, so when I went to pick out a lotion from the Designer Skin collection, I had an unusually hard time finding a tanning bed lotion maximizer that didn't contain a bronzer. I chose Spellbound, because while the description on the wholesale wesite was iffy, it seemed as if all of their other products contained a bronzer.

As superficial as it may seem, the only reason I wanted to try a lotion from Designer Skin had to do with its packaging. Their bottles are like artwork - very unique, artsy and super cute. I have nothing but respect for the marketing genius who designed these things. Unfortunately, my experience with Designer Skin's Spellbound didn't live up to the hype.

Usually, tanning is a pleasant experience for me, but upon opening the sample packet, I was instantly nervous. The lotion is tinted a medium tan color, and that's usually the first sign of a bronzer. I held the packet up to my nose and smelled a cross between an after tan odor and a nasty bronzer smell. I was confused but it was too late to turn back.

I normally don't use bronzers because I tend to go light on the lotion application and always wind up with serious streaks. Just in case this was indeed a bronzer, I took my time and used the entire packet to make sure I didn't miss an inch of my body, and to make sure that it was evenly applied.

I used Spellbound in a level 3 tanning bed, but I emerged not noticing too much of a difference, and not smelling too yummy. There is no way I would have gone out for a public outing after using this stuff. In fact, I raced home to shower the stank off me.

Before I showered, I went back online to ensure that Spellbound really wasn't a bronzer. The website I bought it from contained a description that was extremely vague, so I went to Designer Skin's website, and sure enough:

"Powerful quadruple bronzing serum...DHA..."

I raced off to the shower and was able to avoid any streaking.

I allowed myself to get sucked into Designer Skin's marketing, a.k.a. adorable bottle designs, and needless to say, I won't be trying another lotion from Designer Skin for a long time, mostly because I couldn't find a single lotion of theirs that didn't contain a bronzer. I shouldn't have to dig that hard to find something I like.