The secret of a perfect St Barths Tan:

1. Start with clean shower or bath fresh skin. If still have patches of previous self tan you will need to exfoliate, but don't bother unless you can still see clear areas of tan.

2. Moisturise your skin to keep your skin baby soft so that the cells are plumped up by the slight water residue. Not only will this make you look younger, but it also helps to keep your tan even, use anything that seals in the water even olive oil or Vaseline will do. But remember if you are going to expose your skin to sunlight, when you are wearing self-tan you should always have as high an SPF as you can find, as self-tan stimulate the skin cells which means you may be more prone to tanning, but you will also burn much more easily.

3. Apply a thin layer of tan as evenly as you can all over, do not pour it directly on to your skin as the strength of the tanning agent means that it starts to work as soon as it touches your skin. So pour on to a mit, cloth or cotton wool and apply sparingly. St Barths tan isn't bulked up with cheap colorants that fade quickly and just stain your clothes. The colour will develop quickly giving you a deep all over tan in less than ten minutes and meaning you can still wear that white shirt to work. But watch out for your hands, it really does tan where it touches, so wear plastic gloves if you can.

4. Repeat daily to keep a rich dark tan, if you stop for a few days, you will need to exfoliate the next time you tan. Due to the unique formulation of St Barths tan your colour will fade consistantly, more like a holiday tan, so don't worry you won't have any streaks or orange marks if you do stop using it for a while.