It’s that time of year when we all want to be perfectly golden seven days a week to keep our summer wardrobe options open. Tanning, maintaining tanning and having the right tools are all essential to achieve the perfect tan.

Exfoliate and moisturise, obviously. If you’re taking your last application off have a couple of showers to really remove all those patches with exfoliating gloves and moisturise afterwards. I’ve been for sprays in salons where they have even put moisturiser on dryer parts before spraying for a more even finish. So if you have dry hands and feet put a little light moisturiser on just before you tan to stop these areas developing into darker patches than the rest of you! I find Simple Light Moisturer works well.

Use a tinted tan product. My favourites are dark mousses like St Tropez and Superdrug Mousse so you can see where you’ve applied and where you’ve missed. It’s more fool proof to avoid patching, mousses are also usually non sticky and dry quickly, so are less disturbing if you leave on all night.

Use more than one product. Some body parts are much easier to get wrong! Hands and feet need very little applied. Although a mousse is my preference, I like a spray to finish my hands and feet and face where I use less. I like PHD which smells nice and dries quickly it also has a long nozzle which can reach the classic struggle areas like the centre of your back.

Then it’s all about maintenance. Moisturised skin holds tan longer and stops that horrible dry itchy feeling! My favourite is Superdrug Vitamin E All Over Body Cream because it is really light and quickly absorbs into the skin.