Beaut.ie Jury: Johnson & Johnson Holiday Skin

Hating fake tan as much as I do means I never, ever want to willingly test it. You can keep your stale bikkie smell, brown elbows and streaks, ta very much. If I need to add a bit of colour I go for an Armani or Murad-esque tint that comes with zero commitment and a wash-off promise.

So when we got word that Johnson & Johnson had reformulated and betterised Holiday Skin for 09 with an improved fragrance and made it less streak-prone, we knew we should probably tell you about it - it's a hugely popular product at a great price. But I couldn't face, y'know, using it myself.

So I hit upon the bright idea of recruiting willing guinea pigs testers from the blog's readers. Catherine, Deirdre, Sadhbh and Claire stepped up to the mark. All had used the original product, so were well primed to judge the improvements, if any.

The girls all got a good chance to test their samples, with Deirdre, Claire and Catherine trialing fair-to-medium, and Sadhbh plumping for dark. Then I asked them to rate their experience based on the following criteria:

What was the smell-factor like? Is it the same or an improvement over the original?

"The smell is definitely an improvement," said Claire, who described it as "subtle and pleasant", adding that while it did develop a tell-tale fake tan whiff, it was far milder than it used to be. "The husband didn't even notice it" she reported. Catherine described it as "a ginormous improvement," revealing that she'd "put it on two days now, in the morning, and not a sniff of a stale biscuit off me over the course of the day." Deirdre compared it to a bottle of the old formula she had lying about  - "it stank" - and found that the new product "smells gorgeous,"  adding, "I found it to be a slightly creamy, baby powderish scent, really gentle and almost soothing." But Sadbh wasn't a fan: "the smell was quite like plasticine and I didn't really think it was better than the original."

How did the product apply and how did the colour develop?

Deirdre found it easy to apply and slightly creamier in texture than the original, Sadbh said "the product applies well and does develop nicely," adding that "it's very much a layered product though, and even with two thickish layers of the dark colour, I wasn't too tanned. Three is probably the optimum." Catherine said it "went on nice and smooth, and a little goes a long way, so don't use too much. It's still slightly greasy though, so needs a good bit of time to dry before getting dressed. I wouldn't fancy wearing it to bed!" Claire's verdict was that it was "MUCH easier to apply than before. It absorbed much faster and seemed creamier. I think the fast absorption meant that streaks were minimized. It developed over about six hours to a nice light natural colour. Two coats were perfect for my uber-pale skin."

Did it moisturise skin, and how did the colour change/wear over a few days?

All agreed that while they won't be ditching their regular body moisturiser, the new Holiday Skin has improved hydration. "It did moisturize to an extent, but I would still need a separate body moisturizer for proper soft skin," was Claire's thinking, and Sadhbh reckoned that "the formula is quite nice and moisturising in a thin layer. If you put on a thicker layer it's quite sticky as it doesn't sink in that much." Catherine found it to be "pretty moisturizing, but a bit greasy going on," and Deirdre said that "the lotion was absorbed very quickly." She thought it was reasonably moisturising, but won't be giving up her  Payot Vitalite Minerale just yet, as she has dry skin.

Sadhbh felt exfoliation was key to keeping colour looking great: "the colour was nice, but it wore off a little unevenly on my arms and so thorough exfoliation is a must!" Deirdre was particularly impressed with how it developed around wrists and ankles, finding the finished result to be very natural and even. Not a fan of the oompa loompa look, she was pleased that no one realised she was wearing fake tan.  "I did however get a few comments  that I was looking really well, or I was looking refreshed but that was it and I think that's a very good thing," she reckons. Catherine got three days out of two applications of the product, and at that point it was starting to look a bit blotchy. "I exfoliated it off and it all came off fine - no patches left," she reported.

The acid test - is it better than the original?

"Yes.  It definitely is," said Deirdre.  "I have to admit, I have a tendency to be skeptical about reformulations of products that didn't really work for me in the past, but in this case my skepticism was unfounded.  Overall, I am quite impressed," she added. "They have definitely improved it," declared Claire, adding that "the main areas of improvement are the fast absorbing/creamier texture, meaning no streaks if you take some care applying, and the smell." Catherine said that it was "way, way better than the original," and Sadhbh also gave it the thumbs up. "I quite liked the old Holiday Skin and did think it smelt better, but this one has better colour and is more even, which is what really counts. So yes, I think it is better."

Would you buy it again, and is it value for money at €7.49?

All said they'd buy it again, and all thought it represented value for money. "Very good value for €7.49," said Claire and Catherine agrees: "yes - I'd buy it again, great value at the price compared to St Tropez Everyday at €20."

Finally - marks out of ten?

Sadhbh:  7/10
Catherine: 7/10
Claire: 8/10
Deirdre: 8/10

Girls - would you ever have thought you'd see the day when Johnsons Holiday Skin would score a 1:1?

As Miley would say, well holy God.