Although summer is at an end, if you’ve managed to catch yourself a bit of tan – be it from UK sun or a holiday abroad – the chances are, you’re going to want to keep hold of it.

With the UK weather as unpredictable as ever, ensuring you prolong your summer glow is crucial and luckily, there are a few products on the market these days that can help you do just that.

From after sun lotions to gradual tan creams, we’re pretty keen to try it all to keep our skin glowing post-holiday, as well as ensuring the right sun protection and care measures are taken.

Enter Lancaster’s golden tan maximizer after sun lotion which promises to prolong your bronzed skin for up to one month, as well as said to help repair the skin after intense sun exposure by calming and comforting it.

With a range of these types of moisturisers available, it’s hard to know which ones actually work. That’s where we at IndyBest come in, testing products so you can feel more assured before you purchase. Putting Lancaster’s claims to the test, here’s how we got on...

How we tested

We waited until after we came back from a summer holiday with a fresh (and pretty impressive, if we do say so ourselves) tan before embarking on the prolonging journey. We applied it to our face and body once a day, in place of our regular body moisturiser and although it was very hard, as sun worshippers, we avoided being in the sun for large periods of time so that we could fairly assess the magic of Lancaster’s golden tan maximizer after sun lotion.

Lancaster golden tan maximizer after sun lotion

Best: Prolonging your tan

Available sizes: 125ml, 250ml, 400ml

Where to apply: Face and body

Key ingredients: Buriti oil

The first thing we always take note when trying a new skincare product is its texture and scent. While some after sun lotions can be thick and sticky, this cream was lightweight and absorbed quickly into our skin, while still delivering a nourishing sense. The smell was also quite pleasant and completely inoffensive so you would have no trouble seamlessly swapping your usual moisturiser for this new product in the month after a holiday.

Made with natural products such as buriti oil, Lancaster’s tan activator complex works to intensify melanin production to aim to extend the user’s golden tan. In addition to making your tan last longer, the after sun element of the lotion also features a repairing complex to calm your skin and reduce any risk of peeling.

We obviously kept a visual track of how tanned our skin remained – any tan-obsessee will be doing this anyway – but what we were really impressed with was how other people commented on the fact that we seemed more tanned than the previous time they saw us post-holiday. If ever we needed validation of the success rate of a product, this is it!

While we also noticed a softness and suppleness to our skin with each use, we can’t exactly confirm as to whether this is truly unique to the golden tan maximizer after sun lotion or not – as we would usually find that there was less chance of peeling and dry skin with regular moisturising (with any cream) post-tanning.

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The verdict: Lancaster golden tan maximizer after sun lotion

We really enjoyed using the Lancaster golden tan maximizer after sun lotion. Not only did we notice that our tan didn’t fade as quickly, but we also received compliments from friends and family on “somehow” being more tanned than when we met immediately upon returning from our trip.

We must acknowledge that we do go quite dark and ashy with our natural tan (as opposed to strictly golden) so in the before and after photos, it is visible that our skin has technically gone lighter – but more bronzed from using the after sun lotion. However, ultimately, it did prolong our tan and kept it golden and glowing during and after the period of use.

Taking all skin types and budgets into consideration, we’ve rounded up the best face moisturisers on the market right now