Beauty news: James Read Tan arrives in New Zealand

A few years ago when I was visiting London, a very respected makeup artist friend gave me some sample bottles of his favourite self-tanning products – James Read Tan. He's an incredibly fussy sort so I knew they would be good, just how good pretty much blew my mind.

James Read himself is a self made "tantrepreneur" whose products now regularly sell out on Net-a-Porter and whose skill at creating honey hued limbs is legendary. The go-to guy whenever a celebrity or model needs to take the pallor out of her skin, Read’s client list reads like a Who’s Who of the red carpet, from Mariah Carey to Lady Gaga and Lara Stone. It was inevitable that he would go on to create his own self tanning range, and in 2012 it launched in the UK and is finally available down under at Mecca Cosmetica. Hurrah! 

"I have dreamed of having my own product range from the very first day I started working in the self-tanning industry 11 years ago," he told UK Vogue back at the time of the James Read Tan collection’s release. "I wanted to create a range of luxury products that give the skin a natural, healthy-looking colour, but also protect the wellbeing of the skin by using anti-ageing ingredients in the formulations."

Read worked on the range - which includes fragrance-free liquid, gradual and wash-off tans, as well as an innovative gradual tanning pen - for two years, with the help of former Vogue beauty director Anna-Marie Solowij and her business partner Simon Turnbull. The end result is a carefully curated collection of essentials that are beautifully formulated, highly effective and – most importantly – super easy to use. Read has formulated his products with conditioning ingredients to suit every skin tone in one universal shade, and the possibilities really are endless.

The product from the collection that I have on high rotate at the moment is the Instant Bronzing Mist  - an instant tanning mist that imparts a smooth golden glow. The technically advanced 360-degree nozzle means application is a cinch with a decent glove, too. Whisper light and in the aforementioned universal shade to suit all skin colours, the mist continues to develop over 3-5 hours on the skin, lasting up to 5 days. It has been formulated with Aloe Vera to hydrate, Vitamin E to help protect against UV damage and Co Enzyme Q10 to help to reduce the signs of wrinkles, and is pretty much magic in a bottle.

Next on my wish list is the Tan Extending Sleep Serum, a regenerating and repairing serum that delivers complexion-beautifying results whilst extending the life of both a fake and natural tan.  Formulated with Aloe Vera to hydrate, Melano Bronze to prolong a tan, Monk's Pepper to boost skin regeneration and Milesis to target the look of ageing, it is a colourless formula that helps to soften skin and even out skin tone. Genius.

Check out the range online at Mecca Cosmetica here.