St. Tropez is taking tanning into the shower this summer.
The self-tanning brand, owned by U.K.-based PZ Cussons Beauty, is launching an in-shower lotion designed to give users a buildable tan with a minimum of fuss. Dubbed Gradual Tan In-Shower Tanning Lotion, the product hits shelves in June.
“What is unique about this product is that it is the first-ever product that uses water to promote a gradual tan,” said Jacqueline Burchell, executive vice president of global marketing and product development for St. Tropez. “It is applied to clean, wet skin and left on for three minutes before being rinsed off. After showering, the self-tan actives will naturally start to work, developing gradually and deepening with regular reapplication. We recommend using it three days in a row for best results.”
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The formula also includes sweet almond oil, said to seal in the tan and hydrate skin for up to 24 hours. It will retail for $25 for a 6.7-oz. product.
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It will be sold in about 3,000 doors in the U.S., Canada and Latin America, including Ulta, Sephora, Sephora Inside J.C. Penney and QVC. To promote the launch, about 150,000 samples will be distributed in the U.S.
The British brand sees “a huge market opportunity” on this side of the Pond, added Victoria Wade Thompson, executive vice president of international sales for St. Tropez.
The brand conducted a survey of more than 1,000 women in the U.S. to craft the brand’s strategy. “Out of the U.S. female population aged 18 to 69, only 16 percent are current sunless tanning category users,” said Thompson. “That’s a tremendous opportunity. And our study showed that 35 percent of the majority of sunless tanning users start with gradual self-tan products.” She added that lotion is the most well-known and used form of sunless tanning, with 98 percent awareness of category users and 91 percent awareness of non-category users. As well, most women enter the sunless tanning category by the age of 21, with over 20 percent starting at the age of 16.