If you're as pale as this humble author, you will know that the road to a beautiful bronzed glow is fraught with peril. As a teenager, I once tried a very dark, very runny fake tan (slathering it over my pasty thighs reminded me of when I once watched a friend's mum baste a raw chicken with soy sauce). The result was am opaque, muddy and decidedly unnatural shade that was a far cry from the 'J-Lo glow' I was after. Another time, I mistakenly told the spray tanner to just 'go for it' when they asked how dark I wanted the colour - I later emerged looking like Liberace.

And if an inch of skin gets overlooked when applying a heavy tan, then it's game-over, amigo (white ankles are usually the most common giveaway). Not to mention the fact that after a few days comes the patchiness, as the tan starts to wear away and your natural white skin starts peering through like the Ghost of Christmas Past.

Hence, when it comes to a natural looking glow in these first few days of summer, you want something that's going to ease you in gently, doesn't require surgical-precision to apply and won't develop into an unnaturally deep and murky colour that will scare the horses. 

Take a look through our gallery of the best gradual bronzers to help you dip your tanning toe in the water...