If you try one product, make it this body lotion-meets-tanner that's fast-tracked my skin into spring

Here's a simple way to shake off your winter pallor, whether the weather's playing ball or not

A marble backdrop containing an image of a hand with red nails holding Gatineau Golden Glow Gradual Tan and an image of Fiona Mckim in a green blazer with blonde hair
(Image credit: Future / Fiona McKim)

Some sentences are impossible to write without sounding like a brag, so here goes: I recently returned from a 10-day holiday in Thailand.

Well, ok, there's a bit of braggery in there - but this is also relevant information. For balance, here's a less envy-inducing fact: I have fair-going-on-blue skin that hates to see the sun coming.

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Gatineau Golden Glow Gradual Tan
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Gatineau Golden Glow Gradual Tan: was £22 now £18.99 at Amazon

Save on our beauty editor's favourite gradual tan for pale skin in Amazon's Spring Sale, which ends Monday 16th March.

Why this easy, subtle gradual tanner is my beauty buy of the week

I'm aware that 'the best self tan for my Thai holiday' isn't the most relatable angle. But this recommendation translates perfectly to this time of year at home, too.

Just as the sea is at its very coldest, not in deepest midwinter, but right at the end, I think our skin hits peak grey as we cross from late winter to early spring. And this excellent body-hydrator-meets-gradual-tan is just the thing for a warmth injection to a sad complexion.

Two images of beauty editor Fiona McKim, one wearing a stripy dress with her hair pulled back, one outdoors with sunglasses and a blue and white shirt

Me on holiday with, not overly bronzed, but certainly warmer, glowier and less-blue-than-before skin - all thanks to Gatineau Golden Glow

(Image credit: Future / Fiona McKim)

Said hydration and bronzing work in tandem to pull your skin out of the grey, scaly season and toward sun and softness. This is a nice confidence boost, whether you're going away or just feeling utterly sick of your big coat and ready to flash an ankle, wrist, or even - woof! - a clavicle.

So what if the weather's not quite caught up with our springtime ambitions (did someone say snow in Scotland?) Gardeners' World is back on the telly, and I, for one, am leading with hope and optimism - and have the sunny glow to prove it. Sounds good? Great! Let's chat next Sunday.

Fiona McKim
Beauty Editor, womanandhome.com

As woman&home's Beauty Channel Editor, Fiona Mckim loves to share her 15+ years of industry intel on womanandhome.com and Instagram (@fionamckim if you like hair experiments and cute shih-tzus). After interning at ELLE, Fiona joined woman&home as Assistant Beauty Editor in 2013 under industry legend Jo GB, who taught her to understand ingredients and take a cynical approach to marketing claims. She has since covered every corner of the industry, interviewing dermatologists and celebrities from Davina McCall to Dame Joan Collins, reporting backstage at London Fashion Week and judging the w&h Beauty Awards.

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