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Delux vs Australian Gold: Two Very Different Approaches to Sunbed Tanning

Delux vs Australian Gold: Two Very Different Approaches to Sunbed Tanning - Delux Tanners
Comparison

Delux vs Australian Gold.
Two very different tubes.

This is the question we get asked most. Australian Gold is a good, well-known brand, and plenty of people reading this will have a bottle of it at home. The two are just very different in how they give you colour. Here is what that difference is, and exactly what goes into every Delux tube.

0bronzer or DHA in any Delux cream or jelly
5melanin actives in Island Coconut and Electric Melon
Everyingredient listed in full and explained
50,000+orders shipped across the UK

The short answer: many Australian Gold lotions add colour from the bottle using bronzers or DHA, which its own website groups as immediate and delayed bronzers. Every Delux cream and jelly is bronzer-free and DHA-free, so nothing in the tube tints your skin and the colour you see is always your own tan. If you want instant colour from the bottle, a bronzer lotion does that job. If you want no bronzer, no DHA and to know exactly what is on your skin, that is what Delux is built for.

1The difference2Inside a Delux tube3Side by side4Why Delux5Which to choose6FAQ

Part one

What is the difference between Delux and Australian Gold?

It comes down to where the colour comes from.

Immediate bronzers: colour on top, straight away
Colourants that tint the skin the moment they go on. Australian Gold's own product pages for lotions such as Cheeky Brown and Sinfully Black name ingredients like caramel, henna and black walnut shell, and say this kind of bronzer can last up to two days but washes away with water.
Delayed bronzers: DHA, colour over a few hours
DHA is the active ingredient in self-tan. It reacts with the top layer of skin and develops a brown colour over several hours. Australian Gold groups these lotions as delayed bronzers on its UK site; Dark Side and Nothing But Black are two whose pages list DHA.
Bronzer-free: colour from your own skin
No colourant at all. The formula supports the tan your skin makes under UV, so the colour builds over your sessions and is your own melanin. This is how every Delux cream and jelly works.
A bronzer adds colour on top. Delux helps your skin make its own.

Part two

What is actually in a Delux tube?

Every Delux product page prints the full ingredient list, and our guides explain every ingredient in it. Ingredients are listed in order of amount, so where an active sits on the list tells you how much of it there is.

Island Coconut and Electric Melon: five melanin actives

The same Next-Gen cream in two scents, coconut and watermelon ice. Your skin makes melanin in stages, and the formula has one ingredient for each, all listed above the fragrance:

  • 1
    N-Acetyl-L-TyrosineThe building block. The stable form of the amino acid your skin converts into melanin.
  • 2
    MelanoBronzeThe signal. Monk's pepper extract with acetyl tyrosine, made by one lab in Switzerland and used under licence from the maker.
  • 3
    Copper GluconateThe enzyme's mineral. Tyrosinase, the enzyme that turns tyrosine into pigment, depends on copper.
  • 4
    Acetyl Hexapeptide-1A cosmetic peptide that mimics the signal telling melanocytes to make pigment.
  • 5
    NiacinamideSupports moving finished pigment up to the surface, and evens tone while it does.

Underneath sits a skincare base of aloe, shea, squalane, ceramide NP and ectoin, with panthenol and beta-glucan, in a light texture that absorbs in minutes with no residue.

Island Coconut 200ml tube beside a swirl of untinted cream on dark stone

No colour in the cream. The colour comes from you.

Sun Sauce: the jelly

If you would rather not use a cream, Sun Sauce is a water-based jelly with no oil. It carries our highest levels of acetyl tyrosine and niacinamide, with acetyl tyrosine fifth on the label, plus panthenol, betaine, aloe and allantoin for hydration. A 5p-sized amount per area, and it sinks straight in with a glossy finish.

Go Dark: the original

A rich, buttery conditioning cream built on shea, cocoa, coconut, oat and jojoba. Conditioned skin takes colour evenly and holds it, and Go Dark doubles as a daily moisturiser between sessions.

Lumière: for your face

A 50ml face cream with acetyl tyrosine, MelanoBronze and acetyl hexapeptide-1 at levels chosen for thinner facial skin, on a light base with ceramide NP, hyaluronate and squalane. It absorbs fast, sits under make-up and leaves a luminous finish. A pea-sized amount per area.

Electric Melon 200ml tube next to a Sun Sauce tanning jelly pouch

Electric Melon and Sun Sauce. No bronzer, no DHA, in either.

Part three

Delux vs Australian Gold: side by side

Australian Gold details are taken from its UK website, australiangold.co.uk, checked on 15 October 2026.

Australian Gold Delux
How the colour is made Many lotions add colour on top with immediate bronzers, delayed bronzers (DHA) or both Always your own tan
Bronzer or DHA In many lotions None, in any cream or jelly
Ingredient lists Check each bottle Printed in full and explained on every product page
What you see after a session With bronzer lotions, an instant tint, which its site says washes away with water Colour that builds over your sessions and is yours

Part four

Why do people choose Delux?

Nothing to tint. No bronzer and no DHA, so there is nothing in the tube to turn you orange and nothing to come off on sheets, towels or a white top.
The colour is yours. It builds over your sessions and stays as long as your own tan does, rather than washing off in the shower.
You know what is on your skin. Full ingredient lists on every product page, with every ingredient explained.
Cream or jelly, body or face. Rich creams, a light jelly with no oil, and Lumière built for the face.

Part five

Delux or Australian Gold: which should you choose?

You want instant colour from the bottle. A bronzer lotion does that job. Check the label for bronzers or DHA.
You want no bronzer, no DHA, and to know exactly what is on your skin. Choose Delux. Every cream and jelly we make is bronzer-free and DHA-free, with the full ingredient list on the product page.

Whichever you pick, neither a bronzer lotion nor a Delux cream is a sunscreen. Outdoors, wear a separate broad-spectrum SPF. UK Health Security Agency guidance on GOV.UK is that sunbeds are for over-18s only, and that you should not use one if you have very fair skin or burn easily.

Quick answers

Frequently asked

Is Delux better than Australian Gold?
They take different approaches. Many Australian Gold lotions add colour from the bottle with bronzers or DHA. Every Delux cream and jelly is bronzer-free and DHA-free, so the colour is always your own tan. People choose Delux because there is nothing to tint, nothing to go orange or transfer to sheets, and every ingredient is listed and explained.
Does Australian Gold contain bronzer?
Many of its lotions do. Its UK website groups lotions with immediate bronzers and delayed bronzers (DHA). Check the label of the bottle you are looking at.
Do any Delux creams contain bronzer or DHA?
No. Every Delux cream and jelly is bronzer-free and DHA-free. They support the tan your skin makes under UV.
Will Delux turn me orange?
No. There is no DHA and no bronzer in the formula, so there is no tint. The colour it helps build is your own melanin.
Do Delux creams contain SPF?
No. Outdoors, apply the cream first, let it absorb, then wear a separate broad-spectrum sunscreen over the top.

No bronzer. Just you.

Every Delux cream and jelly is bronzer-free and DHA-free. The colour is always your own.

Shop Island Coconut
Shop all creams

Sun Sauce jelly · Lumière for the face

Sources: Australian Gold UK product pages for Cheeky Brown, Sinfully Black, Dark Side and Nothing But Black, and the australiangold.co.uk website, checked 15 October 2026. Australian Gold is a trademark of its owner. This page is not affiliated with or endorsed by Australian Gold.

Delux · No DHA, no bronzerShop the creams
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