The full product guide
Go Dark.
Every ingredient, and why.
We built this brand on saying exactly what is in the tube and what it does, and that has to include the tube we started with. Every ingredient in a Delux formula has to earn its place, no filler actives at trace amounts, no fillers, and nothing on this page that is not printed on the label. It is why we are one of the only tanning brands willing to go through the whole list and explain it. Go Dark is the original. It is the shortest list in the range, the richest scent, the easiest cream to get on with, and, we will say it before anyone else does, the gentlest tanning result we make. Here is why, ingredient by ingredient.
11ingredients, the shortest list in the range
5plant butters and oils doing the conditioning
1job: condition skin so it takes and holds colour
0DHA, bronzer, tingle or learning curve
Go Dark is a deep conditioning cream first. There is no tyrosine and no MelanoBronze in it. It helps you tan by getting skin into the condition that takes colour evenly and keeps it.
It is the gentlest tanning result in the range. If you want the fastest colour, that is the Next-Gen creams. If you want the easiest, most forgiving, best-smelling first cream, this is it.
Eleven ingredients. Nothing to decode. Nothing hiding at the bottom.
A 10p-sized amount per area. It is rich; a little goes a long way.
Part one
Where Go Dark sits, honestly
Go Dark was the first thing Delux made. It was built as a luxurious tanning-day body cream: heavy on butters, rich in scent, made for people who want the ritual of a beautiful cream as much as the result. It does not carry the melanin stack we developed later for Island Coconut, Electric Melon and Bubblegum Mania, and we are not going to imply that it does. What it carries is five plant butters and oils that condition skin properly, and conditioned skin is skin that tans evenly and holds the colour. That is a real mechanism. It is also a gentler one than a five-active stack, and anyone who tells you their moisturiser out-tans an accelerator is selling something. We would rather you knew the difference and picked on purpose.
The original Delux cream. The gentlest result we make, the richest scent, and the easiest place to start.
Part two
The base: three
Ingredient 1Aqua (water)First
A water-based cream that starts with water, which is what makes it sunbed-safe. The oils are held in an emulsion, not poured on as an oil, so nothing clouds the acrylic.
Ingredient 2GlycerinSecond
The humectant. Draws water into the top layer of skin and keeps it there between sessions. Second on the list because hydration is the whole point of this cream.
Ingredient 3Propylene glycolThird
A second humectant and solvent that keeps the butters and the water phase stable together and helps the cream spread. Common, gentle, and doing a structural job rather than a cosmetic one.
Part three
The butters and oils: five, and this is the product
This is where Go Dark earns its name on the front. Five plant emollients, sitting fourth to eighth, above the silicones and the emulsifier. On a lot of "butter" tanning creams the butter is a name on the front and a whisper at the back of the list. Here it is the middle of the formula.
Ingredient 4Shea butterFourth
The lead. A rich plant butter that softens skin and slows water loss, which is what keeps a tan from flaking off early. Fourth on the list, which is high for shea in any cream and the reason Go Dark feels the way it does.
Ingredient 5Cocoa seed butterFifth
Heavier and more occlusive than shea, cocoa butter seals moisture in and gives the cream its body and part of its warmth. It is also why Go Dark suits dry skin and cold-weather sunbed months better than anything else we make.
Ingredient 6Coconut oilSixth
A light emollient for slip and absorption. In the emulsion it conditions without the greasy film pure coconut oil leaves on skin and on beds.
Ingredient 7Oat kernel oilSeventh
A soothing oil rich in skin-friendly lipids, the same reason oat is in eczema creams. It calms UV-exposed skin and is the quiet ingredient that makes Go Dark forgiving on people who find other tanning creams irritating.
Ingredient 8Jojoba seed oilEighth
A liquid wax that closely mirrors skin's own sebum, so it absorbs cleanly and supports the barrier without weight. Balances the richer butters above it.
Part four
The finish: two silicones and a fatty alcohol
We have said in other guides that we prefer plant esters to silicones, and the Next-Gen creams reflect that. Go Dark was formulated before we made that call, and it uses two. We are telling you rather than hoping you do not read this far.
Ingredient 9DimethiconeNinth
A silicone that gives the cream its glide and a smooth, sealed finish over the butters. It is what makes a rich formula spread from a small amount instead of dragging.
Ingredient 10CyclopentasiloxaneTenth
A volatile silicone: it carries the cream on, then evaporates, which is why Go Dark feels rich for a moment and then does not feel greasy. It is doing a specific job on a butter-heavy formula and it sits below every plant ingredient on the list.
Ingredient 11Cetearyl alcoholEleventh
Not a drying alcohol. A fatty alcohol that thickens the cream and keeps the oils and water mixed. Softening, not stripping.
The signature scent and the preservative system complete the label; the scent is the part of Go Dark people write to us about, and it is the strongest in the range by design.
Part five
How a conditioning cream helps you tan
Three ways, and none of them is magic. Dry skin takes colour patchily, because the surface is uneven and shedding; conditioned skin takes it evenly. Dry skin sheds the colour it has built within days; conditioned skin, with its barrier intact, holds it for weeks. And comfortable skin gets used consistently: people apply a cream they enjoy before every session, and consistency is the single biggest factor in building a tan. That is the whole case for Go Dark, and it is a fair one. What it is not is an accelerator with a melanin stack, and if that is what you are after, the Next-Gen creams are where to look.
Go Dark
Condition
Shea fourth on the listFive plant emollientsRichest scentNo tingle, no learning curve
Tans through conditioning. Gentle, even, forgiving. The easiest first cream.
VS
Next-Gen creams
Stack
Acetyl tyrosineMelanoBronzeCopper, peptide, niacinamideSkincare base
Condition and accelerate. Faster, deeper colour. Where to go next.
Part six
Versus the shelf
Versus a body butter. Similar idea, similar feel. Go Dark is built for tanning days: water-based so it is sunbed-safe, oat and jojoba for calming UV-exposed skin, and a finish that does not transfer to the bed.
Versus a "butter" sunbed cream. Read where the butter sits. On most, shea and cocoa are after the fragrance. On Go Dark they are fourth and fifth.
Versus a bronzer lotion. Instant colour from DHA or a tint that washes off and streaks. Go Dark paints nothing on. Slower, and yours.
Versus a basic accelerator. Here is the honest one. A cream with tyrosine will out-tan a cream without it, other things being equal. Go Dark wins on feel, scent, gentleness and price; it does not claim to win on speed.
What Go Dark is not
Not an accelerator with a melanin stack; there is no tyrosine or MelanoBronze in it, by design and by date. Not the fastest colour in the range. Not a sunscreen; wear one over it outdoors. Not a bronzer. And not the tube for people who dislike a strong scent, because that is the point of it.
Part seven
How to use it
Prep: exfoliate the day before, not the day of. Clean, dry skin.
Apply: a 10p-sized amount per area, spread thin and massaged in until it disappears. Go Dark is rich, so the temptation is to use more; the butters spread further than you expect, and a thick layer sits on the surface and ends up on the bed. Thin and even, and the tube lasts.
Sunbed: give it a few minutes, then follow the salon's times. Moisturise after; on Go Dark days you may not need to.
Outdoors: sunscreen over the top, reapplied every two hours and after swimming.
Expect: softer, better-conditioned skin from the first use; colour that builds evenly over regular sessions and holds longer than with nothing on. For faster colour, step up to a Next-Gen cream when you are ready.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
Is Go Dark a tanning accelerator?
It is a deep conditioning tanning cream. There is no tyrosine or MelanoBronze in it. It helps you tan by conditioning skin so it takes colour evenly and holds it, which is real but gentler than the Next-Gen creams' active stack.
Which Delux cream is best for beginners?
Go Dark. No tingle, nothing to get wrong, a cream that feels like a body butter, and the richest scent in the range.
Go Dark or Island Coconut?
Island Coconut for faster, deeper colour with the full five-part stack. Go Dark for the richest feel and scent and the gentlest result. Plenty of people use Go Dark on rest days and a Next-Gen cream on session days.
Does Go Dark contain bronzer or DHA?
No. No colourant of any kind.
Can I use Go Dark on a sunbed?
Yes. It is water-based, so the oils are held in an emulsion and nothing clouds the acrylic.
How much should I apply?
A 10p-sized amount per area, spread thin. It is a rich cream and goes further than it looks.
The original. Explained, not oversold.
Eleven ingredients, five of them butters and oils, and the scent everyone asks about. The easiest place to start.
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