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Why Delux Has Seven Formulas, and Why the Eighth Is Taking So Long

Why Delux Has Seven Formulas, and Why the Eighth Is Taking So Long - Delux Tanners
How we work

Why Delux has seven formulas,
and why the eighth is taking so long.

People ask two questions about our range. Why so many products, and why do new ones take forever to arrive? They have the same answer. We are trying to build a product for everyone who tans, and we only release one when it beats what is already out there. The first part is the goal. The second part is the reason for the wait.

8months to finish the Next-Gen formula
12months on the tingle, and counting
4months on the face cream
0products released because the deadline arrived
1The goal2The rule3The map4What went back5Why we are slow6FAQ
One goal: a formula for every way people tan. Rich cream, light jelly, face, sunbed, holiday, tingle, from within.
One rule: nothing is released unless it outperforms the best of what we have tested. If it does not, it goes back into development.
One consequence: we are slow, we have cut finished products, and we would rather that than a launch calendar.
One promise: every product page tells you what that product is for and what it is not.

Part one

The goal: a product for everyone who tans

Nobody tans the same way. Some people want a cream that feels like a treat and smells like one. Some hate anything heavy and want a jelly that vanishes. Some only care about their face. Some are sunbed regulars, some see sun twice a year on holiday, some want the hot tingle, some want to support their skin from the inside as well as out. One tube cannot be right for all of them, and a brand that says its one tube is right for all of them is describing the tube, not the customer.

So the range is not a set of flavours. It is a set of answers to different people. That is why the guides on this site are as honest about who a product is not for as who it is for. Selling you the wrong Delux product is still selling you the wrong product.

The range is not seven versions of one idea. It is seven answers to seven different people.

Part two

The rule: it has to outperform, or it does not ship

Before anything is released, we use it against the best products we can find in that category. Not the worst, the best: the brands we look up to, and there are a few, and we respect them. If our formula does not give better results than those in our own hands, on our own skin, over real sessions, it is not finished, whatever the manufacturer says and whatever the launch date was supposed to be. It goes back, and we start again on the part that fell short.

That sounds obvious. In this industry it is not. Most products launch when the label is printed. Ours launch when they win.

Part three

The map: who each formula is for

Island Coconut, Electric Melon, Bubblegum Mania. The Next-Gen creams: one formula, three scents. The full five-part melanin stack on a skincare base. For anyone who wants the deepest result we make in a cream. Not for people who find creams heavy.
Sun Sauce. The jelly. Oil-free, glossy, two actives placed high. For people who hate creams, for real heat, for salons that ban oil. Not the full stack, and not forgiving of a heavy hand.
Lumière. The face. A thinner base that will not congest, tyrosine fifth on the list, and face-serum actives. For anyone whose face is where they want the result. Not a sunscreen, despite what the label might make you think.
Go Dark. The original. A deep conditioning cream that tans through conditioning, with the richest scent in the range. For beginners and people who want the ritual. The gentlest result we make, and we say so on its own page.
Tanning Gummies. The inside half. Skin support from within, alongside a cream and sessions. Not a tan on their own, and we will never say they are.
The tingle. Coming. A year in development so far, because a tingle that is a warming agent in a moisturiser is not worth releasing. Ours has to carry the full stack under the heat. Here is why.

Not sure where you sit? Find your formula sorts it in under a minute.

Part four

What went back

This is the part most brands would not write. We have made complete products, packaging designed, formula finished, and cut them at the last minute because they did not beat what we tested them against. That money is gone and we would spend it again. Bubblegum Mania was discontinued rather than sold on an older base, and came back only once it could sit on the Next-Gen formula. Go Dark is being rebuilt right now with tanning actives, because a conditioning cream is an honest product but we want it to be a tanning cream too; it will still be the gentlest in the range, and it will be better. The tingle has been through more versions than anything we have made.

A finished product that does not win is not a product. It is a draft with a label on it.

Part five

Why we are slow, in numbers

The Next-Gen formula: eight months. The base, the stack, the MelanoBronze, tested against the best creams we could buy until it beat them.
The tingle: a year, so far. Getting a strong, clean warmth without nicotinates that fight the rest of the formula, with the full stack underneath.
Lumière: four months. Rebuilding the base for a face, keeping the actives high, adding what a face needs.
Products cut after completion: more than one. We do not name them because they never existed as far as you are concerned, which is the point.

We could release a new scent every month. Plenty do. We would rather release one thing a season that we have used against the best and would hand to a friend. If that means the eighth formula takes longer than you would like, we understand, and it is still not shipping until it wins.

Quick answers

Frequently asked

Why does Delux have so many products?
Because people tan differently. Each formula is built for a different person: rich cream, light jelly, face, beginner, inside support. The guides say who each is for and who it is not.
Why do new Delux products take so long?
Nothing is released until it outperforms the best products we test it against. The Next-Gen formula took eight months, the face cream four, the tingle over a year. Products that do not win go back into development or get cut.
Which Delux product is the strongest?
For tanning results in a cream, the Next-Gen creams. Sun Sauce for a jelly. Lumière for the face. Go Dark is the gentlest and the best beginner option.
Have you ever cut a finished product?
Yes, more than once, after the formula and packaging were done, because it did not beat what we tested it against.

Seven answers. Find yours.

Every formula has a person it was built for. One of them is you.

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