Loving Tan

Loving Tan is an Australian self-tanning brand founded in Brisbane in 2010 [9]. It makes sunless tanning products for home use — mousses, lotions, creams and face serums, alongside applicators and removal tools — and positions its formulas as professional-strength alternatives to a salon spray tan. Since July 2023 the company has been owned by Soleil Collective, a tanning-focused group whose portfolio also includes Coco & Eve [10]. The brand continues to operate under its own name, with new product launches as recently as 2025.

The company was started by Joanna Hinton, a lawyer who was 28 when she created the original formula [7]. According to Loving Tan, the idea came out of a practical frustration: working long hours, Hinton kept missing her weekly spray-tan appointments and could not find an at-home product that matched the depth and finish of a salon result, so she set out to develop one herself.

Loving Tan dates its founding to 2010 in Brisbane, Queensland [9]. The brand's account of its beginnings centres on Hinton's stated goal of recreating a salon spray tan at home — to "deliver the depth, natural colour, and flawless finish of a salon spray tan in a self-tan formula that was effortless to apply." The first product was a professional-strength self-tanning formula, which the company says grew over the following years into an international customer base of self-tan users.

Trade coverage has described Loving Tan as "Australia's first professional strength self-tan," a framing tied to its origins as a retail brand that later moved into the salon and spray-tan trade. Hinton has said customers were asking for the products in salons because they "wanted to achieve the same colour from their local salons and at home."

On 5 July 2023, Loving Tan was acquired by Soleil Collective [9][10]. The brand's own materials name its parent company as Soleil Collective LLC, citing it in the context of corporate responsibility commitments [3]. Soleil Collective is described in trade reporting as a portfolio of tanning products that also includes the brand Coco & Eve [10].

Through its parent, the company states that it is "committed to helping prevent modern slavery and human trafficking" across its business and supply chain, and references a 2025 Modern Slavery Policy. Beyond this, the brand's published materials do not detail manufacturing locations or broader environmental commitments.

Loving Tan presents itself as a brand for people who want a dark, natural-looking tan at home with results comparable to a professional treatment. The company frames its purpose as "creating products for tanning lovers who desire a dark + natural-looking tan at home with professional results they can trust," and lists core values including "quality without compromise" and "results you can trust."

The brand positions itself toward the upper end of its category. In trade comments, Hinton described an emphasis on "organic and natural ingredients" and placed the brand on the "premium side of the tanning market" [7].

The range spans body self-tans — mousses, foams, lotions and creams — plus face serums and accessories such as applicator mitts and a tan-removal glove. Products are organised into development-time lines: a 2-hour "Express" range and an 8-hour "Deluxe" range, with shade options described as medium, dark and ultra-dark. Among its named products are the Deluxe Bronzing Mousse, the 2 HR Express Self-Tanning Lotion and the 2 HR Express Face Self-Tanning Serum.

The formulas rely on two active ingredients common to sunless tanning. The company describes DHA (dihydroxyacetone) as "a naturally-derived, skin-friendly sugar that reacts with amino acids in the top layer of your skin to mimic the colour of a natural tan," and explains that erythrulose works alongside it to slow development for a more even, longer-lasting colour. A published ingredient list for the Deluxe Bronzing Mousse also includes aloe vera and black walnut extract [8]. Each product carries a tinted guide colour that rinses off, after which the actives continue to develop the final tan.

The brand's products have been described by the cruelty-free review site Logical Harmony as vegan and cruelty-free [8]. Loving Tan also applies a "dermatologist-tested" badge to its face-tanning products. In January 2025, the company expanded its faster-developing line with a 2 HR Express Face Tanning Serum and a 2 HR Express Tanning Lotion [10].

Loving Tan has received trade and editorial attention in Australia and the United Kingdom. Professional Beauty Australia covered its move into the salon trade, and TheIndustry.beauty described it in 2025 as "the Australian brand renowned for its rapidly developing self-tanning mousses" [10]. In a long-form review, Logical Harmony called itself "a total convert" to the Deluxe Bronzing Mousse, reporting "a deep, gorgeous, and natural looking tan for days." The brand reports no formal awards in its published materials.

Loving Tan remains active and is owned by Soleil Collective following the 2023 acquisition [9]. It continues to sell under its own name and through major retailers, and its most recent publicly documented activity is the January 2025 launch of two new express-tanning products [10].