I am a pale person. I accept this. After dozens of ill-fated trips to tanning beds and vacations to paradise that ended with my getting charred like a lobster, I have long since realized that my skin will never tan naturally.

I’ve also made attempts at self-tanner (both the lotion and spray-on variety) that resulted in some comically disastrous results and evenings spent smelling like a chemical toilet. Not to mention the fact that I invariably ended up orange. So it was with a bit of trepidation that I tried Beautisol’s line of sunless-tanning products.

The first miraculous revelation about Beautisol is that the self-tanning body lotion comes in a pump bottle. Why has no one thought of this before?! The meted dispensing is incredibly helpful, and there is a handy-dandy little card that tells you exactly how many pumps to use for each area of the body, so I didn’t feel like I was going to have one leg from Hawaii and one leg from Norway. The next thing I noticed was the smell; a lot of self-tanners claim to smell good, but Beautisol actually does. Perhaps a little detergent-y, but hey, smelling like laundry is better than smelling like tanner.

Once I had fully applied it, I prepared to waddle around for a while waiting for the product to sink in, but it was already absorbed. Seriously—just like that. It was so silky and lightweight that it disappeared into my skin practically instantly. I applied it right before bed, and it didn’t rub off on my pajamas or sheets.

The next morning, to my delight, I found that I looked tan. Golden, not orange. Healthy. Good, even. (Note: I also tried the Need I Glow More? Face Tanner, and it was equally glorious.)

Of course—here’s the thing about self-tanner—no matter how great the product is, you still have to be able to apply it properly, and since Beautisol does not come with an attendant to apply it for me, there were some streaks. But that was totally my fault; the Beautisol website offers how-to videos with easy application tips, which I’ll definitely watch before I try again. I thought I had surrendered to sunscreen-slathered pastiness, but Beautisol is definitely making me consider taking up this battle again.