Your tan will develop fully within 6 to 8 hours and we would recommend avoiding moisture or direct contact with water during this time, in order to prevent the development process being stopped. You can also shower the product off before this point, once you're happy with your colour. However, once the full development time has been reached, the tan will fade evenly over the course of 7 days and you can absolutely swim in a pool, lake or the sea. Please be aware that swimming in chlorinated water and very hot showers can make the colour fade more quickly. Generally a mid-week top up will refresh the colour and on non-tanning days we'd recommend keeping the skin well moisturised and lightly exfoliating once or twice a week. If you do find your tan fading a little more quickly, you may want to reapply a day sooner.