Hi, I have never ever tried Fake Bake so I cannot comment on it from my personal point of view BUT I have had probably twenty people ringing for spray tans asking that it is NOT fake bake because they have had bad experiences with it ie. patchy, too dark and spurodic around the hands, I have also had someone in whose daughters 21st party was apparently ruined because of a fake bake tan gone wrong. Now this could be down to how its applied or like above it perhaps could not have been a genuine fake bake product, although I didnt know you could get hold of copies, but as you are starting out I wanted you to have an informed choice like I did. There are lots of tanning suppliers out there and am sure they will be happy to send you some samples. Try tantrick, vani-t, celebrity secrets and sienna-x before you decide. Hope that helps xx