Jergens Natural Glow Daily Moisturizer is HOT right now. And not hot like the weather. Hot as in it's this summer's must-have beauty product and Roanoke Valley stores can hardly keep it on the shelves.

Why the craze?

It moisturizes. It tans. It's cheap.

People are asking for it every day, said Penny Jarvis, stocking clerk at Kroger in Towers Shopping Center. "It just gives a natural, healthy glow," Jarvis said.

Jarvis orders 12 bottles every other day just to keep Kroger's shelves full. CVS, Walgreens, Target and other local drug stores were sold out at last check.

Target has been getting a lot of requests, said manager Doug Harrison. He hopes some will come in soon because it sells so well. As for Wal-Mart on Valley View Boulevard, it sold out of 400 bottles in less than a week and employees are still waiting for another shipment.

Brooks-Byrd Pharmacy in Salem was expecting a shipment any day to meet the requests of customers. Manager Cameron Brooks said the wholesaler can't provide it fast enough.

Jergens Natural Glow isn't just hot in Roanoke; it's in demand all over the country. Newspapers in New York, Washington D.C., Denver, Dallas, St. Louis, Chicago and Raleigh, N.C., have reported on the trend. It may be because magazines such as YM, Glamour, Real Simple, Lucky and Self, along with CBS TV, have praised the lotion.

"What we did not count on was the tremendous amount of buzz that this product would have with consumers," Jergens senior brand manager Brian Rudie said.

As a result of all the buzz, Jergens has had to speed up production to meet consumer demand. Rudie said the company ships enormous quantities every week.

Jergens Natural Glow, for fair and medium skin tones, differs from other lotions because it can be used instead of a daily moisturizer while it darkens skin naturally.

"You can get a natural color all while going through your daily routine of moisturizing," Rudie said.

Nicole Lemon of Roanoke, who normally doesn't trust self-tanners, is hooked on this one. She bought it because it's made by Jergens, which she said is known for body lotions.

"In addition to softness, you get the color of a tan," she said.

Lemon is fair-skinned and saw subtle glow and shimmer after using it twice a day for about a week. She said it's different from typical self-tanners because her tan looked natural and not an orangish color.

Like other self-tanners, it uses dihydroxyacetone (DHA), which bronzes the skin. Unlike other tanners, Jergens Natural Glow contains erythulose, which absorbs deep into the skin and enhances color gradually. It's the erythulose that prevents streaking and an unnatural orange color.

Jergens Natural Glow costs $5 to $7, making it very desirable compared to $30 designer lotions and $25 salon spray sessions. Lemon snagged her bottle from Kroger at Towers for $6.99, which she said is about the same price as any other self-tanner.

This form of tanning doesn't expose skin to harmful UV rays, but neither does it protect skin from the sun - meaning it doesn't contain SPF.