Hi everyone! Later this week I’m going to be taking on to sunny Las Vegas for my friend’s bachelorette. I’m sure this is where the whole “what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas” thing is going to come into play! Anyways, since I know lots of people are planning to go away right now (a ton of my co-workers are running away from Canada this week too) and summer is right around the corner I thought I would share some posts on getting ready for the sun! Keep checking back to make sure you don’t miss any of them, and be sure to comment to let me know how you get ready for a vacation/summer!
Anyways, the first thing I realized I needed to take care of before I go away is the lovely shade of Casper I’ve turned over the winter. Don’t get me wrong — I really do love pale skin at times, but the fact that I would literally glow when wearing a bathing suit and surrounded by tons of tan people just doesn’t really appeal to me. As a pale lady I’ve always been a little bit afraid of self-tanning but decided to give it a try with a couple of products. I decided to go with two different products – one for the face and one for the body – so that I could tailor the results to my liking.
For the face I was really excited to give the new Clarins Radiance-Plus Golden Glow Booster ($30) a try. The face was definitely the area that I was most worried about applying self-tanner to as I figured a mistake would be most noticeable there. Let me just say right now that with this product I really didn’t need to be worried at all! It’s really simple to use – you simply add 2-3 drops of this “oil” like substance to your daily moisturizer depending on what kind of a look you’re hoping to achieve. I started off by adding 3 drops to my night cream before going to bed every night until I developed a nice golden glow. I was a little about waking up with an orange face the first time I used it but was really happy to see that the change in colour is very gradual. I’ve since moved down to about 1-2 drops a night to help maintain it now that I’ve found the perfect colour (I was using 3 drops for about 1.5 weeks to get to the level I’m at). This stuff has definitely made it to the top of my favourite new products of 2014 list so far. I would also like to point out the fact that one of my friends told me it looked like I had an amazing tan the other day… Something that’s never happened to me before!
For the body I turned to St. Tropez Bronzing Mousse ($40). Again, being a self-tanning newbie I was a little freaked out about seeing how this would turn out on my skin – I’ve seen too many streaky, self-tanning disasters to make me think twice about giving this a go. I’ve heard nothing but good things about St. Tropez so I figured I would just take the leap and try it. First of all, I really like the idea of applying the self tanner in mousse form. It’s easy to apply and the tint to it ensure you can see where you’ve applied it so you don’t up looking streaky or spotty. The St. Tropez applicator mitt is also a must. It allows you to buff the mousse into the skin so you know you’re getting it applied properly while keeping the palms of your hands clean. I’ve applied it a couple of times since the colour doesn’t develop intensely (there is a darker tan version available if you’re looking for more colour) and will probably do it again before I go away just for a bit more of a glow. I like to apply it before bed (make sure you give it time to dry before climbing into bed or getting dressed so you don’t stain anything) so that the tan can develop overnight before showering – they suggest waiting 8-10 hours before getting wet, and the longer you wait the better. If you wanted to give this a try, just a quick tip – make sure you exfoliate and apply lotion before you start, especially to the knees, ankles, elbows and feet. It will help to ensure a more even application so you can avoid streaks!
Anyways, so far the faux glow is going strong and I’m nearly prepped for Vegas. Do you use self tanners? What do you use? Any tips to make the most of them?
