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Monthly Archives: July 2010
Lulu Guinness ‘I Love Makeup’ Bag
I’ve said before that I refuse to spend very much money on makeup bags, because I know I’m just going to ruin them, but the very literal nature of this one by Lulu Guinness did make me smile, so here it is!
It’s £55, which is rather a lot, considering that it only looks big enough to carry those daily essentials most of us cart around with us (or is that just me), but if it tickles your fancy, you can buy yourself one at My-Wardrobe.
Dollface Reviews: Ambre Solaire No Streaks Bronzer
Did I ever tell you about the time I decided to go to one of those spray tanning booths?
Long story short: the woman who ran the place took one look at me and refused to let me anywhere near that spray booth. OK, I exaggerate. She didn’t refuse to let me do it, but she did sit me down and strongly urge me against it, explaining that the tanning lotion would spray on very quickly, and dry in even quicker, and that if I didn’t use those precious few seconds to make sure it was distributed evenly over my entire body, I would wake up the next morning to a fake tan disaster of epic proportions.
“And on skin as pale as yours,” she concluded, “any little mistake is going to be really, really obvious.”
I took the wise woman’s advice. I beat a hasty retreat from the spray tan booth, drove to Asda (which was the only place open at the time: we were flying to Greece early next morning, so time was of the essence), bough a cheap bottle of fake tan, the brand of which I have long since forgotten, applied it meticulously… and woke up the next morning to a fake tan disaster of epic proportions. That’s actually another story for another time, though, so back to the spray tan…
For years, then, I thought no more about spray-on tanning lotions, preferring to stick to their creamier brothers and sisters. Then a few weeks ago I was in the supermarket, I saw Ambre Solaire’s No Streaks Bronzer, and thought “What the hell! It says NO STREAKS. How bad can it be?”
Well, on Sunday morning I decided to find out. Following the instructions on the bottle, I sprayed it evenly across my skin, holding the bottle about 40cm away from my body. Ah, who am I kidding? I have no idea how far I was holding it from my body. Do people actually measure these things? It seemed like a reasonable distance anyway, and I also, remembering the sage words of advice from my spray-tan booth friend, ignored the “no need to rub it in!” bit and smoothed it over my legs and arms a bit too, just to make sure it was even.
I was really impressed. As much as I appreciate the cream tanners I’ve always used, they annoy the life out of me sometimes. I mean, who has time to spend ages rubbing them in, then even more time walking around (in loose, dark clothes only), feeling uncomfortably sticky, smelling like biscuits and wondering if the fake-tan will rub off on your sheets that night?
This one has none of those issues. It takes seconds to spray it on, a few more seconds for it to dry in, and you’re good to go: you can completely forget about it and go about your business as usual, which is exactly what I did. (It does have that unfortunate “fake tan” scent, though, I’m afraid.)
And then, the next morning?
I woke up to a fake tan disaster of… OK, of not quite epic proportions, but it wasn’t good. And first of all, let me just say:
THERE WERE NO STREAKS.
It was as good as its word in that respect. There were, however, patches. Yes, patches. Glaring bits of lily-white skin, which I’d obviously missed with my spraying and rubbing, and which were now gleaming out from amongst the (rather nice) summer glow I had going on everywhere else.
D’oh.
What do you think I chose to do about this situation, readers?
Yeah, you’re right: I sprayed on some more. Yes, I did. I know it sounds crazy, but it’s the one thing I swear by when it comes to patchy fake tan, and luckily for me, it worked pretty well: today the tan is looking much more even, and while the patchiness is still detectable if you look very closely, I think another layer would probably get rid of it completely. Not that I’m going to be trying that, mind you: I’m out of the spray tan business for the foreseeable future, but if you want to give this one a go, I’d say just be very, very careful when you’re spraying it on, and make sure the coverage is even. It does have its advantages, but it’s perhaps not quite as easy to use as I’d assumed.
It’s £7.33 and available from Boots.
Dollface Reviews: Lancome Tropique Minerals All-Over Magic Bronzing Brush
Last week someone asked me a question on Formspring about how I deal with the issue of mismatched foundation once I have a tan. Now, I don’t ever tan naturally (SPF 50 all the way!) but I do use self-tanner at times during the summer, and one of the ways I deal with the foundation issue is shown above: Lancome Tropique Minerals All-Over Magic Bronzing Brush.
(The other method, in case you’re interested, involves foundation that’s a shade darker than I’d usually wear. There is a use for all of those foundations that just don’t work on my pale skin!)
This was sent to me just before I left for vacation, and I used it every day while I was away, and fairly frequently since I’ve been back, too, although I must admit, I’m using a lot less self-tanner at the moment. It’s a mineral bronzing powder which comes with a self-dispensing brush: just pump the end of the tube a few times to release the powder, then dust it on to the forehead, cheekbones, and anywhere else you want to add a touch of summer “glow”.
At first I found the brush a little tricky to use: I seemed to be pumping the dispenser without anything much happening, but I assume this was just because it was brand new. Since those first couple of uses, I’ve had no issues with it, although as the shade I was sent is the palest one Lancome do (shade 01), it does need a bit of layering for me to notice a difference. This particular shade isn’t for you if you’re looking to radically change the colour of your skin (there’s a darker shade available if that’s the case) and end up looking like a bronzed goddess. What I found was that it’s perfect for giving a natural glow, without making me look like I have a “tan”. I don’t think anyone would think I was wearing bronzer, for instance, although I can see quite a big difference as it really takes the edge of my pallor, while still looking natural. This was particularly important to me, because I’m really bad with bronzer. Most of the time I just end up looking like I have a really dirty face, so I loved the subtlety of this, and the fact that it’s virtually foolproof: I haven’t had to spend any time locked in the bathroom frantically trying to blend too-dark bronzer, put it that way…
This is a mineral powder, which makes it comfortable to wear, and the effect lasts all day. It’s fairly expensive at £33 per tube, but after a few weeks of steady use, I’ve barely made a dent in it, so it should last a long time.
You can buy a tube here, if you want to try it out for yourself.
Dollface Reviews: Sephora Smoothing Primer – a good alternative to Smashbox Photo Finish
This was actually one of the samples I was given in Sephora last month, but I liked it enough to use it up, and wish I’d purchased the full-size bottle, because this is a really nice primer, and while it’s not exactly cheap at $15, it’s still cheaper than what I’ve been paying (about $36) for my usual Smashbox Photo Finish.
For me, comparisons to that Holy Grail of primers are always inevitable, but in this case there are even more similarities: like the Smashbox product, this is a clear gel, and like Smashbox, as soon as it hits your skin, it transforms into a gorgeous, silky finish which makes your skin feel super-smooth and velvety, making an excellent base for makeup, and holding it in place all day without any difficulty.
To continue the comparison, I’d say this isn’t quite as good as the Smashbox product at controlling oiliness: it does have a mattifying effect, but it’s not quite as long-lasting as the other product. It also feels a little greasier/heavier on the skin, and doesn’t absorb quite as easily, although I’ve found that leaving it to sink in for a couple of minutes before applying the rest of my makeup resolves that issue. With that said, the difference in price and similarity in texture and quality will probably make me reach for this next time I’m in Sephora, purely because it seems like better value, and does exactly what I need it to.
Vote for Hey-Dollface.com in the Cosmo Blog Awards!
My apologies if you read any of my other blogs, and have seen this message more than once today, but as some of you may know, Cosmo magazine is running a Blog Awards this month, and if you have a spare minute or two and feel like nominating Hey-Dollface.com in the Beauty category, you will automatically become my new favourite person.
There’s no registration required, you just have to go here, type in the site URL and give a short reason why you’re nominating it. Thank you so much if you decide to nominate: it really does mean a lot to me!
