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Archive for the ‘Fake Tan’ Category
Monday, November 16th, 2009
 Asda fake tan - yay! I know it’s not really the season for a sun tan, but today, readers, I bring you glad tidings: having discontinued their Essential Care Self Tan back in the summer, Asda have decided to bring it back! I actually had a comment from a reader letting me know about this a couple of weeks ago, and I have to say, I didn’t dare hope it was true, but here’s the evidence, as seen in my local Asda yesterday.
(Aside: you’d be surprised at the number of funny looks you get from people when you take a photo of fake tan on your phone in the supermarket. Or maybe you wouldn’t be, actually).
The queues were all about a mile long, so I didn’t buy any, but I’m off on holiday in three weeks, so rest assured, I will be back to stock up! As you can see, this is only £3 per bottle, and I find it better than any of the more expensive brands I’ve tried, so Asda: thank you. You’ve made this Dollface very happy!
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Tuesday, August 11th, 2009
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I love a product with a bit of personality to it, and this one definitely has that! It’s Bikini Kitchen’s “Booty Butter” and it’s a recipe for “perfectly brown buns”. Or a tanning lotion, in other words.
This is no ordinary tanning lotion, though: the formula is completely natural, and contains lots of good stuff, like aloe, Hawaiian kukui nut oil – a Hawaiian secret for glowing skin, light mineral oil and Kona coffee extract, to make your skin feel soft and supple, as well as giving it a sun kissed glow.
As for the glow itself, it develops in under an hour, so will come in handy for those times when you realise you’re going to need to get your legs out, but don’t want to blind people with their paleness, and the company say it’s suitable for even the very palest of skins.
It costs $27.95 for a full-sized bottle, but if you’d rather try it out before committing to shelling out (and let’s face it, who wouldn’t?) you can also buy a sample size for just $2.95.
Buy: Bikini Kitchen Booty Butter
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Thursday, July 16th, 2009
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I'm starting to think wash on/wash off tans are the way to go. Already this summer I'm starting to get sick of diligently applying my self tan, only to be faced with days and days of rain, when I have to remain covered from head to toe. Or, conversely, giving up on the whole thing and returning to my natural pale blue, and then waking up to glorious sunshine.
Yes, when your climate is as unsettled as ours is, it can be a good idea just to work on a day-by-day basis, so this gift pack from Tantastic could be just the thing. Their instant tan develops in five minutes and promises a non-streaky finish. If you just want to do your legs, meanwhile, the leg gel will see you good. This pack also contains a self-tan mitt, so you don't have to worry about getting the stuff on your hands and under your nails, too. It's on the expensive side, but you can also buy each product individually if you prefer, from ASOS.com.
BUY: Tantastic Gift Set, £34
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Remember last week, when I tried out Asda's gradual self-tan moisturiser, and wasn't really impressed with it?
You'd think I'd have learned an important lesson about budget tanning products from that, but obviously you would think wrong, because I NEVER learn, and so this week I went back and bought their Fake Tan Lotion.
And actually? I'm really glad I did, because as self-tanning products go, this is a good 'un. No, seriously.
Like the gradual tanner, this is only about £2.50 per bottle. Unlike the gradual tanner, it's a "proper" fake tan, that develops fully in just a few hours and then stays on for days. Also unlike the gradual tanner, it actually develops into a really nice colour: not too dark, but dark enough to create the illusion of a natural tan. Result!
Another thing I really liked about this was the fact that it dries quickly, so although they recommend wearing dark, loose clothing afterwards, you don't really need to worry about walking around naked, terrified to get fake tan on your clothes, towels etc. I didn't wear dark clothing afterwards (Because I am stupid. Always follow the instructions, kids!) but it didn't rub off on anything, and I didn't feel uncomfortable sticky either, which is something I absolutely HATE about the whole fake tanning process.
Oh, and it doesn't smell either, as confirmed by Mr Dollface.
Overall, then, a good result from Asda: and a product I will definitely buy again!
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Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009
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When you're as pale as I am, maintaining a healthy looking "glow" all summer can be an expensive business, so when I came across Asda's Essential Care Body Moisturiser a couple of weeks ago, for about £2.50 per bottle (I can't remember the exact price, but it was in that ballpark), I just had to buy it.
This is essentially Asda's own version of something like Johnson's Holiday Skin (in fact, it even comes in a matching yellow bottle): it;s one of the generation of gradual tanning moisturisers, the idea that you apply it as you would a body lotion and then wait for the tan to build up, er, gradually.
So how did it fare?
On the plus side:
* Although it does smell, it has a much more subtle/pleasant scent than many other self-tanning products I've tried, and the scent doesn't linger for long, either.
* The resulting tan is very even – no orange streaks!
On the minus side:
* It doesn't absorb very quickly. It's very thick and white, and it I have to spend quite a bit of time rubbing it in. Once that's done, however, it dries fairly quickly, so you're not having to walk around feeling sticky.
* The colour is so subtle that even after several applications of the "medium to dark" version, I don't have what you'd really describe as a "tan". This will make it perfect for those of you who're a bit wary about self-tanning, or who just want to take the "edge" of your pallor, as that's really all it's done for me. I'm no longer blindingly white, but I'm not "tanned" either, and personally if I'm going to the trouble of using a fake tan, I'd prefer a more noticeable result.
This doesn't seem to be available to buy online, but if you'd like to try it yourself, you can pick it up in your local Asda.
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I seem to be writing an awful lot about bronzing products lately. Sorry about that. I think it's fair to say I'm a little bit obsessed at the moment. The reason lies, not within my makeup bag, but within my wardrobe. You see, having spent far too long stuck in the work-from-home rut of pulling on a pair of jeans and a tank top every morning and calling it an "outfit", this year I'm determined to get some use out of my vast selection of dresses, even it kills me. Which it wont, of course, but there's a good chance that my blindingly white legs might kill someone else, hence the bronzer obsession.
This is the latest product to cross my radar, and it's from The Body Shop. It's called Body & Leg Shine and.. can you guess what it does? Go on! YES! It makes your body and legs shine. In a good way, though, because this is an instant bronzer that comes in a handy, twist-up case, and which apparently "glides" onto your skin anytime you need it to. And then it glides off again, in the shower.
BUY: The Body Shop Body and Leg Shine
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Tuesday, April 28th, 2009
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Here in the UK, the weather can change on an daily – and sometimes hourly – basis. Most of the time, of course, it's miserable, which makes all the faff of self-tanning seem like a wasted effort, most of the time. But then one morning you'll suddenly wake up to glorious sunshine, and curse the fact that you didn't make like the Boy Scouts on the preparation front, because that summery skirt or dress you now want to wear just doesn't look quite the same with your pale blue legs.
With no time for a self-tan to develop, you could opt for a self-tan makeup, of course – or you could opt for St Tropez's Everyday Perfect Legs. This combines a gradual self-tanner with a hint of bronzer, so your legs will look instantly browner, but the colour won't wash off in the shower when you get home from work, because underneath that glow, the self-tanner will be getting to work.
This also comes with St Tropez' Aromaguard fragrance technology which they say makes it 70% less smelly than regular fake tan. So you don't have to sit at your desk smelling like biscuits, basically. That can only be a good thing…
BUY: St Tropez Everyday Perfect Legs, £35
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Tuesday, April 28th, 2009
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When it comes to fake tan, I usually swear by the gradual tanning moisturisers I'm always writing about here. For my holiday this year, though, I've been considering investing in some Fake Bake, just for a change. (You can already tell how this is going to work out, can't you?) Once the tan is applied, though (and assuming all goes well), you then have the problem of how to maintain it while you're away. Our baggage allowance is only 20kg this year, and I'm planning to hit up Sephora while I'm away, so with space at a premium, this FakeBake travel kit sounds like a good idea.
It contains 60ml versions of FakeBake's Self Tanning Cream, Passion Fruit Body Polish, Oil Free Moisturiser and SP3, and comes in a handy little gold mesh bag, so you can just pop it all into your suitcase. I'm tempted.
Buy: FakeBake Travel Kit, £21,75
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Wednesday, April 15th, 2009
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Although this time of year will generally see me slapping self-tanner onto my legs and body with gay abandon, I have to admit to being a little more reticent about putting the stuff on my face. Let's face it, legs and bodies can be covered up if it all goes badly wrong (especially if you live in Scotland, where it's rarely warm enough to bare them anyway), but faces? Well, faces are on display all the time, and unless you really are prepared to resort to the ol' paper bag trick, you really don't want to make a mistake with a facial self-tanner. Seriously, trust one who knows: I once spent a week in Majorca with an attractive "tide mark" around my hairline where I hadn't blended in my Flash Bronzer properly. So I know of what I speak, here.
This is why I generally tend to lean towards bronzing powder or tinted moisturiser when I get to feeling I could use a little colour on my face. Chanel's Soleil Tan de Chanel 4 Facettes Bronzing Powder, as well as being a bit of a pain to type out, gives you four different shades, which you can either use on their own, or blend together for the perfect, custom colour. Now, doesn't that sound much more appealing than a tide mark around your forehead?
It's an expensive $56 from Neiman Marcus, among other places.
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Thursday, April 9th, 2009
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I mentioned earlier this week that I felt the time was coming when a little bit of fake tan would make the difference between looking alive and looking dead. Well, yesterday was sunny, and I didn't really want to have to wear tights with my skirt. One look at my legs, however, convinced me this wouldn't really be a great idea, and so to the bathroom I went, my bottle of Nivea Body Sunkissed Skin clutched firmly in my hands.
I have to admit, my hopes weren't high. It's been almost a year since I last entered the land of the fake tan, and the last experiment wasn't exactly a successful one. Still, nothing ventured, and so I jumped in the shower and exfoliated like mad before carefully applying the tan.
This is one of the family ofgradual self tan moisturizers, which is the kind I prefer: any mistakes look less obvious, and building up your tan gradually just looks that little bit more natural. If you're very pale, like me, you can also use these just often enough to take the "edge" of the whiteness, without making a huge difference to the colour of your skin. Or that's the theory, anyway.
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