Fake it till you make it!

Not really been much of a summer so far has it? Despite living on the coast, we've hardly had many 'beach days' this year, so I've found myself taking more interest than I ever have before in self-tanning products.

It started with the Vita Liberata Ten Minute Tan sample that came in the fourth QVC Tili box (you can read my first impression of that - here).
And then I received a couple of self-tanning items to review - and they really piqued my interest in going for the glow by fair means or foul!

I really enjoyed the Vita Liberata ten minute tan - if anything, it was maybe a bit too natural. You know what it's like? You try it a couple of times, you like it, you think you've got it all under control and then you find yourself in T.K Maxx looking for something a little edgier, a little more exciting...
I've never been on 'that side of the street' before - the self-tan aisle. Previously, to me, that's where the big boys hung out, the ones your mother warned you about, but I felt invincible. I'd taken the self-tan without smears, without tears and I wanted to be part of the gang.
So I picked up some Vita Liberata 'Fabulous'. It was in the clearance section - so it's not like I'd fully stepped over into the shadows.

The Vita Liberata 'Fabulous' bills itself as an 'Illuminate wash off body bronzer with Marula Oil'. This is the medium shade.

Yes - I did say medium!!

 

At least you know what you're getting with this bronzer. You can clearly see where you've already applied and therefore act accordingly. But I still maintain that you do need quite a bit of self-tan savvy when applying this. Because I, quite frankly, cocked it up.

I had definite streaks on my dry patches (knees) and obvious tan lines around the top of my feet. And although this is meant to be an instant bronzer, I would have sworn that the tan lines looked far more obvious the next day in bright sunlight - so it was either that the lighting in my bathroom wasn't great when I applied (in natural daylight) or it developed as time passed.

 

 

This was the Vita Liberata bronzer mark left behind in the time it took to put a sample squirt on the back of my hand, take the photo, go back into the bathroom and rinse it off! But to be fair, I just squirted it onto the back of my hand rather than applied it properly.

 

I was mightily happy to see this next product when it arrived in the post a few days later.

 

I was sent this Bondi Sands Self Tan Eraser for reviewing purposes. I'll be honest, my initial thought was that it was quite a frivolous product, superfluous to my needs even. Oh, but those were the thoughts of a complete self-tan newbie! If anything, this is a must-have - an absolutely essential product for self-tan newbies as  well as more seasoned self-tanners. It's not particularly cheap (around £15) but if you are going to dice with the devil, then you WILL need to wipe it off when it all goes wrong.

The instructions advise that for best results, apply the self-tan eraser to dry skin after at least 3 days of applying. But I'm already going to poo-poo that as you will see below.

 

 

Remember my be-smirched hand after showing you the Vita Liberata bronzer? Well, this is the Bondi Sands self-tan eraser foam applied to that stain.

 

 

Entirely gone! In the time it took to apply the foam to the stain, take the photo, put the camera back down and wash the foam off under the tap with the minimum of rubbing - the mark is completely vanished. This is also very handy, if, like me, you didn't feel the need to buy a recommended self-tan mitt or glove and end up with stained palms.

 

But back to the recommendations for usage - when you want to remove a large area of self-tan mistake (in my case, the whole bloody lot of both of my legs and tops of my feet) - apply the foam liberally to the skin. Leave for 5 minutes then wash off in the shower. For more stubborn areas or dry skin, it is advised to use the Bondi Sands exfoliating mitt to gently remove the tan (what exfoliating mitt? I didn't buy one. Will a flannel do?).

 

In all fairness, I didn't need a mitt, or even a flannel. It removed the entire embarrassment just with water.

 

I wouldn't generally call myself a trooper. I'm more than happy to generally admit defeat and retreat into the background nursing my streaky legs. But in the name of science and vanity, I was prepared to go once more into the breach, my friends!

 

 

The next product I was sent to review was some more Bondi Sands - this time the Liquid Gold self-tanning dry oil. And it came with a mitt - so I can stop kvetching about spending money on unnecessary by-products!

I love a good dry oil - and this contains some real beauties in the ingredients list - including Jojoba, Coconut and Argan Oils. It smelled so good too - that lovely coconut scent that reminds you of being on holiday somewhere other than England.

This time, before applying this, I actually did exfoliate my legs AND make sure they were really moisturised to give myself a tiny head start before my application skills let me down again.

I was slightly anxious to see that the oil was colourless, so there was no visual guide to see where you had applied and where you hadn't. In fact, that black application mitt left more fall-out than the actual oil and that was my only visual guide. It advises to use any remaining residue on the mitt onto your face at the last step. Which I did. Only after ensuring that I had nothing important or anyone to see the following day.

The dry oil settled in very nicely and I went to bed soon after application, without fear of getting the products on my bed sheets and staining them.

The next morning I was pretty relieved to see that because of my over-cautious application, the result was quite subtle - a nice, natural looking tan. And my face? Again - subtle and natural, to my ever-lasting relief!

 

I think the most important thing I've learned in my foray into self-tanning is DON'T GET TOO CONFIDENT! NEVER RELAX! Which I know, is a tenet that goes against everything that as a skincare lover, I believe in. But this is not something that I wrote down in shouty capital letters a couple of weeks ago. When, lulled into a false sense of security by my seemingly easy ride with the Bondi Sands dry oil, I went back in with my mitt and slapped a load more product on.

 

This time, I think I may have been a little less careless. The tops of my feet were crazy tanned. Really obvious looking. And I had streaks too. Forget three days - I rushed right in with my Bondi Sands self-tan eraser and once again, removed all traces of the (very) offending poor application.

 

I'm not going to do a regular review on these products here, because I think they are fine products. It wouldn't be fair to the products to rate them poorly when it's me that's the problem. Self-tanning is something that takes care and time and I just think I'm too cock-a-hoop about it.

 

I'm not giving up entirely though. I'm still going to try and hone my application skills until the time when the sun does it's job properly and I get a real life tan!