Tan, tan, tan!

Hello, beauties!

Firstly, I am no beauty expert. I have no beauty qualifications or anything to mean that you should really pay attention to what I tell you. However, I am a complete beauty addict who has tried hundreds of products over the years. 

It was so hard to decide what I should write about first. I have a huge Lancôme addiction and could write about any one of their products in depth. I've got more makeup than I have space for it and nothing makes me feel better than an all year golden tan. 

It was, however, the latter that has stolen the limelight. 

Without tan I am a ghostly white shade. It's not a good look on me whatsoever. I've tried fake tan, gradual lotions and even had a few goes on the sunbeds (naughty I know) but there's two new products that have me religiously buying them. 

Technically it is a gradual tanner, but not like the creams that you're used to. I've used gradual tanning lotions for a good few years and they've never once left me patchy or a funny shade of orange (lucky me!) but I really didn't like the feel of them. I found that I always felt "wet" for a good few hours after applying them. They didn't soak in as well as I would like and I always felt like I was walking around somewhat damp, but they did the job, so I used them! 

This new product I decided to try on a whim, that if it was any good, it would be amazing. And I loved it. 

It's a Rimmel Sun Shimmer 1 minute express in-shower gradual tanner, that you use after shower gel, rub all over whilst you're wet (it's a colourless lotion), leave for 1 minute and then rise off and dab dry. Once you're dry it does feel a little waxy on your skin (I didn't mind this, as it was better than dry skin), but after around 30 minutes it's fully dry and you just feel moisturised. 

After a few hours or the next morning, you have a beautiful golden glow. It's a lovely shade. Even after one use I felt like I had been kissed by the sun and I felt 10000% better in myself. If you want to go darker, you can apply daily until you've reached your desired colour or you can apply every few days to maintain the glow. Depending on my mood and whether I'm going out this weekend, depends which option I choose. I've applied for days at a time and it goes a very nice deep colour without looking fake. I found that it didn't gather around my wrists or hands and it generally looked like a real tan. It keeps your skin feeling moisturised for hours and doesn't leave you feeling wet all day. 

I worried slightly about my ability to rub it all over, but I honestly don't think you have to do it amazingly well, just cover everywhere with a tiny amount and the job is done - albeit I had to use my hands in funny positions to get the mid parts of my back! 

You just rub it all over, enjoy your music for a minute (or like me count down from 60!) and then rinse off and pat dry. It really is so easy to be able to tan in the shower and it's amazingly quick! The price varies from £6.00 up to £10.00 depending if it's on offer and I've seen it so far in Boots and Superdrug.

The second product I love is Garnier Ambre Solaire 1 Week Glow self-tan cream. I don't use the above product on my face as I'm very fussy with what I use, but again I decided to give this a shot as I had used products similar before. This cream is tinted, to give you a nice instant glow, and also promises a one week long glow after 3 uses. It does act as a self tan, the more you apply it the darker the tan develops but only up to a certain point - it doesn't go 'normal' fake tan dark. 

It makes your face appear radiant. It does produce quite a shiny glow upon application, so it's not ideal if you prefer a matte look, but I love a nice dewy finish and I even wear this as a replacement for foundation on good skin days! Even after cleansing thoroughly the glow is still there and keeps me looking youthful. 

Although it's a self tan face cream, for me personally, it doesn't offer enough hydration so I tend to use it on top of my normal moisturiser as I found my skin dried out pretty quick when I used it alone. It also has a beautiful apricot smell! 

I love these products for a healthy all year round glow. I don't know about you, but I feel so much better in myself when I have a nice tan! I feel like my makeup applies better and looks better, and really, it keeps me looking alive!

I hope you all loved my first blog. I didn't actually realise how long it is as I could write for England, so I truly hope I didn't bore you.

Feel free to leave comments regarding what you would like to read about in my next post and any questions! 

Thank you, 

lots of love. 

Mollie xox