Body Beautiful

My name is Georgina and I am an addict.

An exfoliating, buffing, moisturising, tanning addict.  Honestly, I cannot go a few days without scrubbing my skin and slapping on the body lotion or I feel somewhat lacklustre.  Oh well....there are definitely worse things to be addicted to, right?!

These are my favourite products to use at the moment to keep my skin as bronzed, soft and supple as possible.  Even though I have used these basically every day during the Summer months, I know that they will keep a permanent place in my routine throughout Autumn and Winter too....

If you fancy a full blown review of anything, please say so in the comments!  xxx

TAG: 11 Most Reached For Products/March Favourites

My eleven favourite products change constantly but these products have been consistently used day in/day out for the whole of March...so I'm killing two birds with one stone!

Skin care, hair care, tan and bases

St Moriz Dark Mousse

John Frieda Serum

Olay Multi-Radiance Fluid

Estée Lauder Double Wear Foundation

Estée Lauder Double Wear Concealer

No 7 Creme Touch Powder

Eye and lip products

Collection 2000 Big Fake Lash Mascara

NAKED Palette

MAC Tempting Quad

MOR Passionflower Lip Delight

17 Beehive Mirror Shine Lipstick

As you can tell, these products have been loved to death and is seen by their completely battered packing!  If there is anything that catches your eye for a full review, just say!

What have been your favourites recently???

xxx

Products of 2010: St Moriz Instant Self Tanning Mousse

I can forgive this product's incorrectly spelt name and its blatant rip off of St Tropez because it is just so amazing!

I apply this fake tan with a mitt (or thick sock if a mitt is nowhere to be seen) and due to the fantastic guide colour, I can ensure there are no missed bits or streaks in sight.  Then, a minimum of four hours later I rinse it off in the shower to reveal golden, sun kissed skin.  And who doesn't want that?!

The best bit?  It's a steal at around £2..

What is your tan of 2010?!

St Tropez Tan Detox Bath Oil

We've all been there...a hefty fake tan application followed by a busy week/total lack of motivation to exfoliate and one ends up resembling a patchy, reptile with some strange skin disease.  OK, slight exaggeration but you know what I mean..!

I myself am notoriously lazy when it comes to sloughing off all the old tan - I regularly hide every inch of skin under scarves and long tops before taking a near whole tub of exfoliator and an hour in the bath to get it all off.

SO, imagine my delight when I heard about this product..

St Tropez Detox Bath Oil 

is described as a 'salon-inspired home treatment will remove all residue of self tan, leaving skin ultra soft and smooth. Tan Detox is a pampering bath oil that combines a luxurious blend of lavender, lemon and hazelnut oils to help create a calming spa-like environment at home.'

My question is, it is just a regular bath oil that costs £25 for the privilege of being branded with St Tropez and the inclusion of an exfoliating cloth?

Has anyone had an experience with this or use something similar to do the same job?  I'm not quite sure I can bring myself to part with £25....

My Summer Body Routine

I am, like many other product junkies, constantly primping and preening.  A friend of mine once said to me "I'm so jealous of you, you're so well maintained."  This sort of got to me, because I don't wake up fully made up and moisturised - if only!!  I wish I was a wash-and-go sort of girl but the reality is, I love it spending time getting ready!  That's my prerogative as a girl...!

But I will admit, sometimes it is nice to hit a routine that works well and is quick.  Thus, saving time for the more important things in life.  Like shopping....

So without further ado, my fail-safe, quick body routine at the moment which keeps me glowy, soft and smooth every day.  Keeping up with this means that if we suddenly get a day of good weather I can confidently crack out a mini with no worries of how pasty my legs look...(we've all been there...!)

DAILY

• I put a dollop of whatever shower gel I currently have on the go onto the exfoliating gloves and scrub my entire body lightly.  This gives a gentle polish and ensure any tan I have on wears evenly.  The exfoliation also obviously gets rids of any dead skin cells and leaves my skin soft and smooth
•  Vaseline Cocoa Butter - In my opinion this smells so much nicer than Palmer's which I find sometimes overpowering.  It is just a gorgeous non-greasy body lotion which keeps any fake tan even and smells amazing.

WEEKLY

• FCUK Sugar Scrub - I use this with the exfoliating gloves all over once a week to get rid of any patchy fake tan.  It also leaves your skin slightly moisturised which provides a great base for a new round of fake tan.  Admittedly, it doesn't smell that great but it fades pretty quickly and makes my skin feel so good I can look past it..!
• St.Moritz mousse - This is definitely my new fave!  It just applies like a dream - with a mitt - and leaves my skin so naturally brown.  I really cannot fault it.  As long as I keep up with the exfolation and moisturisation it doesn't go patchy and I can build up the layers to my desired tan level.  After a week in Spain I've realised my skin just doesn't want to tan and I'd rather apply this than risk baking in the sun and damaging my skin.

I've kept up with the routine for the last few weeks and I've never felt better in my own skin.  I will inevitably switch around the scrubs/lotions etc but for now I am happy!

Honourable Mentions

Sally Hansen Airbrush Legs -

As mentioned numerous times before, makes your skin look flawless for a night out

Ted Baker Body Glow -

A little bit of this down your shins or over your décolletage and you get that gorgeous Summer glow

The Sanctuary Body Moisture Spray -

A nifty little oil spray which allows you to quickly moisturise if you are running late or to give your legs a gorgeous sheen when going out...

As you can tell, I love dewy, golden skin...and who doesn't?!  What are your must have products to achieve this?!

xx

Teeny tiny haul and LUSH Buffy Review

A quick trip to the Arndale Centre last week ensured I spent a few pennies but I was a lot more restrained than usual...

I finally managed to find St Moriz in TK Maxx (£3.99) - review coming soon.  I also picked up the Garnier Summer Body which I used to use a few years ago and, if I remember correctly, really liked it.  For £2.99 (also from TK Maxx) it fits the bill perfectly for my planned gradual tanning a few days before going away.

I had to technically break my 20 pan project as I ran out of heat protector but it is really a necessity so it doesn't really count..!  I bought this Schwarzkopf one purely because I feel like I've used every single other heat protector out there - they all do pretty much the same job in my eyes.  My personal favourite is still the Lee Stafford one though - smells aaaamazing.

I then bought Buffy from LUSH (£5) as I was sucked in by the promise of a product that exfoliates as well as moisturises.  Well, as soon as I popped in the shower with it for the first time, I immediately regretted it.  It smells horrible - probably due to the rice and beans it contains (lovely right?) - and is no where near as harsh as I like a scrub to be.  As for the moisturising property - I just felt like it left an oily film on my skin and didn't really do anything to soften my skin deep down.  It also didn't help getting my tan off and for £5 it only lasted 4 full body scrubs.  I couldn't help thinking of my beloved FCUK Sugar Scrub which costs the same for a whopping 300ml tub and lasts for weeks...

This stuff is the real deal!  Buffs your skin to perfection, takes off all your dodgy, fake tan and leaves you silky smooth!  Why did ever stop buying it?!  I'll be popping to Boots a-sap to rekindle my love affair with it..!

Xen-Tan Review

On my fake tan dilemma post lipstick_kisses requested a review of Xen-Tan and as I always wish to please...here goes!

Xen-Tan do a number of products including daily gradual tanners, mousses and week long tanners but I personally chose the Deep Bronze.  I decided to go for the standard size (148ml - RRP £19.95) compared to the Deep Bronze Luxe (236ml - RRP £25.95).  This was purely down to the price - I wanted to spend as little as possible on my first purchase from the brand in case it all went horribly wrong!

The application

It comes out of the bottle a murky brown colour with a green tinge - the special aspect which makes this tan go brown, not orange..!

It smells gorgeous - sweet and like vanilla and glides on effortlessly.  The first time I applied it I used no gloves - BIG MISTAKE!  I washed my hands immediately after applying but it was too late, they were already horrendously stained - definitely use gloves or a mitt with this!  

When applying, it does turn sheer but you can still tell where you have applied it so you don't miss any areas.  After applying it all over my body - including my face - I rubbed a little moisturiser into my feet, elbows, wrists & underarms to dilute it a little then hopped into bed as it had dried pretty much instantly.

The next morning

I woke up looking like I had been away for 2 weeks - absolutely amazing!  I was a gorgeous deep brown, olive colour with no hint of orange in sight.  I had a quick shower to wash off any guide colour then applied a copious amount of body lotion and I was glowing!  No streaks - just a healthy & natural looking tan.

A week or so later...

The tan stayed even - even on my face and hands - for a good week.  I religiously apply a tonne of body lotion every day so whether this helped it I'm not sure.  As expected with any fake tan, it started going patchy around my inner arms, knees, neck and hands after about 8 days or so but this is much longer than I have lasted with St Tropez!

I then encountered the only problem I had with this product when I attempted to scrub it off - it just won't budge!  It took me about 3 days of scrubbing with salt scrubs, olive oil and sugar, nail brushes and exfoliating gloves to get rid of it all - luckily I was stuck inside revising otherwise I'd have got some very strange looks with my patchy half brown/half white skin....

Other things to mention:

• I applied this once half and half with body lotion and it did nothing.  The moisturiser obviously affected its staying power and it just washed off in the shower
• Keep the product on for at least 8 hours I'd say - after 5 hours it washed off on me.  I therefore find it easier to sleep with it on but the guide colour is very sheer so you could get away with wearing it in the day - just wear dark clothes as it does transfer to clothes/bed sheets!
• The green tinge should be very dark - if the product comes out a light green the chances are it is out of date and just won't work.  Get your money back!

I don't have any specific before/after photos but using this picture again you can see my natural skin tone - unseen by anyone for years! - and the natural, olive tone the Xen-Tan gave me...

Would I re-purchase this?  Absolutely!  I'm not sure I'd buy St Tropez again....I have more faith in Xen Tan as a company and I will definitely be trying out some more of their products in the near future I'm sure!!

N.B. I am in no way affiliated with Xen Tan - I'm just a fake tan junkie who purchase this with my own pennies and thought I'd share my experience with you!

Fake tan dilemma

As I'm sure I've mentioned a fair few times now, I am a BIG fan of fake tan.  For the last few weeks I have been rocking the Xen-Tan topped off with a layer of Sally Hansen Airbrush Legs in Deep Glow (ohh yes I've progressed from Medium..!) for a night out.  Someone actually commented on how jealous they were of my 'natural olive skin tone' - ha possibly the biggest compliment somebody could pay to me!  Especially as naturally I am a pale, freckly girl of Irish descent...!

The proof -

Left - last week; Right - au natural at 18 - excuse the pose

So my dilemma is this -

In 3 weeks I am going on holiday with some friends to Spain and I can't wait to get some real sun.  However, as mentioned, my natural skin tone does not take well to the sun - I don't burn but take 3 or 4 days to get any real colour.

So before I jet off I have four options:

1.  Keep up with Xen-Tan but risk it going patchy when I'm out there and having to scrub it all of then coming back paler than when I left 

2. Scrub off any trace of fake tan and deal with being pasty white around the pool for a few days

3. Use a gradual tanning moisturiser for a few days before I leave so that I look ok and by the time it fades I hopefully have a natural tan of my own

4. Do the unthinkable and hop on a sun bed for a few sessions before I leave

I am leaving towards number 2 - seems the most sensible option i.e. no cancer causing sun beds and no rush in the first few days to get as much as sun as quickly as possible.

Ofcourse this is all very shallow and not really important in the grand scheme of things but who else do I have to ponder these things with!?

If you are like me and bothered by things like this - let me know your opinion!  And if not, I am sorry for potentially numbing your brain!  

Back to my dissertation for me now.... I LOVE volcanoes..

xxx

PRODUCT RAVE: Sally Hansen Airbrush Legs

Due to my naturally, extremely pale skin I have been a faux-tanning addict for as long as I can remember.  I honestly cannot recall a time where I have gone out on a night out without a few layers of product promising me a natural, sunkissed look.  And let me stress, this is the effect I go for.  I am not one to aspire to our Jersey Shore counterparts who appear to be radioactive.

However, I am sure I am not the only one who in a last minute attempt to get some much needed colour has slapped on some instant Rimmel goodness or even, yes believe it, Primark's very own fake tan.

These all look good in the privacy of our bedrooms but get caught in the rain or have a multitude of drinks spilt on you and well, one looks as if she has a very embarrassing skin disorder.

Here is where I welcome a product I could now not live without....

I use Sally Hansen's Airbrush Legs in Medium and it does exactly what is says on the tin.  It not only provides a natural colour (i.e. brown, not a delightful shade of orange) but also really does seem to 'airbrush' your skin.  All those pesky freckles, scars & fading bruises seem to magically disappear.  And not only on your legs - I use this everywhere, including on my face.
I prefer to apply this with a tanning mitt as it applies more evenly and spreads further than with your bare hands.  It retails for around £10 from Boots and Superdrug etc but can be found on the internet for the £5/6 mark.  I believe this to be great value for money - after 6 or 7 full body applications my can shows no signs of running out.
The great thing about this is also that it is completely waterproof, to the extent that if you have a shower the next morning without soap (not that I'd recommend this every shower!) you can get another day of tanned goodness from it!  And if you do get caught in the rain ... people don't stare at you and your strange blotchy legs...

I do still use other tanners aswell -  I have some Xen-Tan winging its way to me as I type - but I always use this on top to airbrush my skin.
The proof is in the photograph -

We ALL have it on here..

On the far right - take note of the drunk eyes..!

                                    

So, have any of you ever tried this?!  Let me know what you thought!

xoxo