Fake Tan Crisis!

Apologies for being AWOL recently. I've been crazy busy at work and then my boyfriend and I went away to Devon last week so I haven't managed to find the time to blog. Also, there's a serious lack of beauty/hair purchases being made recently - an impromptu visit to Ikea wiped my bank balance out!

So onto something a bit more pressing - a fake tan crisis. As I've been away for a week, unfortunately not somewhere hot and sunny this year as moving out has cost the earth in which case I wouldn't be having this problem, my fake tan has been gradually disappearing. I didn't think it social etiquette to leave the hotel sheets with dodgy tan marks so my Fake Bake applications have been banished all week. Cue patchy tan which resembles a skin disease.

*WARNING* very dodgy and pretty rank fake tan fading shots:

My tan is so patchy around my neck :(

This is my foot. It's awful!

Yuk. I'm sure you've all had the same problem but I just couldn't face scrubbing the whole thing off and spending the week looking like a milk bottle. I haven't been seen without fake tan for years and I'm not making a habit of doing it now! I feel so much more attractive and confident when I have a bit of colour.

Anyway, this isn't the whole problem. I stupidly forgot to order some more Fake Bake so I don't have a back up bottle. I usually order two so I don't get caught short but my system has failed. I've just ordered some but it won't arrive until Tuesday at the earliest! Disaster.

I've looked up spray tans, Mystic Tan in particular which my local tanning salon offers, but I've read reviews of people being sick from inhaling the fumes. My god, are spray tans really that dangerous? Upon further reading, I've found out that DHA (the main tanning ingredient) is approved by the FDA when it's in lotions but not necessarily when it's in spray tan form due to the risk of inhalation. Something to be think about. So I've scrapped the spray tan idea.

I don't fancy buying a cheap fake tan to tide me over as I only trust Fake Bake and I do have a wash off tan but this isn't great when you're at the gym! So, I'm thinking about buying a cheapish gradual moisturising tanner. Do you have any favourites? Any faithful friends? I'm looking for a fairly deep colour tan without streaks!

I hope you don't think I'm a massive scrubber. I'm normally pretty vigilant with the tanning. I need help!

Naomi
xx

15. Fake It

Hmm, I found myself going shopping again. God knows what for, I seem to make an excuse to go shopping out of anything! This was an important shop though because I'd run out of false tan for my face. This is enough to stop traffic in my world.

My tan of choice? Clarins Intense Bronze Self Tanning Tint which I've been using since it came out a few years ago. It costs around £16 and mine has lasted 8 months using it every other day. But bad news.....Clarins are discontinuing this product! I'm so annoyed so I bought two to last me :( Apparently they're bringing out a mousse instead in April so I'll have to see if that compares. Humph.


Applied with cotton wool, the tan is a dark liquid so you can see exactly where it's going which means no streaks or dodgy white bits you've missed. It soaks into my skin quite quickly so I don't need to worry about tanning my pillow too! And it doesn't have the usual biscuity false tan smell. The colour is fairly dark so I wouldn't advise fair skinned ladies to try this (Clarins Liquid Bronze would be better) but it doesn't clog your pores or get caught up in your hairline.

I couldn't recommend this enough and stocks are depleting! I use Fake Bake on my body (the best body tanner IMHO) which I used to use on my face but it would give me false tan blackheads (eugh) and it felt so greasy and sticky that I would never do that again. And as the weather is getting a bit more Spring like, there's no excuse not to start whipping out the false tan (I'm such a hypocrite, I use false tan all year round!).

Do you have any great facial tanners that I can try when I've run out?

Naomi
xx