One of my most frequently asked questions, aside from all the general statistics (‘How old are you?’ 23. ‘How tall are you?’ 5’7), is ‘what fake tan are you using?’ I’m a lover of all things sunkissed, but not a huge lover of the sun and have been layering on all kinds of faux glowers for about 10 years now with varying levels of success. What started off as a spritz of a primitive Nivea formula in my back garden – I wasn’t trusted to apply it in the house for fear of tangoing the bathroom – has developed into a more sophisticated and fluid routine without any streaks, smudges or orange palmed surprises the morning after. Finally! And right now this regime is a Clarins-centric affair.
You would have heard my ravings on their Liquid Bronze Self Tanning for Face before; a milk that applied as the last step of your skincare routine pre-or-post slumber all over the face soaked onto a cotton pad or with fingers just takes the edge off a sun starved complexion and leaves you looking a little bit bronzier a few hours later. I fell hard for it a long time ago – this is my third bottle of the stuff – but it’s the only face tanner that I exclusively use. No fuss, never orange and doesn’t feel tacky on the skin at all. It sinks in just before your head hits the pillow if you smooth it on in the evening, or dries fast enough for you to slap on your foundation a minute after application in the morning. Simples.
Being such a fan girl of their face offering, I thought I’d give their Delicious Self Tanning Cream a go and added it to my basket in Boots on a bit of a whim last week while accompanied by Lily and Amelia again (have I not learnt!?). Now I usually use the Xen-Tan Dark Lotion Absolute Luxe for my limbs, which is awesome, but when it exerted that hollow bottle sound I decided to try something a little different. Now the Clarins formula doesn’t leave such a dark tint to the skin nor last as long as the Xen-Tan, but it does impart a soft and subtle colour, with very little of a detectable scent. I scoop out a walnut sized dollop for each limb with a spatula onto a mitt, rub on before bed and am ready to PJ-up a few minutes later. The following morning I’m left with a touch of colour that looks like I sat out in the sun at the park yesterday, instead of slumping in the shade which is what actually happened. And I think it’s time to quit just tanning above boob-line, as guys, I think it’s time for the legs to make an appearance…
Comments