A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

We’ve been waiting a long time ladies, and summer is well and truly here – finally!  That means it’s time to hit the beach, get in the sea and have a well-deserved ice cream (or two). But if you can’t face pulling out your pasty pins on the sand, a sun tan is the way to go.

If you want a safer way of getting a tan than sunbathing for hours or using a sunbed (people who use sunbeds before the age of 30 increase their risk of skin cancer by 75 per cent), you should consider a spray tanning treatment at a beauty salon.

“Why at a beauty salon?” I hear you cry. Surely you can just use fake tan at home? Well yes, you can, but you may not get the same results.  This article, provided by beautician uniforms specialist SimonJersey.com looks at the pros and cons of each option, then offers preparation and aftercare advice.

self tan at home vs. spray tan at a salon

Self-tan at home
·    Inexpensive – a tub of Clarins Delicious Self Tanning Cream costs £22 for 125ml
·    Takes a little longer to apply yourself
·    Difficult to apply evenly and get a natural look
·    Can fall victim to streaking

Spray tan at a salon
·    You’re in the care of an experienced beauty therapist
·    Specialist equipment ensures a natural finish
·    Costs around £20 a session
·    It’s less time-consuming than rubbing a lotion all over your body
·    A spray tan dries faster than self-tanning products

Essentially, unless you’re on a really tight budget, it makes sense to go for a salon treatment so that you’re in the capable hands of the professionals for a flawless finish.

To ensure the best possible results, it’s important to correctly prepare your skin before a tanning treatment and to care for it properly afterwards.

Before having a tanning treatment (whether at a salon or at home), make sure you thoroughly exfoliate your skin. If you don’t, you’re at risk of only tanning the top layers of skin, which may soon rub off. Avoid any oil-based exfoliants as they could leave behind residue which could cause streaking. Make sure you moisturise afterwards to help to prolong your tan.

Arrange any other treatments, such as hair colouring, a manicure, waxing or shaving beforehand. If you need to shave your legs and underarms, you need to give your pores time to close afterwards (so shave the day before), but also all of these treatments can remove self-tanning lotion.

If you have a salon treatment on the day of your tan, refrain from wearing make-up (yes, really!), perfume, deodorant or lotions. They will only act as a barrier which will stop the tanning solution from fully penetrating the skin.
After tanning, air dry yourself and wait for at least 20 minutes before putting on any clothing. If you can you should wait until the following day to have a shower so that the solution can penetrate the skin. Avoid using any deodorants, perfumes or moisturisers for about eight hours after your treatment as again, these may stop the tan from developing.

To preserve your bronze tan, wash with a gentle cleanser and moisturise your skin regularly with a Zero-Oil lotion to keep it soft and supple. Don’t forget to slap on high factor sun cream when you’re out an about – just because you look brown it doesn’t mean you’re protected. Choose a broad spectrum (UVA and UVB) sunscreen with an SPF of at least 30.

Which do you prefer?  Are you a dab hand with the self-tan or do you leave your body-bronzing to the professionals?

* this is a guest-blogged sponsored post on behalf of Simon Jersey for which I have received payment.

I’m not a great self-tanner. I mean that in both senses of the word — I don’t do it very often and when I do, I’m pretty shit at it. The historical exception to this rule is with Sally Hansen’s old Airbrush Legs… you can still buy it, but the formula is a little different now and they’ve ditched my shade. I used to love it and would go through cans of the stuff when the weather called for a bit of leg-display.

So, when St. Tropez’s new Perfect Legs Spray landed on my desk, I had barely opened the envelope before I was prising off the lid and putting it to work, ever-hopeful that I might find my pasty-leg saviour.

Look how stained my hand is!! I’ll tell you more about that in a minute…

The new St. Tropez Perfect Legs Spray promises an instant, natural bronzing effect combined with a longer-lasting self tan. The aerosol can contains 75ml of product, which isn’t a lot — about enough to do your legs twice/three times at most. The product is fairly reasonably priced at £10, making it a cost-effective choice for special events or big nights out. Don’t forget that as-well as the instant bronzer, you’re also benefiting from a normal self-tan at the same time. Although, I’d obviously like to see more for my money, I think the price is reasonable for special occasions when compared to alternative options.

Unlike my old Sally Hansen cans, this isn’t like makeup for your legs. It won’t conceal veins, freckles or give you a massively airbrushed effect but it excels at what it does deliver: healthy-looking, bronzed pins.

It’s ridiculously easy to use and dispenses a very fine mist. Any slightly larger droplets that appear from holding it a little too close blend easily into the skin for a completely streak-free finish. I blended one leg with my hands and the other with a mit. Use the mit, this stuff sets faster than an 80s perm and despite rushing to the basin mere minutes after my first blend – my hand is perma-tanned. Looking on the bright side, this is obviously great news for my legs as it didn’t transfer once touch-dry.

Product doesn’t leak/drip from the nozzle during operation and the spray works regardless of the contorted angles you put the can through. It may just be, that as a novice, I’m having a hallelujah moment with tans in a can but I simply didn’t run into any problems with this one.

And as for my legs? Oh god, hold on to your breakfasts…

It works well right?  My left leg (right as you look at it) was tanned with the St. Tropez and it doesn’t look remotely orange or streaky!  Honestly, if I can use it… a total fool can use it and make it look good in under 5 minutes. I’m so pleased to be able to recommend this to ultra-pale girls who suck at applying fake tan like me. I’m so jealous of wimmen to whom this stuff comes naturally. It’s a bleedin’ art-form to get it right I tell ya!

St. Tropez Perfect Legs Spray simply takes the hard work out of bronzing. Definite repurchase for those times when tights just won’t do.

St. TropezPerfect Legs Spray is priced at £10.00 and available from the usual stockists.

* press sample

If I listen carefully enough, I can hear whoops of joy from 1000s of women south of Watford.  You see, we haven’t had easy access to the inexpensive, uber-tan St. Moriz.  Alas, we’re not deserving enough of B&M Stores, Home Bargains or TJ Hughes.  Infact, when the fake tanner took the beauty blogging world by storm a couple of years ago I remember scouring the aisles of my local TK Maxx for months trying to source a bottle!

Well, we can stop feeling excluded because Mr. T is bringing St. Moriz to the masses.

From the 3rd August, you’ll be able to nab a bottle along with your weekly shop and until the end of the month, it’s on introductory offer:

St. Moriz Self Tanning Mousse Medium (Introductory price of £3.99 – RRP £4.99) until 30th August 2011

St. Moriz Self Tanning Mousse Dark (Introductory price of £3.99 – RRP £4.99) until 30th August 2011

St. Moriz Self Tanning Lotion (Introductory price of £3.99 – RRP £4.99) until 30th August 2011

Not only that but when you buy any St. Moriz product you will receive a 75ml Tan Maximising Body Exfoliating Polish, absolutely free*.

It’s turning out to be a resolutely dodgy Summer but at least we can get our glow on for less than a fiver!

Do you use St. Moriz?  Got any application tips?

* while stocks last

With the pitiful summer we’ve been experiencing so far, we could do with some extra help in the body-beautiful department and I may have just the thing!

Dove Spa are offering a tan-tastic deal on a St. Tropez spray tan.  You have until the 9th July to try the treatment for just £10 (normal RRP £25).

Check here for Dove Spa locations (they’re not just in London!) and you can give them a ring on 0844 875 1575 to book an appointment.