My Mission If I Choose To Accept It - Find The Perfect Self Tanner

Ok, here's the deal. I am 1/4 Irish and have the whitest skin in the world, almost bordering in being transparent. This genetic 'gift' of mine has meant that a tan has always been an unreacheable dream. Something I lust after whenever I see others with gorgeous glowing bronzed skin. Ten minutes in the sun for me without sun protection equals red sunburnt skin (plus a zillion more freckles). Awesome hey?

Well, I've now decided to properly start a search for a self tanner which works with my skintone, not against it. Previously I've half-heartedly tried self tanners here and there whenever they've been on special or I've just felt like trying (and failing) again. Now, I've made it my mission to find one that I can call my holy grail of self tanners.

My first product guinea pig is the Neutrogena Build-A-Tan Gradual Sunless Lotion.

I have had this sitting in my bathroom cupboard for quite a while as I bought some on a whim and never really bothered to use it properly. A couple of weeks ago I found it and decided to give it a proper go now the weather is getting warmer and have been applying it regularly ever since.

This tanner claims to give a hint of colour that builds a healthy glow with each application. It also claims to have a light, fresh scent and dries in 5 minutes.

This lotion is supposed to be applied as you would a daily moisturiser. For the first application I did it every night after my shower for about three days, then after that I've been just topping it up every second or third day and using a different moisturiser in between.

The verdict:
Unfortunately I don't like this product at all. I feel as if I've got jaundice as my skin seems to be an awful dark shade of yellow rather than what I would consider tanned.
On the plus side it's a nice, smooth consistency and very easy to apply without streaking, and being so light in tan colour it's almost impossible to go wrong with applying it and ending up with awful over-tanned areas which can happen very easily with some other tanning products. It's a lightweight white lotion which is surprisingly moisturing too once applied.
Another negative I have to report is the smell. The claims that it has a 'light, fresh scent' are not very valid with this lotion as far as my opinion goes. It's got a very heavy smell that I really dislike and it seems to permeate into everything such as my pj's, sheets, towels, etc. I can still smell it almost 24 hours later after applying and I find it very unpleasant. The smell actually makes me very self conscious when around other people and I've been applying extra moisturiser over the top after a couple of hours lately in an attempt to mask it. My husband has even commented on how strong it is when we go to bed!

So, I can now cross that one off my list as one that has failed and move on to the next. The quest continues.......

Does anyone have any suggestions for self-tanners I should try or ones I should particularly avoid? Is there anyone with transparent skin like me who has found the perfect product??  

Nails of the Week - Australis Nail Colour 'Knickers in a Knot'

This is such a bright summery colour and looks great with a lot of fake tan! I am even wearing this on my toes at the moment because I just love how bright it is!

It's a nice smooth polish to apply and gives good coverage in just one coat. It's got a real nice shine too which means you can skip applying a top coat if you wish.

My only gripe with this polish would be that it seemed to take a really long time to dry completely. I put on a base coat and two coats of the colour a good couple of hours before going to bed and I still managed to get some sheet impression on it in the morning when I woke up which was a bit disappointing.


(P.S. I never wear the same colour on my fingers and toes at the same time, I don't know why but it's just something that I've never been able to do. I've always liked to have them different colours so to wear this on both my fingers AND toes at once says how pretty it really is).

My latest 'Yay I've finished my exams for the year!' haul!

Hello everyone. Remember me?

Yeah, I'm the one who hasn't really been around much lately due to being stressed out of my eyeballs with studying for two CPA exams this semester that are now officially done and dusted. I will hopefully now be able to be around a lot more these days as I have all the time in the world to kill now when I'm not at work.

To celebrate this wonderful time of the year where I now get to experience 'free' time again (I've almost forgotten what that is) I decided to go and spoil myself with a little haul from Priceline due to them enticing me in with their 20% off all Cosmetics and Skincare sale.

Here is what I got:

1) Simple Soothing Facial Toner - I love this brand and don't think you can go wrong with anything in the whole range. This is a lovely toner that doesn't have that awfully strong alcohol feel to it that some other toners have.

2) Prestige Skin Loving Mineral Sunbaked Mineral Bronzing Powder in Pure Shimmer - I have never ever used a highlighter before (I can hear all the gasps of shock!) and thought this product looked so pretty so couldn't resist buying it. There will be many fun filled adventures to be had while I try to teach myself how to use this product now.

3) Artiste Professional Small Eyeshadow Brush - I finally retired all of my old brushes not that long ago and this was a nice cheap little brush which will be good for the makeup bag.

4) Nail Polishes (left to right) - Australis Nail Colour in Knickers in a Knot, Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear Nail Colour in Sun Kissed and Green With Envy and Face of Australia Molten Metallics Nail Enamel in Verdigris.

5) Models Prefer Small Cosmetic Case - I needed a new one for my handbag as my old one had seen better days. I just couldn't resist the snake skin print.

Anyway, that was my little splurge today. I can't wait to try out my new goodies.

Hope everyone is well :-)

The First Ever Bellabox - October 2011

I was very excited to receive my first Bellabox yesterday as I'm finding that it's so fun to receive these little packages of the unknown in the mail and open them up to see what surprises they hold.

This is the third one of these monthly beauty boxes that I subscribe to and I was very impressed with how different the contents were to the others that I also get.

This is how the Bellabox arrived:

(My husband's exact words as he handed this to me were 'Not another bloody makeup box, are you having an affair with the postman or something?' Hehehe.....)

Once you opened the outside packaging inside was a cute little cardboard box with a lid:

And once this was opened it looked like this:

The contents were as follows:

* Napoleon Perdis Auto Pilot Pre-Foundation Primer (15ml) - Now I am probably the only girl on earth who hasn't tried this primer yet so I'm pretty chuffed to receive some so I can finally know what all the raving is about.

* A'kin Lavender, Geranium & Jojoba Hand & Nail Cream (30ml) - I have a bit of an obsession with hand and nail creams and have about 5 that are usually in use at once (one in my handbag, one in the loungeroom, one in the kitchen, one next to my bed and one at work) so this will add nicely to my collection.

* Alpha-H Gentle Daily Exfoliant (2 x 5gm sachets) - I have found that daily exfoliants are too harsh for my face to use on a daily basis no matter how 'gentle' they claim to be so I will be interested in seeing if this is another one of those that I can only use every second day or so.

* Savoir Faire Lipstick in 'Miss You' - This is a full size lipstick that comes in a gorgeous silver case (that actually doubles as a handy little mirror too!). It's a nice pale pink that I think will soon become a favourite colour of mine. It's also got a really yummy flavour that's kind of sweet and makes me keep wanting to lick my lips all the time (not sure if this is a good or a bad thing yet).

* One Skin System Daily Hydrate (10ml) - This product baffled me a little at first as at looks like a big syringe but now I've worked out how to get the cream out I can't wait to use it just for the novelty factor.

* Wine Wipes (1 wipe) - Apparently these are for those who get red wine stains on their teeth. Can't say I've ever experienced that problem (maybe that means I need to drink more!) but I'll be putting this in my handbag the next time we go out anyway just to give it a go.

As per the other two monthly beauty boxes you get a nice card that welcomes you and explains all of the products received as well as their usually RRP's.

Overall I'm pretty happy with this box and am surprised at the quality of what we received.

Did anyone else subscribe to Bellabox? Does anyone have an opinion on which is their favourite monthly beauty box supplier??

Garnier Miracle Skin Perfector (BB Cream) Light & Medium

Well I was so excited a few weeks ago when I was informed that I'd been a lucky winner of two of the Garnier BB Creams from a competition run on Lilit's blog Makeup & Macaroons and I just couldn't wait for them to arrive in the mail.

I was fortunate enough to win both the Light and Medium shades (which came in a cute little Garnier canvas baggy I must add).

Here is a comparison between the two shades:

Left: Medium shade, Right: Light shade (as if that wasn't obvious to most of you anyway)

The Garnier Miracle Skin Perfectors claim to contain Vitamin C and Mineral Pigments and are supposed to:

* Even complexion
* Reduce sun spots and imperfections
* Boost healthy glow
* Give tinted 24hr hydration
* Protect with an SPF 15

I have now been using the Light shade for a couple of weeks and it is a really nice tinted moisturiser to use. My skin feels soft and non-greasy after applying and it gives quite good coverage over small imperfections. I like the fact that it contains an SPF as well as I'll admit I'm way too lazy to apply a regular sunscreen onto my face first before my regular moisturiser and on the odd occasion that I have done this my skin has felt so greasy and awful I always wished I'd not done it.

There are only two issues that I found I have with this cream. First up is the smell. I find it a little too overpowering for a face cream as it's very much like a floral perfume going onto your face which is a bit much for me to bear for every day use. I can be a little sensitive to smells sometimes though so this might just be a problem that is purely individual to me.

Secondly, I find it hard to blend in completely and sometimes and the cream can seem to just 'sit' on top of the skin and look a bit filmy unless blended in really well. Again, this might just be because my skin has a tendency to be a bit on the oily side sometimes and might not be an issue for anyone else.

I haven't tried the Medium shade on my face as yet as I think it will be way too dark for me to wear on it's own as I'm quite pale. I do think that it will be good to mix the Light and Medium together once summer hits though as that might make a better shade that I can wear.

Has anyone else tried these creams yet and formed an opinion on them?