I thought I'd follow on from last weeks post on my favourite tanning products for body with my current favourites for your face. Both products are completely fool proof and provide a natural, build- able tan.

First we have an old favourite, Clarins Radiance Plus Golden Glow Booster. This is a concentrated serum type tanner which you can customise to the depth of tan you want. One drop every day to give a light tan or keep your tan topped up and two or three drops for a deeper bronze. I mix a couple of drops with my night cream and wake up with a nice natural glow about me. I don't tend to use fake tan on my face as they generally break me out, I've never had any skin troubles with using this gentler alternative.

James Read Sleep Mask Tan is a product I've had in my stash for a while yet for some reason never tried, how stupid was I?! Sleep Mask Tan as the name would indicate is a product best applied before bed, it has all of the ingredients of nourishing skincare with the added benefit of tanner, ensuring you wake looking rested and with a natural glow.

If you're looking for facial tanning products which are both easy to use and give natural results, I couldn't recommend these two products enough.

Current Favourite Body Tanning Products

We're all using them, if we're not using them then we're contemplating them - tanning products. This year I've strayed away from my usual gel self tan as there have been quite a few new kids on the block this spring/summer, here's my current favourites -

Bondi Sands Self Tanning Foam Light/Medium £14.99

First up is my not-leaving-the-house-all-day tan, I don't like to go to bed with self tan on, mostly because I have white sheets but also if you sweat you can end up with an uneven tan. I bought this one back in May, rather than starting the summer with a gradual tanner and moving on to a self tan I thought I'd try this as I'd seen natural looking results on social media. What I like about this self tan is it has none of that biscuity scent to it, on application it has a coconut and shea butter scent and even after washing off that famous self tan biscuity smell doesn't come through. The results for this one definitely lean more on the light side than medium, my skin felt soft after washing off and overall it's a fuss-free and non-streaky application.

St Tropez Express Bronze Mousse £33

This is my I-need-a-tan-but-dont-have-all-day tan. Let me start off by saying this tan is uh-mazing! At first I thought it was a bit rubbish, I came home from work, applied and the showered after 2 hours and couldn't see the results. St Tropez Express Mousse enables you to pick the level of intensity by how long you keep it on, 1 hour for light, 2 hours for medium, 3 hours for deep and that's nothing new I know  but now I have got the hang of it I can really appreciate it. Like any other pre-tanning day I exfoliate and moisturise well and the next day I apply and leave for the full 3 hours, when I jump in the shower I wash only the guide colour off and either shower properly that evening or the following morning as the tanner keeps working for the next 8 hours and the next day you have the most natural, deep tan. Love it!


Bondi Sands Everday Gradula Tanning Milk £11.99

This is my keeping-my-tan-topped up tan. This gradual tanner is really light and absorbs quicker than any tanning product I own, the scent is very similar to the tanning mousse from Bondi Sands. The colour is a really natural tan which used alone build to a nice shade within only a few days however I like to use this on days between using my St Tropez or the Bondi Sands mousse. You get a very generous 375ml of product so it will last a fair amount of time between repurchases.

See any of your favourites here?

Rimmel Sunshimmer Instant Tan Mousse Light | Before & After

Rimmel London Sunshimmer Instant Tan Mousse Light | rrp £7.99

As soon as the sun makes an appearance I start deliberating over which tanning product I'm going to use to help me fake that 'week away on holiday' glow - I mean who wants to bare legs so white they look purple on that first opportunity to wear a dress - after reading a feature on this product in this month's Glamour mag I thought I'd give this a shot.

Ok so what's it all about? It's a lightweight mousse formula which dries in 2 minutes and develops in an hour. This tanner gives an instant tan which means it's great for last minute nights out and makes it easier for application as you can see where it's going and after showering you are left with a golden glow which lasts up to 7 days. As I was so pale I decided to go for the shade Light to be on the safe side and I love the results.

The colour is very natural and golden, when I initially applied it the mousse had a red undertone to it and I was a little concerned that I would look a little orange but I think it looks great. What I love about this tanner is that if you feel the colour isn't deep enough after an hour of developing you can add another layer without looking streaky or patchy. 

Rimmel's Sunshimmer Tan Mousse has pleasantly surprised me, I have bought tanning products in the past for four times the price which haven't performed as well as this. If you're not a fan of that biscuity fake tan smell you get from tanners then you'll love this because it has a really fresh kinda baby wipe smell to it. If you're looking for a purse friendly self tan then check this one out, I got it on offer from Boots for £4.99 but the regular price of £7.99 for 150ml bottle still makes it a beauty bargain.

The Glamour Beauty Power List 2014 Box From Latest In Beauty

I absolutely adore Latest In Beauty's collaboration boxes with Glamour magazine, they are always excellent value and packed with a great variation of branded products that would each get used. Needless to say when they emailed me two weeks ago releasing a new box 'The Glamour Beauty Power List 2014' I ordered it straight away and waited impatiently for it to be delivered. When it arrived on Thursday although I already knew what the contents were I still let out a little shriek as I unboxed it. With a whopping value of over £80 but yours for £15.99 here's the contents...

• Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish  (30ml with muslin cloth) rrp £5.50
• Eyeko Mascara Off Wipes (10 wipes) rrp £6
• Philip Kingsley Daily Damage Defense  (60ml) rrp £7.50
• Laura Mercier Foundation Primer (30ml) rrp £19
• James Read Sleep Mask Tan (25ml sample) rrp £12.50
• Bourjois Volume 1 Seconde Mascara (fullsize) rrp £9.99
• Maybelline Coloursensational Lipstick (fullsize) rrp £6.99
• Annual subscription to Glamour magazine (digital version for iphone/ipad) discounted by 62%

I'm already a huge fan of Liz Earle's Cleanse & Polish (although I can't use it everyday due to my temperamental skin prone to hormonal break-out's) and I adore everything by Eyeko. The products I've most wanted to try from this box were the Laura Mercier Foundation Primer and James Read Sleep Mask Tan, the concept of an overnight mask that gives you a gorgeous glow in the morning is a winner for me.

I've purchased a few of the Glamour collaborations with Latest In Beauty and this has to be my absolute favorite as I genuinely will use every product! I imagine these boxes will go quite quickly so head on over to Latest In Beauty and buy yours today...you wont be disappointed!

  

July's You Beauty Discovery Box

This months You Beauty Discovery Box heralded the official start to the holiday season aptly named the You Travel Box. The You Travel edit was designed to offer a range of travel-friendly beauty must-haves and I must say the product shortlist was quite a good one! Let's take a look at the items I chose and my little extras...

Tan Organic Self Tanner

I chose Tan Organic Original Self Tan as I seem to have a small obsession with tanners of any form. This one is a sunless tanner made with natural ingredients that reputed to give you a healthy tan that fades perfectly without the unpleasant fake tan smell. Tan Organic contains no paragons, artificial fragrances or synthetic ingredients. I'm looking forward to giving this one a go on the weekend!

Loreal Miss Manga Mascara

My other selection was a no-brainer! I wear mascara everyday and I have read some positive reviews and blog posts on this mascara so I was interested to try it. Loreal Miss Manga Mascara features a flexible cone shaped brush for mega volume on top and bottom lashes. The 360 degree flexible brush eagles easy application. I've used this mascara a couple of times since I received my bx and I'm really pleased with it. It leaves my lashes volumised but without clumps.

This months extra treats were a sachet of Egyptian Magic multi-purpose cream, Dove Men Shave Cream (not sure why?!) and a 2ml sample of Agent Provocateur Fatale.

As with every month a great selection of products and extras and all for £6.95 (inc p&p). 

Jodie

xoxo

May's Edition Of You Beauty Box

This month You Beauty collaborated with CEW (Cosmetic Executive Woman) UK to produce a shortlist of award winning products in a You Beauty Discovery CEW Beauty Awards box. Unfortunately for some this proved to be a very popular shortlist of products and a few of the most wanted products were sold out before 7am on 1st May (the day you can make your selection). I anticipated it being a very popular box and stayed up until midnight to make my selection...sad I know! So lets take a look at the items I picked and the little extra's in my You Beauty box...

The main reason and the one product I stayed up until midnight for was the Fake Bake 60 Minute Tan. I already own this stuff and I think it's fab! It's a really easy liquid tanner with a 'show-where-it-goes' formula that gives a golden tan after 60 minutes, or you can leave for up to 3 hours for a deeper tan to develop. What I really love about Fake Bake's 60 Minute Tan is it absorbs quickly and doesn't leave you feeling all sticky and gross afterwards, I can use this on my face and not break out which is an added bonus! I received the full 236ml bottle retailing at £24.95 along with tanning mitt...the box had paid for itself twice over with this product alone!

              I picked the Percy & Reed Eau My Goodness Shine Spray as I have for some reason a real think for shine spray's. With it's ever cute packaging unique to Percy & Reed products it looks great on my dressing table but the 50ml bottle is small enough to fit in my handing. Whilst the spray did have a divine rose scent and delivered the promised shot of shine I probably wouldn't purchase the full product for £22, at the rate I get through hair products it would turn out to be too expensive.

               

The extra samples that I received in my box this month were Charles Worthington's Moisture

Seal Leave In Hair Conditioner and Caudalie Divine Legs. I'm not sure if there 

is actually enough in the sachet to do a leg but there was enough to give me a feel for

the product. Divine Legs is a quick-drying, long-lasting tinted lotion designed to give a natural finish

with no yucky orange toned streaking. When searching for Charles Worthington's

 

leave-in conditioner everywhere seemed to be out of stock so I'm guessing it's discontinued,

either that or everyone's snapping it up! Also in my box was a single serving of Lizi's Granola which I haven't tried yet but it looks lush!

I think this month's box was excellent value for money and a great selection of products...so much so I did sub for another box choosing Fake Bake 60 Minute Tan again and Dr Organic Moroccan Argan Oil (separate post to follow on that). I would say You Beauty Discovery is one of the best value for money beauty boxes out there, sure that element of surprise isn't there with what you get through the door but that's what I like! The shortlists are 9 times out of 10 good comprised of a good selection and great value products...for £6.95 including p&p what more do you want?

Jodie

xoxo

He-Shi Professional Face & Body Tanning Gel Review

In my April Glossybox I received a 50ml sample of a fabulous instant tan by He-Shi. This is a high performance self-tan that includes pro vitamin B5 and aloe vera for a gorgeous glow that nourishes skin whilst you wear.

This self-tan gel contains a 'see where it goes'  formula that gives instant colour, making it easier to avoid streaks and patchiness. He-Shi tanning gel suitable for use on the face and body and is paraben and alcohol free as well as being pH balanced, so it's suitable for even the most sensitive skin.

I applied with a tanning mitt and the results were a glorious, deep but natural looking tan...

Top: Before applying He-Shi Tanning Gel
Bottom: morning after applying He-Shi Tanning Gel

I think £17.50 for 150ml is more than reasonable as a little bit really does go a long way and the results are long lasting, I haven't needed to top up my tan for around 5 days now!

If you use the code GLOSSY25 valid until 31st May you will receive 25% off your order at He-Shi.eu

Jodie

xoxo

Sleek Face Contour Kit in Light

Sleek Face Contour Kit

For a while I have been intrigued by contouring, when you see the result it has with the likes of Kim Kardashian whats not to love? Rather than plunging into the deep end and splashing out on a really expensive palette that may only get the one use I thought I'd begin with something cheaper and simpler, this is when I found the Sleek Face Contour Kit for £6.49 in Superdrug.

On the website the contouring part of the palette looked really dark and intimidating...to someone like me who shys away from bronzer and clings on to her blushers...but it's actually a medium workable brown.

Both parts of the pallet are quite powdery, I found you have to tap quite a lot of excess even with the softest of brush, but the powder is quite finely milled and blends excellently. The highlighter is very shimmery, not at all glittery, so you don't need a great deal to highlight.

I didn't have time to experiment with the whole full face contouring so I just tried it out on my cheeks. Here I'm wearing the contouring shade beneath my cheekbones, the highlighter on my cheekbones and Bobbi Brown blush in Nude Peach on the apples of my cheeks.

I think this is an excellent value kit for beginners and I'm looking forward to having the time to sit down and do the full works!

Jodie 

xoxo

Xen-Tan Transform Luxe Gradual Tanner Review

So I thought I'd share with you my first ever experience with Xen-Tan Gradual Tanner in Light/Medium. Now I am a fake tan virgin, I do however use a gradual tanner all year round which is Dove's purse-friendly Summer Glow. Whilst the scent of Dove's Summer Glow isn't the best, just the usual biscuity mushroom smell that you get with all the others, it does give a lovely, even and subtle glow. Back to my experience with Xen-Tan...

I was really excited to try Xen-Tan, before purchasing I had read many glowing reviews from people that were dedicated to this brand for excellent salon quality results. I probably wouldn't have purchased it at it's full retail of £39.95 but as it was in the ASOS sale for £18.50 I thought this was a reasonable price as the gift set included an exfoliator and tanning mitt.

 The products came in very luxurious and informative gold and cream boxes enclosed in a transparent re-usable cosmetic bag. The gradual tanner and exfoliator themselves were very generous sized 236ml bottles with the gradual tanner having a screw top and the exfoliator having a nice and easy flip top.

So that evening I showered, shaved and exfoliated in preparation for applying the gradual tanner. Just touching on the exfoliator, it was a very refreshing and non-abrasive scrub...some scrubs can leave my skin feeling dry and taught but this didn't. Straight after my shower I slathered on E45 cream...I do this every night regardless of applying my usual gradual tanner or not. Now onto my experience with the tanner itself...

Firstly, the scent is delicious! Its got a fresh vanilla scent to it which only slightly changed to that biscuity fake tan smell around 3 hours later and even then it wasn't as over-powering as some other brands I have tried. The lotion itself made my skin feel moisturised and was easy to apply. Now the set came with a tanner mitt...as this is labelled as a daily gradual tan I threw caution to the wind and applied it with my hands...big mistake! Although the rest of my body tanned evenly and streak free the colour was anything but a subtle light/medium. I love the colour, it was a deep olive, I have an olive tone to my skin anyway so the tanner only enhanced this. Although I had washed my hands thoroughly after applying to my body and rubbed a small amount to the backs of my hands using my wrists and the back of the opposite hand to rub in I ended up with a disaster on my hands that I don't usually get!

As you can see from this photo the colour difference is so dramatic! I love the colour it's very natural but I know now why it came with a tanning mitt and will definitely be using it on my next application! My disappointment of this not being as easy to use as my usual drug-store brand gradual tanner has been overshadowed by the luxurious colour and feel of Xen-Tan.

I may be converted....

Jodie
xoxo