GAGA ABOUT BEAUTY: MAINTAINING A GORGEOUS SUMMER GLOW

If you didn't know already, I'm a slave to the fake tan when it comes to summer. Although in winter I can be a bit on/off with it, I just don't feel right without a tan in summer, and getting a real one is time consuming, probably not gonna happen anyway, not to mention not good for you! But a constant summer glow is also hard to maintain. Here I thought I'd share my routine that keeps my tan going and going right through the sunshine...

Day 1

In the shower : Give your skin a good scrub. This is either to remove any remaining stubborn patches from when you last tanned, or simply to give a smooth base. Whether you have tan on already or not, you need to scrub before reapplication to avoid a multi-coloured effect! Although it might seem like you're just rubbing it away, exfoliating WILL prolong tan in the long run.

After the shower: Moisturise all over, but with a very light moisturiser, concentrating on the dry bits like elbows, wrists and underarms, so that you're not too slippery but wont turn out like patchwork. A great option is The Body Shop's lotions.
Then Tan! I recommend letting the moisturiser sink in for ten minutes for the best results then slap on the good stuff with a mit.

Day 2

In the shower: You want to prolong your tan, so rather than scrub I just use a flannel or hands to wash, no scrubby loofa! This way you won't be seeing all your hard work running down the drain before it has chance to stay. This also applies if you rinsed your tan on the first day (usually I leave mine overnight).

After the shower: On the non tanning days you want to up the moisturing game with a luxurious body butter so keep dry patches at bay and lock in that tan.

Day 3

 Okay so today you can go back to normal loofa scrubbing to gently exfoliate and carry on buttering up. Continue this until you feel ready to tan again, then go back to day 1. I like to tan about once or twice a week, but really it will depend on what fake tan you use. Even if you use a daily gradual tan, I would follow a similar routine of gentle exfoliation and lots of moisturiser.

And that's it! Writing this up it seems a bit long and tiresome, but I promise it's not. It's really just tweaking your shower routine and committing to a bit of extra moisturising, which we should all do really anyway (but don't)!

What are your top tan-prolonging tips? What are your favourite tan brands?

Charlotte xx

i think i'm in love...

Models Own Polish For Tans Range

It didn't take me long to jump on this bandwagon. This might make me a complete crazed saddo, but I actually had the release date of these saved as a reminder on my phone, I wanted them that much.

It's no secret that I'm a big friend of fake tan. I never quite feel glam enough without a bit of bronze. And I think we all know how I feel about polishes. My massive cravings for them are only getting worse. So it only made sense that I got my hands on these pronto!

The swatches really do a lot of the talking here, but I'll give a little bit of my thoughts on them too. In terms of colour, they really are bright, the photos cannot do justice to how much these glow. But I also find them really wearable compared to other brights such as Models Own Iced Neon range, mainly because they are muted, neon pastels (I still don't quite understand that), and so they don't look out of place if you're not on the beach sunning yourself. Because they are slightly pastel-y, you might want three coats for a full coverage, but I've found that two works just fine if I'm not being picky. I've also found Beach Bag and Flip Flop to be quite gloopy, but I don't know if this is just my luck or a formula issue. They aren't too gloopy to use though, just not the thin one-swipe formula that I've come to expect. It's a little more time consuming, but so worth it. They dry to a semi-matte finish, so a top coat might be needed if you don't dig the matte look. As with all Models Own polishes, they wear really good too, three days and no chips to be seen so far!

I can't wait to see how these look when I do have a bit of a summer glow, I can only imagine they will be ever more stunning. Okay, enough gushing now, I think I've made my point. I LOVE these. LOVE them I tell you. 

Models Own Polish For Tans are £5 each or currently on offer on modelsownit.co.uk at 6 for £20 mix and match, so you can pick up other goodies too ( I recommend their lip-stix if you're stuck). Ps. Have a fab weekend...

Love Charlotte

xxx

The Starting Off Project Week 4: Bronzer

Hello beauties, can you believe it's been four weeks already?! This week we're chatting bronzer, something I love as I can't get enough of a healthy glow and nice fake tan. (not to say I haven't gone tangooed many, many times in the past). 

First things first, I thought we would address contouring, as it seems to be a big question amongst you all when it comes to bronzer- what is it? how do i do it? what do i use?

In a nutshell contouring is the art of changing your face shape (I love how Charlotte Tilbury calls it facial architecture) through creating shadow with bronzer. Mostly applied to cheeks, once you get to grips with it you can contour your nose and forehead too, but for now lets stick to the cheeks. You don't need any special products although there are some out there, mostly high-end, but a bronzer that isnt too orange and NOT shimmering will do. The easiest way to create the illusion of killer cheekbones is to suck them in and sweep a small, I repeat small, amount of product in the hollow, to look like a shadow. I realise without being shown how to contour this could be difficult to imagine, so I'd recommend checking out some contouring tutorials on youtube, there's loadsssss, and Lisa Eldridges are a particular favourite of mine (have a watch here). I might do a more specific contour post soon, let me know what you think!

On to products....

So obviously as well as contouring bronzer is used to well, bronze, and add a bit of life to the skin. Unlike my usual array of products I'm pretty loyal when it comes to bronzer and stick to my Benefit Hoola (not the cheapest, but last ages), but over the summer I've also loved this Bourjois Bronzing Primer underneath foundation to create an all over subtle glow. PS. this is amazing as a cream bronzer but not the easiest to use, so any beauty pro's out there, this is fab, and please show me how to do it properly!

( A little look inside, and boo I've hit pan!)

Application- 

Surprise, surprise, I've picked Real Techniques brushes for this one. I'm so darn predictable.

Which brush you use really depends on what look your going for. If you want an all over generally browner face while dodging that dodgy foundation-darker-than-skin look the hugeeee Powder Brush is for you- simply dip in, tap of excess and sweep all over. For more specific bronzing of cheeks and forehead I choose the smaller Buffing Brush (such a multitasker) and for contouring, the good old Contouring Brush (I posted here about contour brushes too). You can find these online or in Boots and Superdrug, and theyr'e also dead cheap on Amazon.

(L-R, Powder Brush, Buffing Brush, Contour Brush).

And that's it for this week folks. Not as much to say as usual as I'm pretty straight forward to bronzer, and I really do recommend checking out videos as it's much better to see it applied. And also, a little word of colour, don't go for anything too shimmery or too orange. Do use bronzer if you have used fake tan, do go careful on the instant tan if it's raining, don't go for the darkest shade you can see, and do blend bronzer down your neck to avoid an orange head. And finally on the topic of all round bronzing - don't apply your St Tropez Instant Mousse and Bronzer if you've already had one too many gin-slings, or you will end up looking what is now know amongst my friends as 'Newcastle Orange'...

Lots of love beauties,