Tan on Trial #2: Beautisol Summer Glow

As a bit of a clumsy pants, I usually steer clear of  fake tanning lotions, because I tend to end up either covered in the stuff or with legs so streaky I'm confined to jeans for the next week.
My technique needs work so far as lotions go, so I was apprehensive (yet extremely thankful) when I received a bottle of Beautisol Summer Glow in my iFabbo goody bag a couple of weeks back.

As Susan Jeffers says, one must feel the fear and do it anyway, so I pulled on the latex gloves that came with the tanner and off I went.

Check out the before and after:

What does Beautisol Summer Glow do?
Summer Glow is a long lasting fake tanner with a built in bronzer to instantly glam up your skin and provide a guide colour for easier application. The guide colour/ bronzer reminds me a little of Saint Tropez tanners in that it's a very deep, reddish brown colour. Summer Glow is packed with nourishing antioxidants and moisturisers so the skin feels soft and gorgeous even after rinsing.

The Packaging:
This tanner is encased in a 236ml white plastic bottle with a pump top. I think pump bottles are great for dispensing liquid tanners because it makes things a little less messy and means you can easily control how much product you dispense. 

The Scent:
One of the major selling points of Summer Glow is the fact that it's virtually fragrance free! Beautisol have cleverly developed the Pure Scent odour eliminating technology that neutralizes that telltale old biscuit smell that so many fake tanners have. Nifty!
When I first applied it, I did notice a very light, fresh scent that dissipates as the tan develops.

The Consistency:
Summer Glow is a liquid/ cream hybrid (or lotion even) that is pretty easy to spread across the skin. Just make sure your skin is well exfoliated before application, because I did notice that it really 'grabs' any dead bits of skin and could leave you patchy if you don't have a good scrub beforehand ;)

The Price Tag:
29 USD.  I've searched far and wide and it looks like Beautisol products aren't widely available in the UK just yet, but in the meantime you can order from www.beautisol.com.

The Verdict:
I wasn't sure at first, but after taking Summer Glow for a test drive on my legs, I'm definitely inclined to use it on the rest of my body too!

 It's fast absorbing (work quickly when applying!), doesn't smell gross and leaves you with a pretty convincing tan. What's not to love about that?

Have you tried Summer Glow by Beautisol?

Thank you for visiting :*

Strawberry Curlers!

After perusing the wonderful musings of Terri Lowe a little while ago, I was introduced to these rather unusual and extremely kawaii hair rollers.
Essentially, they're giant foam strawberries that you use like regular rollers, but you get the bonus delight of looking like a walking strawberry patch.
Observe:

These unusual little contraptions are affordable, hilarious and squidgy enough to allow for a relatively pain free slumber.

Like regular velcro rollers, you simply curl your hair up in these but the twist is that the strawberries are almost in two halves, with a thinner piece of sponge in the middle.This thin centre of the strawberry is the part that you wrap your hair around, and when you're done, the thicker halves on each side sort of anchor the curl securely.
A little hard to explain perhaps, but hopefully you get the idea!

I've been putting these in on slightly damp hair with a few spritzes of Aussie leave in conditioner and a little dollop of Samy Fat Hair Thickening Creme for extra hold, before nodding off.
I had these in for about ten hours before unraveling them this morning.
 These are the results:

I'm really, really pleased with how the curls turned out and I'm happy to report that they're still going strong as I type this now about 14 hours later!

The only real issue I have with the Strawberry Curlers is that I did have a bit of difficulty getting some of them out and I'm pretty sure I may have pulled out a bit of my hair in the process. In my opinion, it's a small price to pay for lovely bouncy curls that worked considerably well on my long hair.

Wanna wear strawberries on your head for the night and wake up with long lasting curls? You can buy 12 strawberry curlers for under £2 from Amazon.

Thanks for reading!

Supporting Team GB in Style...

...with a little help from Next.

In preparation for a little thing known as the OLYMPIC GAMES, the inventive lot at Next have created two scarves so we can get all patriotic and literally 'wear' our pride when London hosts the games next month.

There are 2 designs available - the Official Team GB Scarf and the Official Paralympics GB scarf and both come in two different sizes, a small bandana size and a larger scarf size.

I have the small Paralympics GB scarf/bandana and I wanted to show you how I will be wearing it.

I'm a vintage lover and I think the small size is perfect for a little head scarf action a'la Rosie the Riveter ;)


Or of course, you can channel your inner air hostess/ goddess and give your neck a little love.

The designs on both scarves feature a hand painted Lion, reflecting the courage, determination and talent of our athletes.

The Team GB scarf features 900 illustrated figures to symbolise 900 British athletes, 14 Paralympic lions and 26 Olympic sports.

The Paralympic scarf includes 60 hands to represent the athletes' 60 million supporters as well as a map of Great Britain.


Both designs retail at £5 for the small size and £10 for the larger size, with all profits going to the British Olympic Association - an organisation that helps athletes reach their sporting potential.

I think this is a lovely way to support Britain's athletes as London hosts the Olympics this year - will you be visiting Next and wearing your pride this summer?

You can find out more by visiting Next online here.
If you purchase one of these scarves, you can win lovely prizes from Next by simply uploading a photo of yourself wearing the scarf your way. Check out the competition here.

p.s. I know I am an Aussie, and a proud one at that, but England is my adopted home so I'll be rooting for both of these great nations!

Thanks for reading ;*


*Next sent me this scarf to spread the word about these not-for-profit goodies & I was more than happy to oblige!

Fake Tan Files: Prtty Peaushun Review

In honour of the beginning of Summer, I'm going to be putting a series of faux tanners, bronzers and body beautifiers to the test and sharing my thoughts on Lippy in London.

First off the block is something a little unusual, a little different yet truly fantastic - the  Prtty Peaushun Skin Tight Body Lotion.

Prtty Peaushun ( pronounced pretty potion) is a body lotion with a twist - an illuminating, slimming, moisturising, light reflecting bronzing oil that hides imperfections and gives the skin an oh-so-flattering healthy glow.

What does it do?
The potion promises to minimize the appearance of cellulite, varicose veins, stretch marks and various other lumps, bumps and bits that can leave us girls feeling less than confident in warm weather.
This isn't a fake tanning product, but rather a body beautifier that contains a unique blend of plant extracts that work together to firm and tighten while you get your glow on - a very welcome bonus!

Claims such as these are often far fetched, but I'm telling you first hand after slathering this on my own body that this product delivers on its promises. Rejoice!

The Packaging:
Looking at the product, it's safe to say that this isn't your standard run of the mill packaging. This is down to the fact that its creator, celebrity MUA Bethany Karlyn is environmentally aware and aimed to reduce waste by housing the lotion in 'anti packaging' that will take up minimal space in landfills. The pouch contains 236ml of product and the flexibility of the packaging means I'll be able to squeeze out every last drop of the lovely stuff. No product wastage here!



The Scent:
Prtty Peaushun is made with 92% natural raw ingredients including Avocado Oil and Green Tea so it has a lovely, subtle sort of herbal scent that won't clash with your perfume.


The Consistency:
When I first unscrewed the cap on this, I wasn't quite prepared for how runny it would be and I managed to spill some down my shirt! This was largely down to the fact that I hadn't shaken it up first, so the oil ingredients were sitting on the surface of the formula. Once shaken, it's still considerably runny, but thick enough to keep things under control!

The Price Tag:

At £39 it is on the pricier side, but other brands such as Famous Dave's and St Tropez are in this price range too.

The Verdict:
I adore Prtty Peaushun and I can see it becoming a staple product for me.
A little of this lotion goes a long way and I can see this pouch lasting through most of summer.
In terms of longevity, this has the staying power of any other good bronzer and left my limbs gleaming throughout the day until I had my evening shower.
Prtty Peaushun is fast absorbing, bronzing, subtly sparkling and smells delish so it gets a big nod from me!
I think I'll be smoothing this on over a fake tan for extra punch this summer. Here's a before and after:

The lotion is available in light, medium, dark, deep dark and plain, which doesn't contain the bronzing elements but gives skin a sexy sheen.
Prtty Peaushun is an American product and you can find out more here.

*I found it quite difficult to showcase this product on my skin via the photographs, probably because of the rather overcast weather today, so the light reflecting particles didn't really have a lot of light to reflect unfortunately!

Thanks for reading :)

*This was sent to me for consideration, but I wouldn't feature it if it didn't make me feel confident enough to put on my short shorts!

A little bit of luxury: Soleil Tan de Chanel

I'm not going to lie, I've been googling the heck out of this product for months now just out of sheer admiration and intrigue and as of three days ago,I can finally call it mine.

At first I couldn't quite work out exactly what this gigantic pot of shimmering brown luxury was all about.

 Is it a base? A primer? A bronzer?

Turns out it's all of these things rolled in to one. Multitasking and Chanel? Don't mind if I do...

I've been wearing this over my make up for the past few days and I'm pretty impressed with its performance. I may be slightly brainwashed into thinking it's amazing by the fact that it's got the word CHANEL in giant letters across it, but either way, I love.

To apply I patted it on with a stippling brush across my forehead, cheekbones, top of my nose and anywhere else the sun hits naturally.

with & without flash

a closer look

I think my application technique needs a little improvement but hopefully you can get an idea of how it warms up the complexion.

At the moment I'm not brave enough to use it as a face base but maybe when I've got a bronzed body I won't be quite so meek. 

the ever so decadent Chanel packaging

 The formula is housed in a generous 30ml pot with the Chanel logo displayed boldly on the side

excuse the brush bristles :0

The formula is a cream/gel hybrid that makes for a smooth application that feels barely there on the skin.

To be honest, I've never tried a cream bronzer or anything along those lines before so I don't have a lot to compare it to, but the Soleil Tan de Chanel Bronze Universel gets a big tick in my book for what it is and the huge 30ml pot means I can bronze up through summer and beyond!

You can find Soleil Tan de Chanel Bronze Universel at Chanel counters around the country for £30, though I go mine a little cheaper on ebay.

Have you tried this product? Are you loving it as much as me?

Thanks for reading :)