Saturday 10 March 2012

The annual tan incident!

So just how many fake tan disasters will it take for me to realise that fake tan and me aren't a match made?!

Probably too many!

I normally have at least one tanning disaster every year. However, as I opted for a professional spray tan this year instead of a hapless, hasty home application, I dared to hope the curse may be broken.

Shakes head, *Na dahhh* Really, I should have known better.

Sure, there was a lot of good points to my Sienna X Spray Tan including the fact that . . .

- The tanning solution gave me an instant colour and I was given a choice of three shades by my therapist.

- My body, from head down, instantly looked more toned and healthy. I honestly think I look at least half a stone lighter. Got to love that! Ooh and my teeth do look quite white, kerching! :)

- The tan dried quickly. The therapist left me under a heater for 5 minutes and I've yet to find any tan on my clothes, furniture or sheets.

- The scent of the tan is summery and reminds me of sandy shores. My skin also feels incredibly soft and happy.

- The tan lasted and lasted and still lasts . . . despite a whole lot of scrubbing.

Yes, that's right, despite all of the good points, there are many reasons why I have spent the last couple of days tirelessly trying to scrub my golden glow away.

- Firstly, it is just too much. The medium shade (which I chose, oops!) was absolutely too dark for me. My face looks all wrong and kind of harsh. The tan is perfectly smooth (withstanding a few smudges around the wrist area) but when I see my reflection, all I see is tan and a little shimmer. There is no hint of me or my skin at all. I look artificial.

- What bothers me most is the fact that my own eyes (the only feature that I quite like about myself) are suddenly unrecognisable and in the words of another, 'not as bright'. The boldness of my new tan makes my green eyes appear almost brown and they just seem lost.

- In fact, some of my other features suddenly seem askew. Although I look slimmer from the neck down, my face actually seems to look a little less sculpted and I'm putting this down to an unflattering shimmer sitting on my forehead which will not be scrubbed or buffed away.

- Usually when I'm having a bad face day, I play around with my make up but at the moment, I'm soo tanned, I have no idea what shadows and blushes to pick and whatever I pick seems to either appear chunky, chalky and cheap (All That Glitters and Satin Taupe, I'm looking at you) or disappears leaving me defined by nothing but the bloody tan (MAC Bronze, anyone?!) or just obviously plain wrong (Benefit, Dandelion and MAC, Blushbaby)!  I don't have a clue what colours to use to compliment my new skin tone.

- As if that wasn't bad enough, the strength of the tan seems to overshadow my barnet. My hair suddenly looks flat, moussy and patchy. Eurgh, really lacklustre.

In short, I look wrong which is why I haven't included any face or portrait shots. I tried but everything seems overpowered by the power of the tan and tanned, I no longer feel like me.
Sidenote: Just so you know, the fact that I've been brushing on that new L'Oreal False Lash mascara (reviewed here) every day does not help me feel any better about myself. I'm really going to have to get something else this weekend. Such a letdown!
However, I have included a little pic of one of my tan lines so you can see the contrast between my natural skin tone and the tan.



Nice tan!

I just wish it suited me especially my face. I know, bodywise, I'm actually going to feel quite fat and frumpy when the tan fades away. :(

Lately I've been off the clothes and make up fad but riding the beauticians one with more regular grooming treats here and there. My original plan for the summer was to maintain a tanned complexion with regular spray tan appointments but now, I'm seriously considering digging the Make Believe (reviewed here) or Soltan (reviewed here) out for a more natural golden glow occasionally and limiting the beautician treats to nourishing facials (a big cheer for the Skin Brightening one please!) and suchlike.

Though in conclusion, I've got to admit that the Sienna X Spray Tan does do exactly what you would expect from a spray tan, it leaves you with a fabulous tan (in my case, a very tropical one) that really lasts.

It is just that until I got my Sienna X spray tan (I now know, I've never met a home tan that really really tans, they lend a mere glow in comparison), I never realised how pale I actually was and how much a proper full on tan works against my natural colouring and features.

I would totally recommend this tan to those of you who are seriously in to tanning or are naturally a little more tanned then myself (not hard!) and I've got to admit (I'll whisper this) that I'm tempted to get a top up (after all, top ups are discounted!) with the lightest shade of Sienna X just to see if this is light enough to give me a look closer to what I originally envisaged. In fact, I have had a spray tan before which went a little more to plan and on that occasion, the lightest shade available of a tan from Coco Bay was used so you never know?! Maybe the only tanning mistake this time was in fact, my choice of shade .

Oh dear, it looks like I have a few more fake tan episodes to come yet. Will I never learn?

I hope you are all OK. Have a great weekend!

What is your tanning ritual? Do you get spray tans? Any bottle tan recommendations?

X

8 comments:

Mel x said...

I love the st tropez gradual tanner, it's the best one I've used. I think a tan makes you feel so much better about your body, though I too am a bit crap at applying it!xx

Essjay23x said...

@Mel x
Ooh, I've used the original St Tropez before. A very popular brand. :)
Yep, I was hoping my tan would lift my spirits a little and make me feel better. Hmmm, maybe as it fades, it will become more flattering.
I'm not so good at applying either, who is?! x

Lipstick fridays@hotmail.co.uk said...

Hey lovely xx Lemon juice can help die things down a bit xx Ive tagged you in a post xx Check out my blog for details xx

Essjay23x said...

@Lipstick Fridays
Oh yes, I forgot about the lemon juice that has fixed tell tale signs on my hands several times before.
I will check the tag out, thank you!!:)) x

Rebecca♥ said...

Aha this post made me laugh (in a good way)! I can't use fake tan, I'm so ridiculously pale that it just makes me look dirty!! Great post girl!

http://whatrebeccasaid.blogspot.com xxx

Essjay23x said...

@Rebecca
Thank you!:)
I'm glad you had a little laugh, at least something good came out of the whole fiasco and it doesn't end there, I had a go at ombring last weekend . . ! Ut oh!!! ;)
Hope you stop by again sometime x

The Black Pearl Blog said...

I recommend xen tan. It is the best tan ever. Xxx

Essjay23x said...

@Sandra
Thank you. :)
I know, a lot of people say the same about Xen Tan. It seems to have a huge fan base maybe I'll find out why soon . . !

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