Why you must try this Safe Summer Sun (tanner)

A friend recently handed me this foaming self tanner to try and I just love it!

Besides the fact it is a safe summer tanning alternative, this is why you need to try it.

Foaming Sunless Tan

I am VERY picky when it comes to self tanners.. most stink and streak.  I love the foam idea.  It’s clear but I find it blends very easily. (around $20)

(I am not associated with the company – I just love the product)

Don’t forget to EXFOLIATE before the first application!  And ALWAYS apply Sunscreen on top of sun-less tanned skin.

MY +s:

1.  It actually smells amazing going on – it smells good!?! Really

2.  It blends so easy

3.  The color is a beautiful natural brown tone – no orange

4.  The staying power is a bit unbelievable I got 2 applications that lasts almost a week

5.  Additional applications blend beautifully on top of one another (I applied 2 days in a row)

6.  Knee area was blended beautifully (I did go light on application)

7.  Not sticky after application – foam dries like a dream

My -s:

1.  It is colorless

2.  Next day “sunless” smell arrives

3.  If you lean “non” applied body parts to “applied” body part within first 10 mins, it transfers (Duh Michelle)

4.  Foot area is still tricky to blend off

For me a wonderful safe fun alternative to tanning. 

So glad I tried it!  I’ll be using it all season long. 

Let me know what you think.. 5 stars from me!

Mixing Your Summer Foundation

So porcelain is the new “healthy glow” – we don’t want to bathe in the sun and lay in the tanning beds anymore.. (well, maybe we do but we KNOW we shouldn’t).  So with summer beginning TODAY (Happy First Day of Summer 2012), it is time to tan your face the healthy way – with makeup!

These are my Top 3 picks for deepening your foundation for the summer to give you a safe tan:

Light coverage: Take a deeper liquid foundation and mix it with a light moisturizer (with SPF included) for a beautiful TINTED MOISTURIZER. (the moisturizer corrects a color too dark for your skintone)  1 drop of foundation with 1 drop of moisturizer, blend it together and you have a beautiful LIGHT tinted moisturizer.

~ You can also try a product like Advanced Mineral Makeup which is a ‘liquid’ mineral makeup. (Light coverage and great natural SPF with the zinc & titanium dioxide already in the makeup).

Med coverage: Take a tinted moisturizer and mix in the next shade up or a darker liquid foundation together. This will give you amore coverage and an airbrushed look.

~ I love mixing Laura Mercier’s oil-free tinted moisturizer & silk creme foundation – the blend is flawless. (I use this combo on all models during photo print shoots for a natural flawless finish.)

Full coverage: Creme foundation is always a heavier coverage, but I love using this combination: Cinema Secrets professional cream foundation or MUD creme foundation. Wet a sponge (not soaking wet just slightly damp) and dip into the foundation container then apply. Great coverage, less heavy application. Makes a cream into a beautifully blended thick liquid.

~ Applying self tanners or airbrush tanning will also intensify the color of your skintone. You avoid damage from UVA/UVB rays and when applied daily, can maintain a healthy tan. Mixing your self-tanner with moisturizer is an easy way to control and blend the product without strange streaking or over application.  (Remember your skin may be tan, but you still need to apply the SUNSCREEN!)

Have a Beautiful Summer.. enjoy your healthy glow! And ALWAYS add a Smile!

Recipes for a Beautiful Summer..

Sunscreen. Good enough for a Baby, good enough for me!

I can’t wear sunscreen with chemicals in them. A few years ago, on our Hawaiian vacation, I broke out in a rash after using my favorite Coppertone Sunscreen (and we finished the bottle) two days before going home. Itching like C R A Z Y! I was MISERABLE! We spent the last day looking for cortisone so I could make it home on the flight without scratching off my skin.

When I finally got home, I decided to go back to the basics = Zinc Oxide & Titanium Dioxide (these are natural sunscreens).

My FAV SPF

From Wiki: When used as an ingredient in sunscreen, zinc oxide sits on the skin’s surface i.e. is not absorbed into the skin, and blocks both UVA (320-400 nm) and UVB (280-320 nm) rays of ultraviolet light. Because zinc oxide (and the other most common physical sunscreen, titanium dioxide) are not absorbed into the skin, they are nonirriating and nonallergenic.^[47]

So started the search for consumer products with only these ingredients. First I only found Neutrogena oil-free face screen. Then last year, while in NJ I found a Sunscreen STICK from Neutrogena for BABIES Pure & Free (All Natural) & I fell in LOVE. I recommended it all year but I wasn’t out on the West Coast. In getting ready for this years sun I tried to find a refill and in the process I came across Aveeno for baby with mineral protection. But look, they have a stick now too! (I LOVE the sticks!)

Natural SPF Stick Aveeno Baby

Remember most mineral powders are natural sunscreens with zinc, titanium dioxide and mica as their main ingredients. So layering a coat of mineral powder on your face can help boost SPF protection as well!

GO!SCREEN powders come in a convenience refillable brush and convenient for reapplication throughout the day and travelling.

Whatever you choose, remember Daily SPF is the best kept secret to slowing down the aging process & the key to beautiful SKIN!