Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Self Tanner Review [Beauty Blog Backtrack]

this self tanner review is two years old and i have yet to change my mind. it is almost spring/summer 2013 and i still heart St. Tropez so hard it is worthy of the word amaze-balls - which according to Urban Dictionary means: Some annoying term Perez Hilton keeps trying to make happen, by saying it repeatedly, even though it makes no sense, and getting twitter followers to try and make it a trending topic, to make himself more famous for no reason.

side note: if you're new to this blog i'll give you the heads up that i am a superfan of Urban Dictionary.


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a few weeks back i had my hair colored closer to my natural light brown shade. with a baby on the way, a house on the market, and an impending move i figured low maintenance hair would be easiest to handle. my hair dresser warned me that darker hair would make my skin look paler and here in the Cbus where the sun shines one day in seven, that's inevitable.

i decided to dive into some self tanner to help add a little glow to my skin. i headed to the nearest Sephora to test out some product and was surprised to find that they only had THREE types to choose from (that's pretty pitiful for a beauty supply store). however, it was only the first day of spring and they assured me that more would be coming soon. i was wanting to buy my favorite tanner, St. Tropez (pronounced san tro-pay) but it was nowhere to be found. instead my options were:






after testing out out all three, i ended up choosing the Bliss self tanner. all products were essentially the same price, so that was not much of an incentive in my choice. all products had that "self tanner" smell, you know the one, when you put on self tanner and you smell yourself for the rest of the day, YUCK. the Dior product and Clarins product went on clear, so you couldn't quite tell where you had applied. the Bliss product had a tint to it so that you could definitely see where you had missed. that was my selling point. i promptly purchased my self tanner and headed home to give it  a try.

after three applications to my face, arms and chest, no real difference in skin tone. as an after thought i decided to add a tiny bit to my hands so they wouldn't be seriously off color to the rest of my arms. hello Oompa Loompa hands. the only part of my body that ended up taking to the tanner was my hands and they were BRIGHT orange.

i gave up on the the Bliss tanner and immediately headed to Sephora.com to purchase my St. Tropez. for the price of 4 oz. of Bliss you can purchase 8 oz. of St. Tropez.


it arrived in the mail three days later and i tested it immediately. it had been over four years since i last purchased this product and they have made some significant improvements. #1, no smell. really. i mean it. you apply this lotion and you don't smell like self tanner. amazing. #2, this gives you the best bronze glow. no orange hands, or orange anything for that matter, in sight. #3 price per ounce is WAY better than the other three. #4, applies with a bronze color that gives you  an instant tint, as well as allows you to see where exactly you have applied product.

in terms of Grail or Fail, i rate this product GRAIL GRAIL GRAIL. the other three are borderline fails, but maybe i just didn't give them enough of a shot. i am just too in love with the St. Tropez to even consider them front runners.

xo
kristie

7 comments:

  1. hey kris! i just had a friend tell me she uses "faux tan" by bare escentuals...she gets it on QVC.com. have you ever tried it? if so, would you go with st. tropez over faux tan. i'm wanting to get something soon.... Thanks,
    Jami

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  2. Kristi did you get the mousse, spray, or lotion with St Tropez? Thanks!

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  3. I know exactly what you mean about that self tanner "smell". I really thought they all smelled like that. Ick. Good to know that the St. Tropez doesn't.

    I've wanted to try it for a few years, since Megan told me about it. Maybe this year, I'll actually do it ;)

    P.S.
    A picture of your new hair color, please!

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  4. Cheeks, i have not tried that product but if you decide to use it, please let us know what you think!

    Taunya, i purchased the mousse. when i previously purchased the product i had tried the lotion and between mousse and lotion, i think i like the lotion a little better. the mousse seemed a bit runny.

    Tiff, that's funny because Megan was the one who originally introduced it to me four years ago. she is the best beauty guru :) i'll try to get a new picture up soon. something about being pregnant makes me not want any pictures taken...

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  5. I love St. Tropez but have found a new tanner called fake bake. It is an areosol and its great no orange hands ever :)

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  6. I use Victoria Secret's BeachSexy tanner. I mix it in with my face lotion, no smell no orange paws.

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  7. Thanks for this great post! I am ordering some to try out, my legs are ghostly white! Sephora just sent beauty rewards members a 15% off coupon that can be used in a couple of days too

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