Tan and Tanner

Jergens Natural glow has been very good to my legs for the last couple of years. I've been using the one in Medium quite religiously every other day and have maintained the natural not too deep tan look. Lately I decided that I want something just a bit bolder, kind of a high summer glow. I could have just gone up in color and got the darkest of the three Jergens, but this time I decided to try something new.

My weekly Target run for cat litter has become much more interesting since they started carrying Boots no 7 products. I picked Quick Dry Tinted Lotion in medium/dark, and haven't looked back since. The tint part is the only unimpressive thing about this lotions. If your natural color is anywhere near mine, you won't see much of it, so don't count on an instant glow. Instead, wait 2-3 hours for the real color to develop. The first day I used it, I wanted to get as deep a tan as I could, so I reapplied after about five hours. The results were as close to perfect as I could hope for. Since then, I've been renewing my tan every 2-3 days, and the color stays fresh. It's true brown: no jaundice and no oompa loompa in sight.

Other good things about this lotion are the ease of application: it seems to be fool-proof; Also: the scent is (dare I say it?) pleasant. And a word of warning: The lotion is very tenacious. Wash your hands and carefully scrub them with a brush, otherwise you'll end up with George Hamilton on your palms.

I'll stick to bronzers, thank you

In an effort to bring life back to my poor face that has suffered one of those nasty summer colds that refuse to leave one's body, I decided to try a couple of things that shine and brighten. I'm sticking to my resolution of no more sun, so a real tan was out of the question. The next best thing was supposed to be a self tanner.

I've been keeping my legs on the golden side of things with Jergens, but for my face I chose to try two Clarins products. After all, they are highly regarded, and I'm pretty fond of their high quality, always nice smelling products.

I had samples of two self tanners. One is the Intense Bronze Self Tanning Tint for face and décolleté. The problem with this one was the tint: Its "rich, tropical color" was just wrong for my skin tone, and looked less like a tinted moisturizer and more like weird, yellowish goop. I ended up wiping it off before it had a chance to develop in either color or scent, so I can't comment on either. If your skin tone is somewhat similar to mine, this is probably not the right product for you.


The second sample was of their Self Tanning Instant Gel for face and body. The little tube wouldn't have been enough for even one leg, so I only tried it on my face. I have to raise my eyebrow at the claim for instant action. It took a couple of applications for the color to make an appearance on my face, and when it did I wasn't all that impressed. It wasn't bad (or orange), but it looked a tad too yellow, like a faded tan with a side of jaundice. Not exactly the healthy glow I was so desperately seeking.

Another not-so-good thing about this product is that it did some pore clogging. Nothing too awful and I can't be 100% sure that it was the Instant Gel, but I'm not repeating this little experiment.

'Tis the Season

...For self tanners.

Last week while shopping and trying on short skirts I had to face my pale, ashen-grey legs. It wasn't pretty and made it clear that I need to get a tube of something before I go out in public wearing said skirts. My choice in the last couple of years had been Jergens Natural Glow in medium. I only use it on my legs, but the results are good. It has two major qualities: It doesn't turn me orange and I can tolerate the smell. I use it every other day, to keep the developing color under control and exfoliate regularly. My dry skin requires a lot more moisturizing than this lotion gives, so my Korres and L'Occitanes haven't been retired, but now I'm moisturized and tan.

One of my New Year's resolutions was to be very serious about avoiding the sun. I tan very quickly, so this is quite a challenge (a review of Lancome's newest sunblock is coming soon). It also means that I might want to venture into new self tanning territories. I admit that I'm worried about the results. I can always cover my legs if something goes tragically wrong, but my face is a different matter. I'm looking at Elle Magazine's top picks (from the upcoming June issue) and I'm seriously tempted. I have a couple of sample tubes of Clarins' Instant Gel sitting there waiting. Now I just need to work up the courage.

You'll be the first to know...