Happy Monday!
So, I took the step to purchase the domain www.shesheandshimmer.com today. #gulp #notablogger...
I did this because so many of you kind, wonderful people have encouraged me and told me that you actually enjoy reading my thoughts on this stuff. So, thank you!

Now, let's get to how to apply your sunless tanner!
  This picture was from a week or two ago. This is a one day fresh sunless tan. In this photo, I had used the St. Tropez Extra Dark. PS: Please excuse the dated 1980's bathroom. The building that I work in is over 150 years old. That makes renovations a tad bit challenging.

• Most importantly USE A MITT . Aside from keeping your palms from turning orange, the mitt helps blend the tanner... more so than latex gloves, bare hands etc, This one right here is the best mitt that I've found. I cannot stress how much I love this mitt! Skinerals selftanning microfiber mitt
• Less is NOT more. Its easy to assume that if you use less tanner, you'll prevent a too dark application. Nope. The color of the formula is what determines the color of your tan. Using too little product will result in nothing but streaks and splotches #notcute. Think of what would happen if you were to paint a wall with too little paint....
• Apply bottom to top. Start with your legs and feet and work upward. This will prevent creasing and rubbing.
• Protect your knees, elbows and ankles. These are the spots where tanner can turn VERY dark and look unnatural. Before I apply the sunless tanner, I cover these spots with Burt's Bees Hand Salve Burt's Bees
• Apply tanner to clean, freshly shaved,smooth skin. I've seen it countless times, some guru will stress to NOT apply moisturizer before self tanning.I cannot articulate how strongly I disagree with this. Smooth, moisturized skin will get you an even tan. Dry skin will get you uneven patches. Just be sure your moisturizer has been absorbed thoroughly into your skin before applying the tanner. I'll moisturize then throw laundry in the dryer, blowout my hair, etc THEN tan. 
• When tanning your hands, make a claw with your fingers. This will keep your from having white knuckles.
• To tan your back,put your tanning mitt on a loofah brush. You'll be able to reach your entire back this way. 
• When tanning your face, mix equal parts tanner and your favorite facial moisturizer. This will keep the Oomph Loompa look at bay.
• Don't be afraid to use 2 different shades in one application. I do this each time I tan. I'll use a medium shade for my back, face and feet and use a dark shade everywhere else. This gives you a far more natural look as most people suntan while laying on their backs.
• Stay COMPLETELY dry after your apply your tanner. No teeth brushing,dish washing....NOTHING. Put your tanner on then, go straight to bed (ideally)
• Don't be afraid of the color that first goes on. Most tanners have a color guide so that you can see what you are doing. This will rinse off in the morning (or after 8 hours)
• BLEND, BLEND, BLEND this is crucial. In order to to make this faux glow pass for the real deal, it HAS to be blended thoroughly. Once you are SURE its completely blended......blend it for an additional 2 minutes.
• Set aside enough time to do this correctly. If you are short on time.... don't sunless tan! While pale will always be pretty, streaks will never be!

June is now in full swing! It’s the time of year most of us want a tan.
Funny thing about me, I've never had a "real" tan. My skin just is not capable of tanning. My dermatologist refers to it as "Type 1 skin".  Simply put, my skin does not produce enough melanin to tan.
When I was a teen and in my early 20's this upset me to no end #youngpeopleproblems. All I wanted was to be golden, but if I did go in the sun, I'd burn, blister, peel ...in that order.
Now that I'm in my 30's, I'm actually glad that I cannot tan. I know that younger me would of been completely irresponsible in regards to tanning. By now, I'd have skin that looked like an old shoe, or worse ....skin cancer.

However, I do still LOVE the look of a nice, golden tan. Because of this, I've tried and tested pretty much every sunless tanner out there. The four that I've listed below are the ones that have truly impressed me. These are the ones that stand out among all of the sunless tanners that I've used over the past 20+ years. In part 2 of this post (coming next week) I'll follow up with what I find to be my "best application" techniques. What good is even the best sunless tanner, if you are not comfortable applying it?


1) St. Tropez Extra Dark
St. Tropez Extra Dark
I'll be the 1st to admit, I find most of St. Tropez's products to be extremely overrated. Don't get me wrong, they are perfectly fine sunless tanners.  I just don't find them to be the epic, holy grail like some folks do. EXCEPT for this one. This one, I'm starting to wonder how I ever lived without. I put this on at bed time. I wake up to a tan that is so dark and deep. This gets my skin to a color that I never, ever thought was possible to accomplish with a sunless tan. You truly do look like you just came back from 10 days on the island of Saint Tropez.

2)Vita Liberta pHenomenal 2-3 Week Tan
Vita Libereta 2-3 Week Tan
This one is pricy... $54.00 as of when I'm writing this. There are two things that make this tanner really stand out. The first is how quickly it dries upon application. Your first leg will be completly dry by the time your are applying the tanner to your second leg. The other thing that's quite impressive about this, is how long it lasts and how it fades. One application went a full 10 days for me. Sunless tanner will typically become splotchy when its fading off.  This one though, fades the way a natural tan does. It just gets lighter, no splotching at all.

3) Quick Tan by Body Drench
Quick Tan by Body Drench
This gives you an immediate tan upon application that darkens over the course of several hours. This tanner preforms just as well as a professional spray tan.
This is perfect for if you need color ASAP. Its a spray formula , but still I find it applies best if you use a tanning mitt to rub it in. This will assure a perfectly blended tan.

4) Tanwise Tanning Mousse
Tanwise Tanning Mousse
Unless you are going for the extra dark St.Tropez , this is the best tanning mousse that I've found. This blends so easily, the color is dark, yet believable, It has no traces of orange and it lasts. Also, the price cannot be beat. Usually, I can grab it for $10-$15 dollars. It costs less than most of the other tanners out there. Yet, it out preforms them at every pass.


As I had mentioned above, I've been sunless tanning for over 20 years now. These are my "Product Heroes" that I keep in my arsenal at all times.

Be sure to come back next week. I'll be sharing all of the different tips and tricks I've figured out over the years to help attain the most flawless application possible.

Have a lovely weekend, love bugs!


~XO SheShe

The other day, after a conversation with a dear friend about beginning a decent makeup collection, I got to thinking....
If I had to start my cosmetics collection today, from scratch.....what would I buy?  I spent a few days thinking about this and jotting things down. I decided to share it here. Why? If you are someone who is just starting to get into makeup, this will serve as a guide as to what you might want to buy. Also, many of these things are tried and true "product heroes" that will serve anyone well regardless of what they currently own for cosmetics.
I broke this down by category. The name is listed on top, the link is listed below in hot pink.  As I've said countless times before...I'm not a writer. I have 0 aspirations to "Be a blogger" or generate income from blogging. I tell you this so that you'll know that you can confidently shop from these links if you so choose. They are directly connected to the products. I receive no "commissions" or anything like that. This is just me sharing with you what I personally purchase :)

Also, I've tried to include at least one "affordable" product in each category. Full disclosure, I pretty much tend to only buy cosmetics which would be classified as "prestige". That does not mean that you have to though. The things I've listed in the affordable categories , all hold their own against the higher end stuff. The only category which I have not included an "affordable" option is with the eye shadow palettes. This is for two reasons. The first of which is I just don't have enough familiarity with any drug store palettes to to encourage anyone else to go spend their hard earned money on them. The second reason is that most of these palettes that I mention, have 10+ shadows in them. If you break it down, each shade is literally costing you just a few dollars.

Lets get right into it!

Primers:
*Too Faced Hangover RX
Too Faced Hangover RX Primer

* Kat Vov D Lock It Primer
Kat Von D "Lock it" Primer

*NYX Angel Veil
NYX Angel Veil


Foundation:
* Dior Foreverskin
Dior Skin Forever

*Cover Fx Power Play (my new HG foundation!!)
Cover FX Power Play

*Wet & Wild Photofoucs (Its under $6.00!)
Wet & Wild Photofoucs


Under Eye Concealer :
* Becca Under Eye Brightening Corrector
Becca Under Eye Brightening Corrector

* Kat Von D Lock It Cream Concealer
KatVonD Lock It Cream Concealer

*NYX Dark Circle corrector
NYX Dark circle Corrector

Eye Shadow Palettes:
* Urban Decay Naked Palette AKA Naked I (Buy this one if you are warm toned)
Urban Decay Naked I

* Urban Decay Naked II (Buy this one if you are cool toned)
Urban Decay Naked II

* Kat Von D Shade and Light Eye Contour
Kat Von D Shade & Light


Blush:
* Nars Orgasm
Nars Orgasm

*Milani Baked Blush
Milani Baked Blush



Mascara:
* Tarte's Lights! Camera! Lashes!
Lights! Camera! Lashes!

*L'Oreal Lash Paradise   (No matter what, get the WATERPROOF version of this)
Lash Paradise


Brows:
*Anastasia Beverly Hills Perfect Brow Pencil
ABH Perfect Brow Pencil

*Rimmel Brow This Way
Rimmel Brow This Way




And there you have it....This is what I'd focus on getting if I had to replace all of my makeup .
Of course, there are so many other categories of stuff I love and use daily, such as setting spray, powders, false lashes, etc.
What I have here would get me through if say, the airline lost my luggage containing my makeup.
Also, if you are just getting started out with makeup, there is no reason to over complicate things.

As always , if anyone has any questions , just give me  a shout, I love this stuff!





XO
SheShe