Happy Hump Day, Mes Amies. How is this week treating you so far?

Today, I want to share a couple of new "MUSTS" that have joined my sunless tanning arsenal. 

I'm actually a bit embarrassed that it took me until now to discover these gems. They are both by St. Tropez. 

Tan Remover Mousse  / Tan Remover Mitt  

I have been sunless tanning all summer long for over 20+ years. I don't know how I got by so long without these 2 things.  Used together, this mitt and mousse remove any and all signs of a sunless tan.

You might be thinking "If I go through the time and effort to sunless tan, why would I want to remove it??" 

Well, because when you go to apply a new sunless tan, it will only be even and streak free if ALL of the old tanner is gone. 

I know on me, tanner likes to linger on my ankles, knees, inner upper arms and wrists. The rest of my skin will be bare, yet these places will have that tell tale color remaining. 

The mitt and mousse work best when used TOGETHER. 

What you do is very similar to the sunless tanning process.  You put the mousse onto this special mitt and rub it all over. Leave it on for 5-10 minutes , then go into the shower and wash it off.

The mitt cannot be used interchangeably with a tanning mitt. Oh no. This mitt is a gritty little exfoliating powerhouse. Removing old tanner notwithstanding, this mitt is the perfect tool to prep for a fresh tan prep, as it removes any flakey dead skin.

Once you start washing in the shower, you'll see what's left of your old tan literally go down the drain. 

Personally, where I've been tanning for so long, I no longer have any "oops moments". (I hope I'm not jinxing myself here)  BUT, if you do, this will fix it. 

This products works equally as well on a brand new tan as it does a week old tan. So, if you apply a tanner and find that you have stripes on your arms and islands of color on your feet, this will be what saves you.  ( Read Here / Here / and Here to avoid a bad tan application in the 1st place.)

Its safe to say that I plan on keeping these items permanently in my tanning routine. 

Happy Tanning, babes!

XO,

 

Okay, so technically tomorrow is June, but still. June & July are my two favorite months of the year. This is simply the best time of the whole year to me.

Last year, I did two posts on sunless tanning. Read those Here and Here. They were two of my most popular posts to date.  Sunless tanning is here to stay to say the least.

I was putting around on Instagram the other day. On the post of a sunless tanning brand, I saw a lady ask "Why is it that some folks can put their sunless tanner on and no one believes its not a real tan, when the rest of us end up a hot streaky mess?"
After she had commented, many other people had echoed her sentiments. So, I thought today it might be good to drill down even further than I had on my past tanning posts with more tips and info as to how to make you be the one with the tan that nobody believes could possibly be sunless.


First off, a little bit of back ground. I've been sunless tanning for over 20 years. I started in junior high. 


Here is me without any tanner on. You can see how fair my skin is. Yes, I do like my fair skin. However, there are times that a girl wants to have a glowing tan. I learned a a young age that all the sun was going to do to my skin was burn it. I just don't have enough melanin to tan. So, somewhere around 13 or 14, I started my "sunless tanning journey".

Let me say this, if it has been a few years since you have last tried a sunless tanner, give it another go.
The leaps and bounds that sunless tanners have come in even the last few years is really impressive.

• Baking soda is your friend

Baking soda mixed with water into paste form has become my primary way to exfoliate. We (should) all know at this point how important it is to really get that dead, flaky skin off prior to applying a tanner. However, many exfoliating scrubs on the market are oil based. That can spell danger for your tan. The oil from the scrub will create a barrier between the tanner and your skin. This will cause splotches of dark and light all over. 

• You must spot treat certain parts of your body

Immediately before tanning , apply a thick cream or thin layer of Vaseline on your knees, elbows and heels. If you personally have any patches of skin that tend to be drier or thicker than the rest of your skin, apply it there too.

• Buy an electric razor

I learned this trick last summer. My tan would fade off of my legs at a ,much quicker rate then anywhere else.
This is because each time you shave with a traditional razor, you are removing the top layer of skin as well. An electric razor just removes the hair and will help you to extend the tan on your legs.

• Don't apply tanner then go out and about

• Lastly, let me introduce you to a new "product Hero"

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

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!

Hello Mes Amies, happy Monday. I know that the days are all sort of blurring together. But yes, today is Monday.
Last Week , we talked about things to do to prep your beauty game now so that we can look our best when  we are allowed back out in public again.

On that list, I included "practice sunless tanning application now". The thought behind that being, even if your tan application skills are a bit rusty, for the most part we are still wearing pants and long sleeves.  Get think kinks out now before we are all wearing sleeveless tops and sun dresses.

A few weeks ago, I ordered This Tanning Mousse By Norvell   
You guys, this is the most amazing tanner that I have EVER used.

I'm glad that I tried it now. Not because I made any mistakes, it blended flawlessly. I'm glad I can cover it up now because it looks SO real. It looks so unbelievably real that I'm sure people would be thinking that even though we are in the midst of  a heath pandemic, I had been out frolicking on a warm beach somewhere.
While, I've been on my couch like everyone else , this tanner would tell a different story. 
I used the Norvell mitt to apply it, it went on like a dream.

• The color- My skin has NEVER seen a tan like this. Its a rich, deep brown color. There is literally no trace of orange at all.

 

Happy Friday, Mes Amies!

By the time the weekend is over, it will be May. 

Interesting (to me) side note. Chad & I had our first date 11 years ago on May 1st 💓

As we are getting into the warmer weather, many of us would like some color. Thankfully, most folks now choose to avoid the damaging, aging rays of the sun. So, we turn to sunless tanners. It seems as if each year the array of sunless tanners offered get better and better. Gone are the days when sunless tan was synonyms for "orange & streaky". Now, the only thing that can make a discernible difference between a sunless tan and the real thing is the application. For tips on how to achieve the perfect application read HERE / HERE / HERE .    

In the past several weeks, I have tried 2 new sunless tanners and reordered a favorite. Here is a bit of info on them.

First off, the old favorite San Tropez Extra Dark $45

Well, happy summer Friday to you all! Its the first FULL Friday of summer, and I'm living for it.
Also, today is hair day. "My" girl, Kathleen is the most amazing colorist. I cannot wait for her to brighten up this blonde. Also, today is the first time I've seen her since I went back to my natural curls. I'm dying to see what tips she might give me!

Today, I wanted to talk "Anti-Aging" with you. It's a hot topic and a big industry. 
I went to Sephora's app and typed in "Anti-Aging". Over 1700 results came up. This is JUST Sephora, where drug store or mass market brands are not sold. Meaning, there are hundreds if not thousands of other anti-again products in addition to the 1700+ at  Sephora.






Best Facial Sunscreens

The number one cause of aging



XO,
SheShe

Hey there Mes Amies. How are you you all holding up today.
Man, normally it would be "three cheers for Friday"" over here. Right now though, its a different time.
The thing is though, eventually, THIS WILL PASS. I don't know about you, but when it does pass, I'm going to be full out glam for the longest time. Hair , nails, makeup, clothes, heels. I'll be going full out.
I don't know if I'll ever want to be makeup free in yoga pants again. I'm already thinking about things that I can do now to help up my beauty game for when life gets back to normal.
If you are like me, you are not heat styling your hair or bothering to put makeup on. So, right there you are giving your hair and skin a serious break.
Here are a few other things that I'm going to be doing as well.

1) Wash all of your brushes

This is something that I normally have to schedule out. I typically will do it on a Saturday afternoon after I have applied my makeup. That way, they will be dry by the time I go to put my makeup on for work on Monday.
Follow this simple process to was your brushes listed here.  How To Wash Your Brushes

2) Get Rid of All Old Makeup

If you are like me, you've told yourself more than once "I need to go through this makeup". Well babes, no time like now.
Toss out anything that is old or just not used too often.
Do you know how long your makeup lasts? I know that I didn't!  Read here:
 How Long Makeup Lasts 

3)  Do Weekly Hair Masks

I know that we should all do hair masks more often.
Normally, I just don't have the time.  To get the best benefit of a hair mask, you need to leave it on for 30 minutes or so . On a typical week day, this isn't always feasible.
To learn which hair mask is best for you and how to get the most benefit from it, read here:  Hair Masks and You  

4) Binge Watch Beauty Tutorials

Now is the time to sharpen your beauty skills!
Read all of your favorite beauty mags on line and go onto YouTube and binge watch tutorials.
I get it, there are MANY YouTubers who are flat out insufferable . You want to avoid those people.  Luckily though, there are a lot of FANTASTIC beauty gurus out there. To avoid the trash and find the quality folks, Read here : No Drama Beauty YouTubers

5) Practice Sunless Tanning Application

This is something that I start doing this time of year regardless.
I typically don't tan from October- March.
The thing is, when this quarantine is over, its likely going to be warm. You don't want your first night out to be with you having islands of white skin on your feet, or stripes of color on your arms, right? (Remember when   Ross from Friends got spray tanned ?! )
Sunless tanning is something that I have been doing regularly since I was 14.. Yep, 14. I've done ALLLL the trial and error so that you don't have to.  Read Here  Here and Here  as your "how-to" guide.





I hope that this has given you a few ideas. If you have any that you'd like to share, I'm here for it!

Please stay healthy and know this, with each day that passes, we are one day closer to when life gets back to normal.



XO,
SheShe

• A cute hat

 

Happy Friday, Mes Amies!

I'm so excited, tomorrow is hair day!!   Woo Hoo!!

So, last week, my husband's cousin had reached out asking for a product recommendation.  Of course, I was happy to help.  It got me thinking, "hey! This is a great idea for a post!" 

I sent a mass email out to my friends and subscribers asking what questions they might have.

Mind you, I'm not a beautician, I'm not a makeup artist. I am a beauty "junkie". I am someone who has bought, used and tried many, many, many products. If I can help steer you into finding the right product and not waste your money, I'm here for it!

With no further adieu, lets get going!

" Help! I have the darkest under eye circles. Every concealer I've tried makes my under eye skin look so dry and wrinkly. What can I do? " - Stephanie

Oh yes, I can relate. If you are looking for the most effective concealer for dark circles, my absolute top choice is IT Cosmetics Bye-Bye Under Eye  

This concealer covers the darkest circles without settling into lines or creasing.  

" What can I do to unclog my pores? I use AHAs/BHA's, buy what can I use to physically remove the congestion in my pores? Is there something like a full face pore strip?" -Lyndie

I'm glad you are using AHA's and BHA's, they are key to staving off clogged pores. Also, try working a retin into your routine if you already don't.  Anyhow, regarding your question. I have tried countless different masks and scrubs. None of them had more than a bare minimal effect.  However, I did recently find something that works amazingly well.  (Read about it here) .

Its the Dermapore deep cleaning device. This literally pulls each and clog out of every pore. It infuses your favorite serum deep into those newly unclogged pores.

"What are the best brushes for smudging pencil eyeliner and blending eyeshadow that do not have real animal hair?"  -Sara

This is an easy one!  Real Technique's Brushes .  First and most important to the person asking , these are 100% Vegan, cruelty free and PETA certified.

Also, in my opinion, these are some of the best brushes on the market. They are better and longer lasting than any other brushes that I've ever used.

"What are you best ever beauty secrets?" - Jessica

I'm so glad you asked! Back in the winter, I wrote an entire post about this.

You can read that HERE

Well, that answers all of the questions that I got. If anyone has more, I'll give you my best to answer them for you.

Have a fantastic weekend!

XO,

SheShe