Self Tanning Prep

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It’s finally sunless tanning season! Maybe you bother year ’round, maybe you’ve already started for the year – but for the rest of us, here are some tips on how to achieve a great sunless tan regardless of the products you’re using.

Shower

Self Tanning Prep - Original Dove Beauty Bar

For best results, you should always apply to just-cleaned skin! When I’m showering with self tanning prep in mind, I use a mild soap like classic Dove (which is what I use in the shower most of the time anyway). Some of the richer, creamier body washes contain oils (great for ultra-moisturizing, not great for self tanning prep). While you’re at it…

Shave

remingtonshaver

…at least the areas you wish to tan with coarser hair, such as the lower legs. Don’t feel like you need to shave everywhere – for instance, I don’t shave my forearms; the hair that grows there is fine and light.. If you wax or have removed the hair via a laser device, you get to skip this – lucky you! Still, you need to…

Exfoliate

Self Tanning Prep - Eco Tools Shower Gloves

While in the shower, exfoliate your skin to remove any dry or errant patches. Sunless tanner works best when everything is smooth; otherwise you risk a patchy or muddy application. No product can prevent it – you simply have to do your due-diligence. I use a pair of scrubby shower gloves or a sugar- or salt-based scrub. If your scrub has oils (many do!), you might want to do this before you suds up to remove any oils.

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Products I Love But Don’t Always Use

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Just because a product is good, or even great, doesn’t mean I’m always up for exerting the effort to use it. I could easily title this post, “Products I Love But Don’t Routinely Make Time For…Because Sleep.”

Anastasia Dipbrow Pomade

Dipbrow, for instance. Anastasia Dipbrow Pomade is fantastic. I’m still a loyal user, but I don’t use it daily. I simply don’t always have enough time, or bothers to give, to sit there in front of a mirror sculpting my brows with a brush. It is possible to use this product in a hurry, but I’m usually seeking a different look.

sephoraserum

Sephora Teint Infusion Ethereal Natural is so gorgeous. The finish is wonderful. It is not, however, remotely forgiving to the smallest hint of atypical texture – be it dryness or flaky skin. It requires me to pay a little more attention to my skin before use and during application; not a bad thing, I’m just not always up for it.

 

udfbombRed Lipstick (any). I love reds and close-to-red shades; they’re bold and empowering. That said, I usually wear MLBB shades for two reasons – one, they’re flattering and two, they’re effortless. You have to be trying to mess them up, right? But red (like UD F-Bomb or even bold, close-to-red pinks like UD Catfight) requires attentiveness. Depending on your poison, you may or may not need lip liner, but applying without a mirror is out of the question. KvD Foiled Love Lipstick in Adora (now discontinued, but I believe Adora is available in the Studded Kiss formula now) is life, but I can’t slap it on haphazardly running out the door.

 

Products I Love But Don't Always Use

Pigments are delightfully fun! I only own four – three from NYX, and Rushmetal from MAC (from that whole Glambot thing). Anyone who has ever used loose pigments can tell you, however, that there is no such thing as, “really quick,” with them. Application takes more steps, fallout is a thing, cleanup of your workspace will always be a thing. I only really end up using these for special occasions as a result.

Maybelline Gel Liner

 

Gel liner is my favorite, but most days, I’m using dark eyeshadow to define my lashline. I need at least three minutes to apply it, more if I’m doing something, “fun,” like wings or flicks.

I really enjoy all of these things, but in my normal, run-of-the-mill, day-to-day life I can’t pull it all off. I’ll often do one of these things on a weekday, but being as that I wake up at 5:45, I’m desperate for all the sleep I can get!

May is Skin Cancer Awareness Month

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If you’ve been reading for a while, you know that sun safety and skin cancer awareness are important topics to me. I remind multiple times a year to practice sun safety and to take measures to protect your skin, but I take advantage of may being Melanoma and Skin Cancer Awareness month to ascend my soapbox. It’s a little deranged, really, to name today Melanoma Monday – but so it is.

Month before last, my father had to have yet another area removed. Squamous Cell Carcinoma. That’s at least his second procedure. That’s not even getting into about what my mother has gone through.

I was an idiot and used to tan in tanning beds.

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TIGI Moisture Maniac: A Calculated Risk

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TIGI Moisture ManiacTIGI Moisture Maniac

A couple years ago, I started to have issues with my favorite shampoo and conditioner, TIGI Moisture Maniac. At the same time, it was being discontinued in favor of TIGI’s Urban AntiDotes line, so I discontinued use. Since then, I haven’t found a shampoo and conditioner I truly liked, including its supposed replacement. I didn’t hate all the ones I’ve tried since, but I haven’t been excited enough to repurchase any of them.

Imagine my surprise when I saw a giant display of the shampoo & conditioner duos it during a trip to Costco a little over a month ago?

…I bought two of the duos.

My scalp was happy, my hair was shiny and manageable without buildup. I think I can manage the fragility from the protein.

So here’s my hypothesis:

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