Bronze Goddess status makes my bitchy resting face worse?!
Headed to show off my "tan" at the pool. Yes my friends, this is tan for me.
(PS my beautifully matte skin is not foundation, its CoTz tinted matte sunscreen. I LOVE this stuff)
Its been YEARS since I've ventured into the land of self tanning. It seemed like such a hassle when I did it in college. But I have also become paler as I've grown up and realized tanning is not worth cancer. I burned my face very badly a few summers ago and now I have freckles and dark spots on my face. I happen to like my face so I have a lot of SPF in my moisturizers and foundation now. I'm Irish/Swedish so I'm naturally pale anyway. Add trying to avoid the sun altogether and I'm practically fluorescent.
Why Ulta brand? Buy 2 Get 2 Free. They tried to sell me St. Tropez and FakeBake but I couldn't stomach the $30 price tags for EACH product. Especially as I planned to try a multiple product approach. I asked about L'Oreal Sublime line but a girl that works at Ulta who is as pale as I am said it made her orange. My fair skinned friend uses the spray and she looks great but she also has a base tan. The salesperson also told me she hadn't tried the Ulta line but doesn't see a lot of it in returns so she felt that was a good sign.
I figured I could start cheap and if it worked I wasn't out a lot of money, and if it didn't I could hit up the high end later.
I purchased:
- Ulta Bronze Glow Tinted Sunless Continous Spray - Light/Medium (9.99)
- Ulta Bronze Glow Daily Moisturizer for Body (6.99)
- Ulta Bronze Glow Daily Moisturizer for Face (6.99)
- Ulta Instant Bronze Sunless Tanning Mousse (12.99)
- Ulta Bronze Glow Sunless Tan Applicator Mitt (5.99)
As you can see I bought 5 so I would have had a better deal without the mitt, but I didn't feel like worrying THAT much about it. They are already pretty cheap products. I also got a free summer tote (you can see part of it in the pic) for buying over $15 in sun products. I also used a $5/10 Ulta coupon I had. I don't have my receipt of the final price but it was twenty something instead of forty something for all of the products.
Is it a chocolately bronze? No. I'm REALLY pale so I didn't have any thoughts of being "brown". Just not white. Do I look orange? In really bad fluorescent lighting I'll admit I have a slightly orange hue. I think ANY fake tanner would with my skin tone.
I love my tanning routine! I was in hot yoga the week that I started doing it. Hot yoga is best with minimal clothes. For reals. I'm not skinny. I'm not average. I'm plus. I'm usually not one to show my bare arms. Here I am in a skinny tank top staring at myself in a mirror for 90 minutes. I can't thinking "ooooh, look at how tan I look" Yeah, I might be a little vain. "I'm a bronze goddess!" Seriously, I couldn't help but stare at myself.
I didn't really get good before pictures. I think I was too excited! I certainly wasn't going to do that whole tan one leg and leave one leg natural business. Ain't nobody got time for that. Here is a comparison of my arm now versus my tummy. Granted my belly NEVER gets sunshine, most of my legs don't and I was pretty much that pale on my upper arms. My arm of course does get some sun. So its tanner + sun vs. virgin skin.
Here are my legs (which pretty much match my pale stomach) with tanner. This is the day after application 3 of the bronze mousse, fully developed. I haven't washed off the guide color yet so they will lighten just a bit after I shower:
My Routine:
Tanning mousse once a week on my legs (lighter than my arms)
Daily moisturizer every day to every other day, to every three days (basically whenever I feel like it)
Daily face moisturizer every single day sometimes twice a day
Spray tan once a week (opposite from the tanning mousse)
The first day I did them all together and I wasn't as pleased with the results. It does take some time to build and maintain your prefect tan. It also takes time to figure out the routine that works for you. If I spray on a Sunday I mousse on a Wednesday. I think it helps it be more even and keep the fade to a minimum that way.
Before applying the mousse or the spray for exfoliation I dry brush. Get a natural bristle bath brush and literally brush your body in circular motions. Go google dry brushing.
Ulta Bronze Glow Daily Moisturizer Body & Face
I wanted a product to help maintain so I chose the daily gradual self tanner for both body and face. I'll tell upfront that I returned the face product. I broke out, and it gave me NO color. None. To be fair, the breakout could have been the hot yoga class as I have rosacea and 90 minutes of heat could have caused a flair. BUT it wasn't getting better and even if it wasn't the product, I still had NO color. See exhibit A:
This is the Ulta Bronze Glow Daily Moisturizer for Face.
Breakout: Check. Color: What color?
So what am I doing for my face? In some sort of miracle I received a sample of St. Tropez Self Tan Bronzing Lotion for face. If you wanna spend 30 bucks, this stuff is AWESOME. Go figure. Determined to save money (and for my fellow frugal friends) when I returned my Ulta Bronze Glow for face I picked up Jergens Natural Glow for face. It also works well at 1/3 of the price. I actually have been using them together. I'll do St. Tropez in the morning and Jergens at night. The nice thing about the St. Tropez is that it has some color tint for instant bronze. But I have done the Jergens alone and it works well. No breakouts from either product.
St. Tropez Self Tan Bronzing Lotion for Face.
Jergens Natural Glow for Face
Face color that matches my body: Check.
This itty bitty sample of St. Tropez has lasted me two weeks.
Here's the thing about tanning my face. I often wash my face twice a day. Once in the morning, and at night to remove my makeup. The more washing, the more fading. I also am an exfoliation addict when it comes to my face. That is why I am applying at least every day if not twice a day for my face to maintain color like my body.
The body daily moisturizer works like a charm. Its very easy to apply. After showering I use regular lotion on my feet, knees, and elbows. After that absorbs I apply on lower and upper body. I try to rub in very thoroughly so I don't have any globbed areas of lotion that will cause color buildup. For my legs I rub into my calves and work that lotion in then pull the slight amounts left of lotion up to the knee and down onto the foot. Same with my arms, I only pull a bit of lotion onto my elbows after I've rubbed in the rest. I've never tried Jergens Natural Glow gradual tanner. If this works for you it costs the same as the Ulta.
I apply with bare hands, and just wash my hands after. I've never had a problem with orange hands. I figure since I am tanning everywhere my hands need a bit of color. They aren't too white when I wash them after applying as I'm sure it sinks in a little.
Ulta Bronze Glow Tinted Sunless Continuous Spray
If you are interested in a real live person applying this you can check out this youtube. The packaging looks different but from what I understand it is still the same product. I prefer to spray outside. I'm not very coordinated and I do worry about it getting it all over. My girl friend spray tans in her bathroom without problem. I'm sure my neighbor love it too. I get into a tube top (it does cover my belly!) and regular underwear or swimsuit bottom. I like a tube top because I can avoid lines. The benefit of inside is you can do it naked! I can spray my self. I've had my husband do it but I ended up some spots he missed and then I had a funny line. Thanks for helping, love! I find it works better when I do it myself, however. I use the daily moisturizer first to have a nicely moisturized body, then I spray away. Yes I can spray my back and haven't had any weird issues there. My husband would prefer I didn't go out in skimpy outfits standing in our backyard. But my feeling is that its not any different from the skin I show off in a swim suit. Secondly, if our neighbors are interested in watching the chubby girl spray tan, good for them. This is very easy to apply. It does not really have much of a guide (or instant color) but it will fully develop overnight. If my upper body starts looking darker I apply it only to my legs. My legs are just sooo much lighter than my upper body. This stuff really is EASY to use. AND you can buy light/medium OR medium/dark. Light/medium works perfect for me. It says not to spray your face. I do.
Ulta Instant Bronze Sunless Tanning Mousse & Tanning Mitt
I use this on legs only. I hated this the first go round. Hated it. I was ready to return it. Now I would 100% purchase this again. This mousse absorbs quickly you have to move fast. You need to use a mitt with this product. I also didn't pay attention to how much I applied per leg. I ended up with mismatched legs! Second time I made sure to use a full pump and note each pump I used per leg. I also only used 1 pump per calf, and thigh. The 3rd time I used 2 pumps per calf and thigh and I am pleased. I suggest the first application use the least amount possible and build from there. The guide (instant color) is very brown. You can see exactly where you need to rub it in. Once you shower off the guide the next day you can see the true color of your beautifully tanned legs. I use the same method as the spray. First I use lotion on feet, knees. Then I do the gradual tanning moisturizer. Then I do the mousse. My feet are still not 100% perfection with any of these products. It is mostly noticeable to me. I have improved greatly on my techniques and the first time you will see I kind of did a crappy job:
This is day one of tanning products. Daily Moisturizer + Mousse + Spray. You can see didn't do a great job with my feet, and you can clearly see color discrepancy between legs. This is a lot of user error. I also alternate between mousse and spray now and that seems to even things out better. My feet still aren't perfect but they look MUCH better than that.
Day One: Not fully developed Mousse + Moisturizer + Spray
Day One Upper Body:
You can still see my farmers tan
Day Three Upper Body:
Nice and blended, no farmers tan
3-ish weeks later. 3rd application of the mousse fully developed.
There is some of the guide color in this photo because I haven't showered. Gross, I know.
I can definitely see some spots that I'm not thrilled with, but after showering and applying the daily moisturizer these little areas will not be noticeable tomorrow.
Chilling at the waterpark. Sometime between applications.
I try to spray or mousse the day before I plan on being in water. Nice outdoor lighting.
Fixing mistakes
I find that if I exfoliate my feet AFTER using the mousse or spray it helps even it out. I have also found (the time my husband sprayed me) that if I used a makeup removing wipe I could buff out a little of the line I had. I have not used baking soda, or lemon, or any of those crazy things because my mistakes have been minimal and mostly my feet bug me. I don't want to mess up the rest of my tan. I've only had one hand issue where I used the daily moisturizer for face at night and forgot to wash my hands. Woke up to a funny orange spots on fingers.
I feel like some of my pictures look orangey but all these pictures are from my phone camera and I swear its the lighting. I would recommend all these ulta products EXCEPT the face stuff. Buy something better. Especially if you have sensitive skin. Otherwise I'm a fan of the Ulta Bronze Glow line. As great as 30 dollar tanners? Maybe not. But I am satisfied. I am stark white- I expect that sunless tanner will never look perfect on me.
I do recommend a multi-product approach. A tanner that develops that day (spray or mousse) and a gradual tanner help keep things looking even. If you only plan on doing only one thing the spray is very easy to use.
I am still looking for the best face tanner. I really really really don't want to buy a 30 bottle of St. Tropez but I'll admit it works well. Not that I'm against the Jergens. I just feel like the St. Tropez helps maintain a little better and gives deeper color. Good for lazy people like me. Tarte sells a travel size of their face tanner for 12 (The regular size is 30). I think that since my tiny sample for face is lasting I'm sure travel size would be plenty. I have that on my short list for Ulta purchases.
Side note: I know not everyone has an Ulta store but they often offer free shipping over $25, and run all sorts of deals all the time. I am signed up for their email and I wait to make online purchases until the free shipping minimum is lower AND whatever I want is on promotion AND they offer a free sample bag with bazillions of samples. (In addition to the 3 samples you will get with every online purchase) Basically I wait for the trifecta. When shopping Ulta online, ALWAYS click on "gifts with purchase" to check out current specials. Some specials are prompted in your cart, but some I have had manually. Also be aware that the spray takes longer to ship because it won't ship via air.
Questions? Comments? Concerns?
