A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

Whilst my inbox is currently being inundated with bronzing solutions for the current heatwave, I’m slathering on the SPF (broad spectrum of course) and shading myself courtesy of the nearest tree.  Whilst bronzed skin is undoubtedly beautiful, it always makes me feel rather conspicuous.  I simply don’t tan naturally… not at all, my family enjoy a long-running joke that focuses on the fact that I went to Australia to live for a while and returned home paler.

I’d like to say that I’m one of those porcelain-skinned types, milky white with a lit-from-within glow… but I’m best described as blotchy pink/white with more than my fair share of orange freckles.  Throw in a few thread veins and Kate Winslet, I ain’t.  Praise the lord for foundation and highlighter.

St. Tropez Skin Illuminator in Rose* is a highlighter that is perfect for us blue-veined types.  Generously packaged in a 50ml tube, it’s a great solution for holiday packing… you know, those rare times (unless you live in Essex) when it’s practically illegal to have a greater clothes to bare skin ratio.  It effortlessly dispenses a pink-toned sheen to emphasise sharp collarbones, chiselled cheekbones and shapely shins!

Non-greasy and buildable, the St. Tropez Skin Illuminator in Rose has a slight fruity scent which dissipates quickly once on the skin.  The packaging is simplistic but hygenic and reflects what I consider to be a very reasonable price point.  For a full 50ml of product, you’ll pay only £12.26.

You can see that the sheen it imparts is definitely cool-toned, which is what makes it far more natural-looking for us cool-skinned paleys than the more usual summer offers from cosmetic companies.  The above photo shows two layers of product to ensure that the camera picked up on the swatch.  It feels light-weight on the skin but I wouldn’t recommend it as a luminizing all-over type highlighter, this is definitely more for spot-highlighting.  I’ve also found that the formula is happy to be applied over foundation, important to me because it’s nearly always something I forget to do until AFTER I’ve applied my blush!

St. Tropez Skin Illuminator in Rose is available to buy online from st-tropez.com and Boots.com (where it’s currently only £12 AND on a 3for2 across selected ‘summer products’).

* press sample

I’m not a great self-tanner. I mean that in both senses of the word — I don’t do it very often and when I do, I’m pretty shit at it. The historical exception to this rule is with Sally Hansen’s old Airbrush Legs… you can still buy it, but the formula is a little different now and they’ve ditched my shade. I used to love it and would go through cans of the stuff when the weather called for a bit of leg-display.

So, when St. Tropez’s new Perfect Legs Spray landed on my desk, I had barely opened the envelope before I was prising off the lid and putting it to work, ever-hopeful that I might find my pasty-leg saviour.

Look how stained my hand is!! I’ll tell you more about that in a minute…

The new St. Tropez Perfect Legs Spray promises an instant, natural bronzing effect combined with a longer-lasting self tan. The aerosol can contains 75ml of product, which isn’t a lot — about enough to do your legs twice/three times at most. The product is fairly reasonably priced at £10, making it a cost-effective choice for special events or big nights out. Don’t forget that as-well as the instant bronzer, you’re also benefiting from a normal self-tan at the same time. Although, I’d obviously like to see more for my money, I think the price is reasonable for special occasions when compared to alternative options.

Unlike my old Sally Hansen cans, this isn’t like makeup for your legs. It won’t conceal veins, freckles or give you a massively airbrushed effect but it excels at what it does deliver: healthy-looking, bronzed pins.

It’s ridiculously easy to use and dispenses a very fine mist. Any slightly larger droplets that appear from holding it a little too close blend easily into the skin for a completely streak-free finish. I blended one leg with my hands and the other with a mit. Use the mit, this stuff sets faster than an 80s perm and despite rushing to the basin mere minutes after my first blend – my hand is perma-tanned. Looking on the bright side, this is obviously great news for my legs as it didn’t transfer once touch-dry.

Product doesn’t leak/drip from the nozzle during operation and the spray works regardless of the contorted angles you put the can through. It may just be, that as a novice, I’m having a hallelujah moment with tans in a can but I simply didn’t run into any problems with this one.

And as for my legs? Oh god, hold on to your breakfasts…

It works well right?  My left leg (right as you look at it) was tanned with the St. Tropez and it doesn’t look remotely orange or streaky!  Honestly, if I can use it… a total fool can use it and make it look good in under 5 minutes. I’m so pleased to be able to recommend this to ultra-pale girls who suck at applying fake tan like me. I’m so jealous of wimmen to whom this stuff comes naturally. It’s a bleedin’ art-form to get it right I tell ya!

St. Tropez Perfect Legs Spray simply takes the hard work out of bronzing. Definite repurchase for those times when tights just won’t do.

St. TropezPerfect Legs Spray is priced at £10.00 and available from the usual stockists.

* press sample

I’ll be honest, Spring looks usually do very little to inspire me… the pastels… oh the pukey pastels.  Great if you have that 14yr old fresh faced androgynous model look.  Not so great on a somewhat hefty big boned 29 year old who left her teen years behind with the closing credits of Heartbreak High.

However…

I’ve surprised myself because I’m actually really enjoying the overall look from the Erdem Show, LFW S/S 2011!

All images property of St. Tropez

All images property of St. Tropez

St. Tropez skin-finishing expert Nichola Joss explains the skin…

[stextbox id=”custom” bcolor=”b0c4de” bgcolor=”e6e6fa”]“The inspiration for the skin comes from Cate Blanchett in The Lord of the Rings, when she has a hint of rose in her cheeks, It is as though the girls are outside running about in the woods. We are first spraying the models very lightly with the new Dark Mist; and then applying the mix of gold and pink illuminator over the skin. I love the combination – gold represents the golden light, which comes through the trees in the forest; and the pink is the pink blossom that grows within.”[/stextbox]

And the makeup?

[stextbox id=”custom” bcolor=”b0c4de” bgcolor=”e6e6fa”]Make-up artist Andrew Gallimore matched the face to the body with a very lightweight foundation that is almost a tinted moisturiser. “Then for the eyes,’ he said, beckoning the girl he has just demonstrated make-up to his team on, ‘there is a sort of day-glow plastic yellow colour. The face was super simple with a nude lip and no mascara. He then finished with a touch of St. Tropez Illuminator on the cheeks, down the bridge of the nose and in the cupid’s bow of the lips: ‘the whole feel is spring-like and Easter-y, in colour.”[/stextbox]

You can keep your day-glo yellow (though in fairness, it doesn’t look THAT day-glo to me)… but I AM loving the iridescent illuminator combined with those *just* pink cheeks.

For me, it’s all about that skin… I mean, no mascara? really? PAH.

There are so many illuminators and highlighters on the market and they are indeed one of my ‘downfall’ products.  And by ‘downfall’… I simply mean, I have way TOO FREAKING MANY of them.

The major problem that I encounter with these kinda products (and the reason I keep buying more) is thus:

a). They ensure that my pores can be used as ground markers for low flying aircraft

b). They tend look more metallic than naturally glowy

and

c). They often try to impart a heavy colour with the sheen.

If those photos are anything to go by… St. Tropez’s Skin Illuminator looks like it may be a pretty natural solution.

Oh and the hair’s kinda cute too!

St. Tropez Skin Illuminator is priced at £15 for a 30ml handbag sized tube and can be bought online from St. Tropez, HQ Hair and ASOS